George Deek is a Christian Arab from the ancient Mediterranean city of Jaffa. He is also deputy to Israeli Druze poet and academic Naim Araidi, who currently serves as Israel’s ambassador to Norway.
Late last month, Deek addressed a gathering hosted by the Norwegian group “With Israel for Peace.” He delivered what some in that country are calling “the best speech an Israeli diplomat ever made.”
Arab diplomat tells the truth about the Palestinian movement:
As an Arab with a long history in the land, Deek doesn’t sugar-coat Jewish involvement in the conflict. Atrocities were committed by all involved, and Deek is not prepared to give Israel a pass on documented wrong-doing just because the years following her victory have seen the rise of a strong democratic state where minorities like Deek and his boss, Araidi, enjoy full and equal rights.
But, Deek is left to wonder why disproportionate attention was and continues to be paid to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when far more severe crises have raged and still are raging over the same period of time.
Only one conclusion can be reached by this clear-headed Arab diplomat: “The Nakba has been transformed from a humanitarian disaster to a political offensive.”
Most of those involved, either directly or indirectly, care far less about the actual welfare of the Palestinian Arabs than they do about demonizing and destroying Israel, he reasoned.
And, in the process, Deek lamented that “the Palestinians have become slaves to the past, held captive by the chains of resentment, prisoners in the world of frustration and hate.”
The English translation of Deek’s full speech is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the Israeli-Arab conflict and its history. Click here to check it out.
Source
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25439/Default.aspx
TRANSCRIPT OF GEORGE DEEK'S SPEECH
When I walk in the streets of my home town Jaffa, I am often reminded of the year 1948.
The Alleys of the old city, the houses in Ajami neighborhood, the fishing nets at the port – they all seem to tell different stories about the year that has changed my city forever.
One of those stories is about one of the oldest families in this ancient city – the Deek family – my own.
Before 1948 my grandfather George, after whom I’m named, worked as an electrician, at the Rotenberg Electricity Company. He was not very interested in politics.
