To Prevail Over the Past

The real rift is no longer between Jew and Arab but betweeen backward-looking and forward-looking people on both sides

A few nights ago, when Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization recognized each other, I had a vivid recollection of the night of May 14 and May 15, 1948, when Israel declared its independence. I was nine years old. I remember my father coming to my bed and lying beside me in the dark. "When I was a boy, I was beaten in school in Russia and then in Poland for being a little Jew," he said. "You may still get beaten in school, but not for being a Jew. This is what the State of Israel is all about." In...

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