joanna wrote:
>Completely agree with you Doug. The fundamental Israeli nationalism
>rests on a claim of "blood" NOT religion and is a witness to its
>noxious 19 C. roots. And the lack of a common culture was a huge
>problem with the founding of Israel and continues to be a problem.
-I like Joel Schalit's point that without constant war, Israel would -probably fall apart from its own internal divisions.
Now that's silly-- I visited Israel in 1999, the most "normal" election possible when everyone thought a peace deal was in the bag. Yes, the country was politically divided in five different dimensions, but if anything many people feel that the global homogenization is flattening society. Remove the polarization over foreign policy and many divisions would disappear. In many ways, the success of Sharon's Kadima party was tapping into that desire.
Nathan