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PARTISAN REVIEW
turna l Israel. Day time Israe l ma kes a tremendous eH'o rt to crea te
the impress ion o f the dete rmined , tou gh , simple, uncomplicated
society ready to fi ght back, read y to hit back twi ce as ha rd ,
courageou s a nd so on . Noc turna l Israe l is a re fu gee camp with
more ni ghtma res pe r squa re mil e I guess tha n a ny o ther place in
the wo rld . Almos t eve ryone has see n the dev il.
Goodheart:
Wha t about simpl y li ving o rdinary lives the way people
li ve ordinary li ves in o ther cities - is tha t poss ible? I ha ve heard
Israelis say, "Enough o f the heroic pas t, we wa nt peace a nd when
peace comes we will be a ble to li ve like othe r people in other
cities."
Oz:
I wi sh I could believe tha t sta tement. I mean , I do beli eve their
sincerity, but I suspec t in my heart of hearts tha t the Israel is have
d eveloped a ce rta in addi cti on
to
drama .
Goodheart:
So that if the drama ti c present di sappeared ...
Oz:
There would be a ce rta in cri sis, a ce rta in emptiness, a ce rta in
amount of a nticlimax whi ch I tri ed in a way to convey in
My
M ichael. My M ichael
is delibera tely se t in the fifti es, a nd the fifti e
were "the morning a fter" in the te rms o f Israe li hi sto ry. After the
sound a nd fury o f the forties, o f the momentous events, the Holo–
caust, the struggle fa r indepe ndence, indepe nde nce itsel f. Arter
tha t came the fifti es: then we had a peri od of rela ti ve peace, a
small country with housing problems a nd eve ryone had probl ems ,
sewage problems - you name it. So, in a se nse, I tri ed to cope with
thi s pa rticul a r expe ri ence in my mind .
Goodheart:
So fa r we've bee n ta lkin g about the J ewi sh expe ri ence in
Israel. I'm struck by wha t I think ma ny visitors a re struck by -the
di ve rsity o f the society, the ma ny groups pa rti cul a rl y in J erusalem
a nd in the Old C ity . Yet the bounda ries a re ve ry sha rp : it's ra re to
mee t a n Arab sociall y, interma rri age is ra rer still. I kn ow that
you're conce rned a bout reco nc ilia ti on be tween Ara bs a nd J ews.
It
seems to me tha t some prac ti cal acknowled gme nt o f the Arab
realit y in Israe l has to occur if Israel is go in g to survive as a
society. Under wha t conditi ons is such reconcili a ti on poss ible? Or
is it poss ibl e?
Oz:
I think it is. I don't bel ieve in a redeemin g f'o rmul a, a nd melo–
d rama ti c reconcili a ti on , a Dos toevskyan sce ne of the Israel is a nd
the Arabs hu ggin g one a no ther in tea rs a nd brothe rl y love
immedi a tel y a fte r the redeem in g f'ormul a is f'ound. I bel ieve in sad
a nd pa inful acce pta nce o f rea lities whi ch a re bas ica ll y pa inful l'or
I rael is a nd Pales tini a ns a like, a nd I spec ify Pales tini a ns because I
believe the crux o f the ma tt er is the Israe li -Pa lestini a n ques ti on.
The Israel -Ara b conHi ct is, rel a ti vel y speaking, a simpl e one. The
