Palestine and Anti-Semitism

I'm generally really, really reluctant to make any sort of commentary on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Arguing about it is like arguing about moral issues, where there is very, very little ground for compromise because of the ideological underpinning of both sides. I consider it a policy issue, and do not consider myself pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian. The concept of being pro-either side is fairly repugnant to me, since the two notions are convoluted and add to the bipolarity of the debate. But one thing that has really troubled me since being here are the numerous, blatant examples of anti-Semitism I've seen within Egypt, and more within the broader Arab world.

I walk to school every day and pass a few booksellers on the side of the road. In addition to copies of the Qur'an, a few technical know-how guidebooks, the occasional children's book or translation of a popular American novel, and a book or two about Che Guevara or a famous figure in Egyptian history, nearly every bookstand has a copy of Mein Kampf or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The Arab world is one of the few places in which being anti-Semitic is a state-endorsed activity. I do understand the base logic behind this: Israel has identified itself as a Jewish state, Arabs hate Israel and what it has done to the Arab sense of self, thus Arabs hate Jews (of course, this is absolutely not universal, and I speak more about social elites than your average person). It's a weird transitive property application in real life. Every Egyptian I ever talk to about politics will say, "I do not like your country's politics, but I love Americans." They are very, very good at delineating between politics and a people. However, I don't sense this at all when they speak about Israel. It has always been identified as the Jewish state, and thus people dislike Jews. People don't talk about actions by Israelis in non-academic contexts; they talk about acts by "the Jewish." This identification has very, very dire implications for the long-term health of Arab-Israeli relations.

Israel and Yemen probably have some pretty solid strategic interests in common, particularly as far as their navies are concerned in way of protecting access to crucial sea lanes. One would think that this might be enough to forge at the very least a modicum of cooperation. However, Yemen recently disbanded its chess team after allegations that it played a match against Israel's team. A chess match. This isn't mind-bending stuff, folks. Even during the Cold War the US and Russia played chess matches, and that was a globe-consuming conflict. This conflict is so entrenched in the Arab social elite psyche that I don't know what it will take to move past it, and I don't know that finally recognizing Palestine will do this.

Let's suppose there is an ideal situation, where Israel returns to its pre-1967 borders, ends all settlements, and maybe even adopts a formal constitution protecting the rights of its Arab minorities. The animosity between Israel and Palestine runs so deep at this point that the formation of the Palestinian state isn't going to create some beautiful, friendly alliance between Israel and the Arabs. Anti-Semitism will persist, and anti-Arabism within Israel will persist as well (though Israel has a far better track record in way of non-discrimination law). At this point, anti-Semitism is an institution that will merely propagate itself. Part of a peace deal between Israel and Palestine isn't going to be, "We'll give you land if you stop hating us."

As long as political movements in Palestine and Israel persist to become elected on the grounds of resistance or protection of ethnic interests, these groups will persist in mobilizing public opinion against the other so as to legitimize their underlying ideology and validate their own existence. This isn't going to do peace any favors, let alone mutual understanding.