An op-ed such as this occurs all too infrequently in NYT. David Brooks offers an empathetic, intelligent, and rather precise account of Israeli social and behavioral norms.
There are four wonderful statements I will recount:
- "Israel is a country held together by argument. Public culture is one long cacophony of criticism."
- "As an American Jew, I was taught to go all gooey-eyed at the thought of Israel, but I have to confess, I find the place by turns exhausting, admirable, annoying, impressive and foreign."
- "Most important, this argumentative culture nurtures a sense of responsibility. The other countries in this region are more gracious, but often there is a communal unwillingness to accept responsibility for national problems."
- "This conflict will go on for a generation or more."
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This article is worth commentary. This is one of those "once a year" articles from the Times which speaks about Israel in unequivocally positive terms - and from a Times columnist no less (rather than a guest op-ed writer).
ReplyDeleteBrooks doesn't delve too deeply into political issues, but he shows that as a whole, Israelis are good people. I would argue that the Times editorial staff would strongly disagree.