Yesterday in Washington, D.C., I conducted an interview with George Deek, the Israeli diplomat who was in July by Israeli journalist Adi Schwartz. In the article, Schwartz discusses the talk Deek gave last year in Oslo shortly after the conclusion of Operation Protective Edge, Israeli鈥檚 summer campaign against Hamas. The quickly became an Internet sensation. But I believe Deek鈥檚 performance yesterday at the 华体会, a Washington, D.C. think tank where I鈥檓 a senior fellow, was perhaps even more impressive.
I strongly encourage readers to watch the , which is nearly one hour and thirty minutes of unadulterated Deek. It鈥檚 a real tour de force from a top diplomat and lawyer, who is also a great storyteller and one of the most original thinkers I鈥檝e ever had the pleasure to speak with.
The nominal subject of the event was the latest wave of Arab violence in Israel, a topic that Deek, an Arab Christian raised in Jaffa, is uniquely positioned to discuss. The talk covered a wide range of topics鈥攆rom the state of the Arab-Israeli conflict to the state of the larger region, including the ongoing war in Syria. Deek also spoke about his family, especially his grandfather who after fleeing to Lebanon with the outbreak of the 1948 war decided to come back to Israel鈥攁 decision that, as Deek described it, is a foundational moment for his family. Perhaps more importantly, it might be taken as inspiration not just for Arab Israelis and Palestinians, but for everyone throughout the Middle East who need to be able to imagine a different way of being in the world, especially now with much of the region in turmoil.
Deek explained that one key issue to understand is that the Israelis and Palestinians have two different narratives, which are entirely incommensurate. Israel sees the conflict as one between two separate national identities鈥攁 Jewish nationalism and a Palestinian nationalism鈥攚hich makes it possible for the two to accommodate each other鈥檚 claims. However, says Deek, the Arabs don鈥檛 see it like this at all. Rather, they see Israel as a foreign interloper that doesn鈥檛 belong in the region, and one that will eventually be rooted out. Deek expressed guarded optimism that the current wave of violence may simply be a form of despair issuing from the recognition that resistance and war鈥攎ilitary and political and moral confrontation鈥攈aven鈥檛 succeeded in driving Israel out of the Middle East. Maybe what comes after, Deek suggests, is that the Arabs have no choice but to acknowledge that Israel is here to stay.
Deek also discussed what the region might have looked like had the 1967 Khartoum summit changed the three no鈥檚鈥攏o peace with Israel, no recognition, no negotiations鈥攖o yeses. Sure, Jews belong in this region, Deek imagined the response might have been. Welcome home鈥攁nd we live here, too.
The most compelling part of Deek鈥檚 talk, I thought, was his description of tolerance, and how his definition was shaped by his understanding of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Tolerance, Deek argued, is not like the John Lennon song imagining no countries, no religion. Tolerance doesn鈥檛 issue from the conviction that we are all the same. To a certain degree we are, of course, but it is our differences from others鈥攐ur uniqueness鈥攖hat makes us fully human. And it is the respect, even admiration, for these differences that are the touchstone of real tolerance. This, Deek asserts, is an ethos clearly lacking in a region now engaged in huge sectarian and ethnic wars. It has to be the Jewish state leading the way, Deek said, because no other group in the region鈥攚hether that鈥檚 Christians or women or whoever鈥攈as the military or political power to make the case that Israel can: you don鈥檛 have to accept us, but we鈥檙e not going anywhere, and we鈥檙e not changing.
It occurred to me during the interview that the way Deek sees it, Israel is the pattern of a revolutionary idea, which he鈥檚 among the first to recognize and now proudly advocates.