The Blue Chair section • And this time an interview with Natan Sharansky, winner of the Genesis Award for 2020 • On the peace agreements: "The paradigm is broken - feel energy from the Muslim world"
"The Genesis Prize is an opportunity to donate money to worthy causes"
Photography:
Joshua Joseph
Nathan Sharansky, a few months ago you gave the residents of Israel five tips from your experience on how to cope better during isolation. Now that we are facing another closure but also seeing the vaccines at the end of the tunnel, it may be possible to talk carefully about five tips for Israeli citizens to take advantage of the freedom that may come after the expected closure.
"At the beginning of the corona I said it is not advisable to build on things that are not up to us. Even now I think it is not helpful to think that in a few weeks we will all be on vacation. When I was imprisoned in Moscow and all signs showed I was about to be released I refused to give up because I did not want to be disappointed later. When I was officially informed of the release, on the plane, I believed.
"As for freedom, unfortunately I have no unique experience in this matter. In difficult situations we discover the human forces, the importance and value of the family, the community. Even after the corona one should continue to enjoy these values, and we must not forget the experience we gained in the difficult days. "Our people are small, how dependent we are on each other. There are things that humanity can only win together. And part of the unity is the connection between the identity of the individual and the universal identity."
In your new book, "Never Alone," which was recently co-published with historian Prof. Gil Troy, you point out that this connection is one of the things that kept you in jail.
"I'll tell you a story about it. Nelson Mandela was released exactly three years after me, and after his release we met. I had already managed to write a diary in which I told about my time in prison, about the interrogations, and he had time to read the things I wrote while in prison, and wanted to meet.
" Told me 'your situation was much harder than mine'.
I replied that he had spent 27 years in prison and I was only nine, but he insisted that his period was easier because his people were with him, while I was alone.
I have to tell you I was really offended.
I said to him, 'What do you mean?
My people are fighting for me. '
But Mandela said he read my diary and insisted everything was in my head.
Although during the whole period of imprisonment I saw my family only twice, but I really did not feel alone.
I told him that in the end, the world I had to some extent built in my head was the same as the real world.
People do not understand how completely different the conditions in the Gulag are than they are familiar with.
But the solidarity of the Jewish people is stronger than any gulag. "
Jewish solidarity is also stronger than the corona? How will the corona, for example, affect the trends of immigration to Israel?
" There is no doubt that they have opened many more immigration portfolios.
The consideration of whether to make aliyah has become realistic for many people, because the corona reminds you of the importance of the family, the home - and Israel symbolizes a home and is a natural address for that.
Despite the opening of the portfolios, naturally the ascent is slower because insulation is required, for example.
But in the meantime, in absolute numbers the increase has not increased, but only the number of cases.
When the corona restrictions are lifted, there is a chance of a much more significant increase. "
"Israel can be trusted."
New immigrant from France at Ben Gurion Airport // Photo: Coco
What numbers of cases are opening?
"I do not know the numbers exactly, but I can say that there were countries with twice as many cases, and even much more.
In America the level of immigration has not changed for decades, about 4,000-3,500 people a year.
As I understand it, today there are more than 10,000 cases opened there.
"This longing for Israel is also a result of the fact that we look much better than other countries in the world. We are among the first to bring a vaccine. In many ways, Israel is proving to be a home that can be trusted."
Zionism alongside Michael Douglas
How did the Corona affect anti-Semitism?
"There is no doubt that global shocks could provoke anti-Semitism. From the beginning of the Corona, people have come forward with accusations that Jews are using the Corona to make money on the stock market, or that Israel prepared its economy for the crisis because it knew about the Corona first. Cartoons also appeared. After all, anti-Semitism is built on emotions, not on logic.
"Attacks on Jews and the Jewish state are rising from all directions.
We see anti-Semitism from the far left on campuses in an effort to promote a boycott against Israel, accusations of war crimes and apartheid policies.
Anti-Semitism on the right is also growing - manifested in violent, sometimes murderous, attacks on Jews in synagogues and the community, and various accusations against Jews, such as bringing foreign workers to America and taking jobs from American citizens.
We also encounter anti-Semitism from radical Islam, which is reflected in many events in Europe.
Its culmination was in Iran's declarations and efforts to reach a "world without Israel." "
In your book, you show that there is also what works in our favor.
" In the book, we bring examples from more than a hundred campuses we have visited.
As chair of ISGAP, an international institute for the study of anti-Semitism, we assist professors in dealing with anti-Semitism, and in the days of the Corona we began giving lectures in several languages.
"I remember at one time I was on one of the campuses with actor Michael Douglas. I tried to talk to one of the young women there, and I told her I was a friend of Nelson Mandela, and I was even an international observer in the South African elections.
"I asked her to tell her about South Africa so that we could understand together whether Israel could be called an apartheid state. She, in response, began shouting loudly: 'We did not come here to talk to you, we came to demand a boycott of Israel.' It is colonialist, the Palestinians are always right and there is nothing to talk about. On the other hand, the divisions we send to campuses these days to help Jews understand that they have nothing to be ashamed of, that they can be proud of in Israel.
"It must be remembered that in the West, especially in America, The late Eli Wiesel said. Similarly, what begins with the demonization and delegitimization of Israel does not end in Israel. Today we can see a question that compares Zionism to colonialism turns American history into a history of racism.
For them, not only are the founders of the American Revolution part of a racist enterprise, but so are Lincoln and Martin Luther King.
I expect that in the coming years there will be a major struggle in America not necessarily between right and left, but between liberals, people who believe in human rights and freedom, and progressives who believe in the ideology of revolution of oppressors against oppressors.
Israel, for them, is the oppressors, and by definition guilty. "
Conversations with Alaska Jewry
Beyond what is happening in the United States, another thing that you think is preying on the cards is the agreements with Arab countries.
"The Royal Institute of Bahrain has signed a memorandum with the United States on the fight against anti-Semitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of Israel.
I talked to them and asked - 'Do you understand what you were given responsibility for?'
In response, they reinforced the move, saying they wanted to build normal relations with the State of Israel, and asked - 'Why do we actually lead to demonization against Israel?'
When you hear such a thing, you realize that the Arab world can no longer boycott us, despite all the calls for a boycott of Israel.
We cannot be boycotted when the major economic centers of Arab countries cooperate with us.
Experiences from imprisonment.
Mandela with Clinton // Photo: Reuters
"Of course another thing that works in our favor is to break the paradigm that the problems with the Palestinians must first be resolved, and until that happens - there will be no dialogue with Israel, which is considered an apartheid state. Once Arab countries sign with us one after another On agreements then all the pathos around the boycott of the apartheid state goes down the drain. It should be remembered that anti-Semitism has not 'built in' in Muslim societies for thousands of years. against Israel".
How do you try to connect with Jewish communities around the world to deal with the various challenges they face during the days of the Corona?
"A few months ago I did not know what a zoom is. But since the beginning of the Corona I talk to Zoom with agency emissaries, and through them I hear what is happening in Jewish communities around the world. I also talk to representatives of Australian Jewry, for example. I even came to Alaska Jewry. But on the other hand nothing can replace personal interaction. In these conversations people wanted to know what my advice for isolation was, they wanted me to talk about this week's affair. I also talk to the Ukrainian leader because of my involvement in the Holocaust Remembrance Project in Babi Yar. Governments should not be silenced. Ours in these countries. "
Meanwhile, until recently, the public discourse focused on the appointment of Efi Eitam as chairman of Yad Vashem. Some say that this is a political appointment.
"I know Efi as a first-rate army commander when I was still in government.
He was conducting impressive analyzes of the withdrawal from Lebanon.
He is an intellectual, with a special personality and also as an officer he had a special power.
"However, and I am not saying this to belittle, the Holocaust is not a military battle. It is impossible to say 'after me'. A dialogue with people and a focus on human rights is required here. That is what is at the top of the agenda. When I saw the criticism of it, I thought If he can not take a very clear position on human rights, that the rights of Arabs and Palestinians are no less important than the rights of the Jews, it will be very difficult for him to work in this world. If he does not speak their language. "Of the Holocaust researchers, it will not be good for Yad Vashem nor for him. Of course, now all the appointments are in doubt."
"For some governments"
Towards the end, it is impossible not to mention the honorable award you received, the Genesis Award - the Jewish Nobel, which miraculously elevates extraordinary people whose values they operate, and their achievements, inspire the next generation of the Jewish people.
Among other things, you have also won the Israel Prize, the Gold Medal of the US Congress and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in the past. What does this win mean for you?
"I was among those who discussed the idea of the award about a decade ago, and witnessed the process become a prestigious award.
Receiving the award gave me the opportunity not only to raise money for significant projects - but to donate money to worthy causes. "
A sign calling for a boycott of Israel // Archive photo: AFP
Where will you donate the prize money in the amount of one million dollars?
"I wanted to donate to places and organizations that link human rights and Jewish identity. Then Corona started, I thought of contributing to the study of the virus - but today billions, maybe tens of billions are invested in it, and what else is a million? So I asked them to try for organizations that have relatively little money." A thousand dollars, can make a big donation. Among other things, I donate the prize money to organizations that care for transparent populations - for example Aleh Negev, a village that offers a warm, professional home, and loves children with complex developmental disabilities; Enosh, the Israeli Mental Health Association; "To the victims of sexual assault, and also to an organization that helps rehabilitate prisoners mentally, called Migdal Or. We also donated to Start-Up Nation, to companies that support Israeli innovation, and to the Jewish community in Belarus."
You said in the past that as a child, the drawing teacher in the city where you grew up in Ukraine taught you that in order to draw an object in the most accurate way, you have to look at it from three points of view - front, back and top.
Today, almost 35 years after you immigrated to Israel, what do your eyes see under this detail when you look at the State of Israel?
"I arrived in Israel dramatically, in the morning I was in the hell of the KGB and at the end of the day I arrived in Israel, in heaven, in the Western Wall.
I felt in heaven and was afraid to wake up and go back to the dungeon.
Everything seemed like a dream.
When you are in heaven you can only descend, so I have been descending for 35 years but still in heaven.
In terms of free Jewish life, Israel is a paradise.
Look at the demonstrations in Balfour: on the one hand it's very annoying, and on the other hand it's what makes our society so special - people can vent frustrations and demonstrate in front of the Prime Minister's House.
The political situation is not exactly heavenly.
"I have always been in favor of some governments, in principle. I also spoke with Ganz and Netanyahu. Unfortunately, the government no longer worked as a unity government. The Corona did strengthen Israel, but unfortunately it did not strengthen the unity government. And despite everything, our country is strong, and I have it. "A lot of optimism, because we have Judaism, the Jews. Therefore, like the name of my book, we will never be alone."
For suggestions and comments: Ranp@israelhayom.co.il
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