The occupation of the Palestinian territories now seems irreversible. The government and politicians of the Israeli right are pushing more and more Jews to settle down in the West Bank territories. In an essay , 20 scholars explain the negative impact of this approach from the socio- economic and moral point of view . The concept of the religious state is replacing that of a democratic country .

Jerusalem ( AsiaNews) - The occupation of the Palestinian territories has become a central component in the restructuring of Israeli identity . However, its effects are corrupting society, which increasingly is abandoning the values ​​of mutual respect for diverse cultures and religions to leave room for the culture of suspicion and contempt. These are some of the contents of the essay " The Lasting Impacts of Occupation : Lessons from Israeli Society" , created by Daniel Bar -Tal and Izhak Schnell . The text will be presented for the first time in Israel in the coming days and collects articles by more than 20 researchers in Israel . For years, experts observe the evolution of the policies of Israeli governments from the sociological , educational, economic , political, demographic and ethical point of view, but they also try to see how the ideology of control over the territory has changed the occupiers and impoverished the occupied.

Marcelo Daskal , formerly Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at Tel Aviv University and one of the authors of the book, has predicted that the occupation corrupts Israeli society . "An occupying society - he explains - is destined to convert the value of respect for the other to chronic suspicion. Suspicion and distrust are strongly connected to denial, contempt, humiliation, disrespect, discrimination, misanthropy, guilt and de-humanization of the other and of the self. These changes, he argues, cause the fragmentation of a society's moral texture, followed by a process of moral decline. Psychologists Charles Greenbaum and Yoel Elitzbur instead describe the effects of military occupation . According to the two scholars most of the cases of violence took place not in direct clashes, but attempts at revenge against the Palestinians.

Another aspect discussed in the text of Bar -Tal and Schnell is the socio-economic impact of employment policies. Shir Hiver , an economist, divides his analysis into three phases. In the first period, from 1967 to 1986, the occupation was economically lucrative for Israel. In the second period, from the eruption of the first intifada (1987) until 2004 ("resistance period," in Hever's words) the situation reversed itself. Israel's control over the territories became a financial burden, and it became questionable whether Israeli society could cope with it. The third period ("privatized occupation") is characterized by the flourishing of private companies that specialized in producing products for "the homeland's protection" and exporting them around the world. So far the government has never provided official data on occupation costs , but Hiver estimated that from 2004 to 2008 they are around $ 107 billion .

"The Lasting Impacts of Occupation : Lessons from Israeli Society " , concludes by analyzing the current landscape , characterized by an increasingly more powerful right-wing which encourages occupation and the annihilation of what " is not Jewish ."

In view of the upcoming municipal elections in Jerusalem's streets are filling up with huge posters with the words " Judaize " and slogans denigrating the Palestinian Muslim. The billboards are the result of the anti -Islamic and pro - Jewish party launched by the "Kingdom of Jerusalem " , led by Shmuel Shakdi , an activist of the extreme right , and Aryeh King , the main supporter of the colonization of East Jerusalem. The party, though representative of a minority of the population , will be crucial for the internal alliances to the candidates of the Israeli right , Nir Barkat and Moshe Leon to reinforce that seeking votes in the most extreme wing of the Zionist parties and among Orthodox Jews .

According to a report by the researcher Halleli Pinson , " Being Citizens in Israel," the textbook required for students taking their high school diploma, is based exclusively on the ethno- national question. In the text, the definition of Israel as a Jewish state precedes the democratic state. On 6 October, the Israel Democracy Index statistics released a survey stating that 29.2% of Jewish Israelis prefer a state with a Jewish character, compared to a democratic order.  The number was 17% in 2010. The index indicates that 48.9% of Israeli Jews are convinced that the citizens of Jewish origin should have more rights than non- Jews. (S.C.)

 

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