'Foreigners Cannot Understand the Israelis' Vulnerability'

[IndianaGreen]

08/10/2009

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DAVID GROSSMAN

'Foreigners Cannot Understand the Israelis' Vulnerability'

In a SPIEGEL interview, novelist David Grossman discusses the vicious cycle of fear and violence in Israel, the inability of foreigners to understand the Israelis' sense of vulnerability and lack of confidence in the country's future. He also expresses skepticism about Benjamin Netanyahu's belief in peace

SPIEGEL: Mr. Grossman, you're a very political person, but you have avoided the Israeli-Arab conflict in your most recent books. Why?

Grossman: I felt that there was no way to write anything about this conflict without falling into the trap of clichés. There was no real argument anymore. Everything had been said, by the left and by the right. I didn't want these clichés in my literature. More than that I felt that because so much of our energy goes into the conflict we don't have energy to deal with the real existential things of life: being a father, being a mother, being a partner. For 10 years I preferred to write about these topics in my novels, because for me they are more important.

SPIEGEL: Is it at all possible to escape the depressing reality of the Israeli-Arab conflict?

Grossman: It is possible for so many Israelis. In a strange way you can live in this place and yet be totally detached from what happens. You can live a very comfortable life here. You do not feel the occupation, you do not see the Palestinians -- even if you live in the occupied territories like the settlers. We have paved, in reality and in our hearts, so many ways in order to detour and not confront ourselves with this reality.

SPIEGEL: Why then did you return to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in your new novel?

Grossman: For me it was impossible to fade out the reality of the conflict forever. I wanted to find a way to integrate politics and my inner life. When I started, I felt I must try to find a way to integrate the outer sphere of reality with the private world -- to show how the brutal reality penetrates the most intimate spaces.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,641437,00.html

[bemildred]

1. Well, I can feel his pain, but that doesn't mean he is making a lick of sense.

Maybe it is not everybody else that is confused, maybe it's you, eh?

[billyoc]

2. He's absolutely right.

I cannot.

[whoneedstickets]

3. A sense of insecurity...carefully cultivated for political advantage.

Security and Insecurity are, of course, social constructs - states of mind. Who benefits from creating an atmosphere of insecurity?