Controlling What We Can Control

I was living in Arad, Israel in 1998 and 1999. I was in an advanced Ulpan (Hebrew Language Course) when I starting talking politics with my middle-age, female, Hebrew teacher. Politically, there is not really a party that represents my views in Israel. In Israeli politics I would be considered a defense oriented secularist. I suppose the short lived Shinui best represented my views, but I disliked them because of the rampant anti-religious screed of their leader, Tommy Lapid. My teacher, on the other hand, was a Shalom Achshav (Peace Now)/Meretz voter. When I asked her how she could support these political movement, she stated "I don't care what other people (the Palestinians and Arab states) do, I can only control my government."

I can't say that based upon this, I shifted my political views. However, what she said has a particular resonance. I have no control over what my opponent does. All I can try to control is what I do. I can't make my opponent act morally, I can only try to make my government act morally.

I tie this in to a statement that Shimon Peres made in the summer of 1999. It was at a private gathering at the Peres Center for Peace, so you wouldn't have read it in the papers. During a question and answer period, Peres was asked what his greatest regret was about the peace process and he answered "the fact that a Palestinian left never emerged to rival the Israeli left." Where the Palestinian rival to Shalom Achshav and Meretz to say "I don't care what my rival does, I only care that my government is doing the right thing?"

I think this is an important point because it is absent on Daily Kos. Every day TomJ writes a diary about something Israel is doing and refuses any attempt to answer questions about the responsibility of Palestinian Leaders. And Keith Moon does the same thing. Perhaps if things were reversed, the dialogue at Daily Kos wouldn't be so toxic. I wonder what would happen if TomJ were to write an article about the failure of the Palestinians to recognize Israel's right to exist almost 20 years after Oslo and Keith Moon were to write an article about the damage done to peace, not to mention international respect, by having an extremist as Israel's foreign minister.

Too much of the I/P debate as Daily Kos reminds me of fights I used to have with my siblings when we were kids. Me: "Moooooom, [my brother] took off his shoes even though you said not to." Mom: "Worry about yourself." I don't know about you, but I think Daily Kos I/P debates could use a healthy dose of this motherly advise.