Lecture sheds light on issues surrounding Israel

Ishmael Khaldi's perspective as a non-Jewish supporter of Israel generated strong reactions from a crowd of about 50 people made up of mostly IU students Tuesday evening in Ballantine Hall.\nKhaldi, an Israeli-Arab, has been tirelessly touring the United States since December 2002 to share his experiences as a minority Israeli citizen. \nAudience opinions seemed to mirror the divide of the current political situation in Israel, and Khaldi's largely pro-Israel views were met with both strong acceptance and opposition. \n"I'm here to bring you a different picture of the current situation in Israel," Khaldi said. "Israel and the Middle East are such a huge part of U.S. foreign policy, so it's important to broaden American perspectives about Israel, politically and culturally."\nKhaldi calls himself a Muslim-Bedouin -- mainly a nomadic group of people whose name derives from the Arabic word meaning "dweller of the desert." The Bedouins, who have a current population of 150,000 in Israel, are one of many Israeli minority groups that enjoy equal human rights and liberties and peacefully coexist with both Jewish and Muslim communities. \n"The Bedouins try to be a bridge of understanding between both sides (Jewish and Islamic)," Khaldi said. "I'm coming here to speak to bear witness to the fact that someone like me, a non-Jew and non-Arabic minority in Israel, can still enjoy the benefits of citizenship. Bedouins are committed to their Israeli citizenship and to being part of Israel as a state." \nKhaldi said he believes surrounding Muslim areas put pressure on Bedouins and question their allegiance to Israel. But he stressed Israeli Bedouins' commitment to their nation.\n"I am a proud Israeli," he said. "I'm not Zionist, not Jewish, but as a Bedouin I fully support Israel." \nRobert Goldstein, a Bloomington resident and Kelley School of Business career counselor, said Khaldi's message as an Israeli minority was important in order to give students a more realistic impression of Israelis. \n"When people think of Israel, they often only think of Jews and Arabs, but there are so many different religious sectors in Israel to consider," Goldstein said. "Ishmael really provides an interesting outlook as one of these Israeli religious minorities." \nKhaldi's perspective of Israel was very positive, and he continually praised the benefits granted to Bedouins since the inception of an Israeli state in 1948. However, he criticized the Israeli government's failure to recognize the need for Bedouins to modernize their primitive culture to current society in Israel. \n"Israel does still have many problems when it comes to dealing with minorities," he said. "And the Israeli government largely ignores the fact that many Bedouins, who come from a primitive, nomadic background, are not modernized."\nKhaldi said he estimates at least 50 percent of Bedouins, including some members of his own immediate family, still live primitively.\n"A traditional society cannot join modern society overnight," Khaldi said. "But that does not stop Bedouins from being fully committed to being Israeli citizens."\nKhaldi is the third son of eleven children, who has gone from a shepherd living in a tent to a successful person of academia. He has successfully transitioned from his people's traditional roots to modern society. \nKhaldi has served as a soldier and political analyst for the Israel Defense Forces and worked as an Israeli police officer and holds a master's degree in political science from Tel Aviv University. \nIn addition to his Tuesday evening address in Ballantine Hall, Khaldi has also delivered several speeches to the local Jewish and Christian communities, Bloomington community leaders and high school students at Bloomington's Harmony School. The speeches were part of a three-day series sponsored by the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center and Hoosiers for Israel. \nFreshman Abby Schachter said she thought Khaldi's minority Israeli perspective was very enlightening. \n"He really changed my perspective of the Bedouins' and other Israeli minorities' commitment to Israel," Schachter said. "What he said about how over 75 percent of Bedouins still choose to serve in the Israeli army even though military service is not compulsory for them really showed how committed some of the Israeli minorities are."\nWhile many who attended the event agreed with Khaldi's perspective, his speech also met some opposition. A heated debate arose when an audience member and activist in several human rights organizations, including the Christian Peacemaker Teams and the International Solidarity Movement, accused Khaldi of "glossing over" Israel's problems. The audience member noted he has visited Israel three times.\nAlthough he said he admired Khaldi's intentions, he disagreed with the positive image of Israel he said Khaldi was portraying and argued he would like to see "at least a reasonable level of human rights in Israel." \nMany reacted strongly to the audience member's comments with another audience member saying too many people hold Israel up to "unfairly high standards."\nGoldstein said people are often quick to criticize other nations without first examining the troubles in their own.\n"The United States has been a country a lot longer than Israel, and we're still working through a lot of problems," Goldstein said. "The nature of democracy is conflict. But eventually democracies do work to solve problems, and I'm sure Israel will work through their troubles, too." \n-- Contact staff writer Andrea Minarcek at aminarce@indiana.edu.