English Translation of the YNET op-ed Umm Al Hiran and Cottage Cheese

The following op-ed by Rabbi Ed Rettig was originally published in Hebrew on Ynet. 

By Rabbi Ed Rettig

The solution to the collapse of solidarity based systems is solidarity itself. By reclaiming mutual responsibility, the Israeli people can rebuild what the elites have broken.  Moreover maybe, if it begins with Umm al Hiran, we will be able to make a potential tragedy into a blessing.

People tend to think the issue of the Bedouin village of Um al Hiran, currently under the threat of being demolished and replaced by a Jewish town, is about Jewish-Arab relations or discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel. While there is certainly truth to this, the case is more closely related to a general issue afflicting Israeli society.

The citizen, who at least theoretically is the pillar upon which the state stands, the so-called boss, is not taken into account. Elites, ruled by their own internal logic and profit making, control decision making. These dynamics seep through to what look like minor issues that are in fact vital for ordinary citizens.  This was the case with the notoriously expensive cottage cheese which led to the protests in Israel’s streets a few years ago, and it is the case with the Bedouin village of Umm al Hiran. “Where there is no vision, the people perish” said Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. Today the descendants of the people once ruled by him are proving him right.

Umm al Hiran is a Bedouin Village constructed after the an Israeli Military Governor of the Negev ruled in 1956 that the Elkian Tribe must relocate from its previous residence to its current location. In contrast to the state’s stance, the court has decided that the residents are not trespassers, but legitimately acquired their home in their present location.  Sadly, and oddly, the state continued to blame them for squatting on their land through the court proceedings. The residents have a solid defence case for their rights. There is no doubt that the main failure in this failure ridden judicial situation was procedural. Representatives of the Bedouin submitted appeals to the planning and building committee after a legal deadline had run out. According to the majority of Justices on Israel’s High Court (who expressed concern and unease with the harsh judicial outcome), these procedural errors were decisive. The High Court decided not to block the government’s decision to demolish the village.

How is this related to cottage cheese? The fiasco of rising prices for basic products brought the people to the street because it illustrated the gap between everyday people and the financial, political and judicial elites. A people who feels comfortable with the justice of the way their state conducts its business  do not need to go out to the streets to express themselves. This disconnect, also seen in the case of Um el Hiran,  is the great failure of the High Court.

The Court based its ruling on considerations  of  efficiency in the judicial system.  Obviously this factor is important amongst other considerations of doing justice.  All should understand that the High Court of Justice is a significant player in Israeli democracy;  it is not a small matter to criticize the Court.  Therefore, we should criticise with respect and caution.

Alongside this, we need to remember that this is a human institution.   The  judges of the majority on the Court felt unease regarding their decision and rightly so. It is not unthinkable that they may have made a mistake. Indeed, we base our democratic governance system on our recognition of the natural inclination of one group or another to be in the wrong sometimes. Because of this, there are checks and balances between different parts of the government and between the citizen and the state.  We must guard these checks and balances.  When an official result is unjust, especially when the court itself shows discontent from this injustice, it behooves the government to use common sense and discontinue the unjust policy.  Can a procedural error justify the destruction of an entire settlement?

This is the reason we should not speak about a “Bedouin” problem. This specific incident shows civilians suffering from a disconnect between the institutions of governance and the people. The citizens, in this case, are Bedouins. However, whoever thinks the issue is simply ethnicity is deluding themselves. The problem here is governmental and the profound, long-term threat here is of existential size.

Benjamin Franklin once said: “if we do not hang together, by Heavens, we shall hang separately.” This describes our society int he state of Israel today.  Only the lack of social solidarity allows the political elites to manipulate the system and create constant oppression. The solution to the destruction of solidarity based systems in this state is the creation of more solidarity. By reclaiming  mutual responsibility,  the Israeli people can rebuild what the elites have broken. Moreover, maybe, if it starts with Umm al Hiran, we will make a potential tragedy into a blessing.

Rabbi Edward Rettig is a board member of Rabbis for Human Rights who advocates in support of the Bedouin village Umm al Hiran 

Special thank you to Ofek Ravid for translation