If you can't beat them, join them!

It is no longer possible today to talk about the Palestinian issue in the same way because the Palestinians themselves chose peace and to benefit from what Israel has achieved in several areas.

If you can't beat them, join them! Late US Senator James Watson's saying that if someone is too strong to defeat, you'd better be on the same side applies perfectly to the reality of the situation in Israel today....

My visit to Israel as part of Morocco’s first media delegation after the resumption of bilateral relations with the North African kingdom enabled me to witness the technological progress in the Jewish state, and made me rearrange my questions about the Palestinian issue and what we grew up on.

Do you know that approximately 250 Palestinian doctors were trained in Israel and provided medical care to approximately one million Israelis?

Since 2003, around 12,500 children have been treated in the context of a massive project of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation that has treated Palestinian and Syrian children in hospitals across Israel...All this has for years allowed a unique meeting between families, and medical staff at hospitals and also allowed building bridges of peace...

It is no longer possible today to talk about the Palestinian issue in the same way because the Palestinians themselves chose peace and to benefit from what Israel has achieved in several areas.

This is evident when you visit Jerusalem and go out for a night tour to discover those stone alleys and their beauty, where you find young people. Do not even think about questioning their religion, because the clamour of music everywhere makes you forget that difference, evoking sometimes a Hebrew tone, other times an Arab one… The faces are cheerful and want to welcome you in their shops.... When you visit Haifa and meet Bahais or Ahmadis and Druze, you come back and wonder why the issue is reduced between the two religions; namely Judaism and Islam.

Those who continue to delve into an issue whose developments are difficult to understand are mistaken, because Israel has worked seriously...Yes, Israel has chosen to advance scientifically and put this at the disposal of Palestinians, who are, in the end, individuals looking for safety and a decent life for their children, their women...

Palestinians realized that, even if they disagree with Israelis in their beliefs, the reality of Israel's existence is much more merciful than the reality of poverty and ignorance, and that it is a reality around which it can be built to achieve coexistence and benefit from people who, in the midst of the conflict, have managed to succeed in various fields at the global level.

What is the smartest then? Continuing to ignore a reality that will not vanish or dealing with the reality of opening cooperation possibilities and seeking peace?

 

Najiba Jalal, President of Bayt Al Hikma, activist and journalist