JERUSALEM—The Economist is marking this Passover/Easter weekend with a cover showing four armed men under an Old City arch and the headline, Jerusalem: The Key to Peace. On account of shadows, it is unclear whether the men are members of an Israeli patrol or Palestinians looking for action. One of several articles is "The Last Conquest of Jerusalem." It includes a familiar litany of anti-Israel accusations that the Jewish regime is intent on dividing and conquering the city for the last time. 

As part of its justifications, it quotes numerous Israelis concerned with peace and justice, almost all of them from the left wing of the political spectrum that has been left hanging in recent elections. We'll leave aside the problematic issue of conquering for the "last time" in a city that has changed hands more than 30 times in 3,000 years. Perhaps The Economist's executives expect the Messiah to come while the edition is still fresh, and this time to assure the city's future according to Jewish tradition. Not necessarily an appropriate idea for Easter weekend, but that is material for another discussion.

 

The article makes some points that are almost right. One of them is:  "Arab Jerusalemites share some blame for their disenfranchisement. They tend to boycott local elections in protest at the occupation, so that the city council is now dominated by ultra-Orthodox Jews. But the bias in policies is too blatant and too long-standing to be down to that alone."

 

I have tried making the point to Arabs and their friends that Arab suffering in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel is almost entirely their own fault, and has a great deal to do with poor political choices. Sure, there is a Jewish mind-set of Arab treachery and violence, which is not hard to justify. Against this, however, almost all Arab political choices do nothing to counter this mind set. Boycotting Jerusalem local elections is insane. Arabs could elect up to 30 percent of the city council, and be crucial in selecting the mayor and determining resource allocations. Due to arrangements made after the 1967 war, few Jerusalemite Arabs chose to be Israeli citizens when they had the option, but they can vote in municipal elections by virtue of being residents. Almost none of them vote. They honor organized boycotts of the elections.

 

When challenged, Arabs and their friends say that the community cannot give up its national aspirations! But they would not have to. They could campaign on improving the physical and social benefits of their neighborhoods. They would not have to sing Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem, at their election rallies. They also say that joining Jerusalem politics would be hopeless; that Jewish politicians would unite against them. I doubt it; not when they hold 30 percent of the city council and are crucial in selecting a mayor. I counter by saying that it would not be easy to overcome several decades of antipathy, but politics is the way to start. My model is African-American politics. They struggled for the vote and used it to join the system and use power for their own constituency. An African-American establishment developed that ignored community members who sought to separate themselves, some of them wanting national independence in part of the United States as compensation for slavery. A thriving African-American professional and business community is testimony to the success of African-American politicians. Residual misery in the ghetto shows that politics does not cure everything.

 

My theme is that politics is not about love, friendship, justice, or favors. You get what you vote for. If you don't vote, you don't get. As The Economist article shows, Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem get the short end of the stick in all kinds of social services and physical amenities. Jews who vote get the long end of the stick. Ultra-Orthodox Jews who vote at over 80 percent turnouts in local elections get more than secular Jews who vote at 20 percent or less.

 

Arab boycotts of Jerusalem politics are yet another demonstration of the impotence of the Arab theme, "We're being screwed by the Jews. The world has to help." The world has given up on the Palestinians. It provides little more than lip service to their cause. The Palestinians have to help themselves. They have not tried the political route. It will not be easy. It was not easy for African-Americans. But to renounce it without trying is to relegate one's community to more generations of misery in the name of elusive national dreams. Return to the homes they left, or were forced out of in 1948 and 1967? The many who seem to be seriously hoping that someone else will give them that dream do nothing but dig deeper into unreality.

 

There is a parallel condition in Israeli national politics. To vote for the Knesset, one must be a citizen. Arabs living in Israel after 1948, and their descendents, are citizens, and they vote in national and local elections. Most of them select one or another largely Arab party, which end up with 10 or so members of the 120 seat Knesset. Some Arabs vote for largely Jewish parties, and a few Arabs usually sit in the Knesset as members of Labor, Likud, or Meretz.

 

What do the Arab parties get for their constituency? Not much. Why? Because they do not play the political game of getting along by going along. I am convinced that two of the brightest Members of Knesset are Azmi Beshara, Ph.D. in Political Philosophy, and Ahmed Tibi, M.D. Yet each has chosen to sideline himself by playing the card of extreme Palestinian nationalism. They are stars on media talk shows, but play there as in the Knesset a caricatured role as angry Arabs, who do no more than curse the establishment for its lack of perfection. They and their Arab party colleagues articulate their litany of national slogans and accusations, and almost always vote against the government in forums that distribute resources.

 

Arabs in the major parties have been more successful in getting benefits for their constituency. One of my best students left off working toward a PhD in order to take an appointment as Israel's scientific attache in the embassy in Germany. He had earlier earned a PhD in biological science at Heidelberg, was fluent in German, and had been working in a professional capacity for Israel's agricultural ministry. Earlier in his life he had been a Communist, but that did not retard his career. His uncle was a Member of Knesset for the Labor Party. Sure, there may have been nepotism in the appointment, but the man was professionally qualified. And we should not expect squeaky clean from a community being weaned from traditionalism to competitive politics.

 

I wish you all the best for this Passover/Easter weekend. Fortunately, we are living in a time when we can each celebrate the holiday of our choice, or perhaps both of them. The Jews among us do not have to worry about Christians running amok, screaming blood libels, and seeking to kill the Christ killers. Jews are in better shape than at any time since the death of King Solomon. Our success owes something to the political skills that have produced the creation and survival of Israel, and the status of Jews in North America and Europe. It is a model that I wish upon my Arab neighbors. Sadly, they seem to have preferred the dead ends of Yassir Arafat and now Hamas.