Page 46 - issue
P. 46
Israel’s
New
Peace
Process
Teaching Dogs To Talk
by Raphael Blumberg year, two months before the U.S. presidential election – and
“Today a nine-year-old Palestinian boy on a school trip to the presumably under pressure from Barack Obama, whose politi-
West Bank’s only municipal zoo [in Qalqiliya] had his arm bit- cally-correct female clone was expected to win – the Israeli gov-
ten off by a bear that he had apparently tried to feed. The UK’s ernment’s cabinet agreed in principle to transfer enough land
Daily Mail reported that the animal had eaten the severed limb. to Qalqiliya from Jewish “Area C” of Judea and Samaria to en-
The Palestinian Ministry of Local Governance has closed the able the Arabs there to more than double the size of their town
zoo until further notice and has set up a committee to inves- (via permission to build 14,000 homes).
tigate the incident and deliver its findings within a week.... It
As soon as the story was publicized, there was a public out-
Qwas not immediately clear if any action was taken against the cry, whereupon most of the cabinet denied being in favor of it,
and Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed not to recall the details
bear.” (The Times of Israel, April 25, 2017) of that decision and also promised to reconvene the cabinet to
consider the decision once more. With all the cabinet mem-
alqiliya has been in the news over the past two weeks. bers now expressing their disapproval of the move, it can be
Until then, had you asked me what I knew about assumed that it will not happen. Popular opinion in Israel is
that town of 50,000 under the Palestinian Authority, very much against it, and the government knows that.
I would have said, “Isn’t that the place where they
sneak across the border to Kfar Saba and steal bicy- Actually, what occurred is exactly what Netanyahu hoped
cles and laundry?” would occur, in line with the following story: A poor Jew in
Eastern Europe, known for his brilliance, was summoned to
Then I heard that they’ve got a zoo as well, so I the landowner’s castle and given an ultimatum: “Teach my dog
thought it could provide a human interest story – to talk or I will kill you.” The Jew demanded five years to com-
you know – a chance to say something positive. Yet as you can plete the task, and an advance of 5,000 rubles, and his wishes
see from the tragic event described above, not every zoo is a were granted. Returning home with a smile on his face, his wife
safe place to take children. asked, “How can you be so calm?” He replied, “Five years is a
Actually, the most recent news about Qalqiliya comes “clos- long time! In that time, the landowner can die, the dog can die,
er to home,” literally. It seems that back in September of last
38 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
New
Peace
Process
Teaching Dogs To Talk
by Raphael Blumberg year, two months before the U.S. presidential election – and
“Today a nine-year-old Palestinian boy on a school trip to the presumably under pressure from Barack Obama, whose politi-
West Bank’s only municipal zoo [in Qalqiliya] had his arm bit- cally-correct female clone was expected to win – the Israeli gov-
ten off by a bear that he had apparently tried to feed. The UK’s ernment’s cabinet agreed in principle to transfer enough land
Daily Mail reported that the animal had eaten the severed limb. to Qalqiliya from Jewish “Area C” of Judea and Samaria to en-
The Palestinian Ministry of Local Governance has closed the able the Arabs there to more than double the size of their town
zoo until further notice and has set up a committee to inves- (via permission to build 14,000 homes).
tigate the incident and deliver its findings within a week.... It
As soon as the story was publicized, there was a public out-
Qwas not immediately clear if any action was taken against the cry, whereupon most of the cabinet denied being in favor of it,
and Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed not to recall the details
bear.” (The Times of Israel, April 25, 2017) of that decision and also promised to reconvene the cabinet to
consider the decision once more. With all the cabinet mem-
alqiliya has been in the news over the past two weeks. bers now expressing their disapproval of the move, it can be
Until then, had you asked me what I knew about assumed that it will not happen. Popular opinion in Israel is
that town of 50,000 under the Palestinian Authority, very much against it, and the government knows that.
I would have said, “Isn’t that the place where they
sneak across the border to Kfar Saba and steal bicy- Actually, what occurred is exactly what Netanyahu hoped
cles and laundry?” would occur, in line with the following story: A poor Jew in
Eastern Europe, known for his brilliance, was summoned to
Then I heard that they’ve got a zoo as well, so I the landowner’s castle and given an ultimatum: “Teach my dog
thought it could provide a human interest story – to talk or I will kill you.” The Jew demanded five years to com-
you know – a chance to say something positive. Yet as you can plete the task, and an advance of 5,000 rubles, and his wishes
see from the tragic event described above, not every zoo is a were granted. Returning home with a smile on his face, his wife
safe place to take children. asked, “How can you be so calm?” He replied, “Five years is a
Actually, the most recent news about Qalqiliya comes “clos- long time! In that time, the landowner can die, the dog can die,
er to home,” literally. It seems that back in September of last
38 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
