more wzc - the settlement enterprise

The three days of the World Zionist Congress can be roughly broken down as follows:

Day 1 - Siyurim (field trips), corresponding to some committee
Day 2 - Committee meetings, where proposals on a particular topic are discussed
Day 3 - The general plenary session, where resolutions are voted on by the entire assembly of delegates

I attached myself to the sixth committee, "The Settlement Enterprise." Settlement has come to be associated with settlements in the West Bank, but the scope of the committee included the peripheral areas of the Galilee and Negev as well.

The siyur for members of my committee focused on Gush Etzion, the region of the West Bank bounded by Jerusalem to the north, the Green Line to the west, Hebron to the South and the Dead Sea to the east.

It was interesting to go on a siyur planned by someone else after spending the last several months planning siyurim for other people. I couldn't stop myself from deconstructing the siyur into the implied messages that the organizers sent through each component.

Herodiom - An ancient hill fortress, somewhat resembling Masada. The messages: Judea is beautiful, Jews have an ancient connection to the land (and therefore a right to it), anyone who tries to force Jews out of the land is like the Roman Empire.

Kfar Etzion - A kibbutz, abandoned several times under threat of violence and resettled in 1967. The messages: settlers in the West Bank are just like the chalutzim of the second aliya, settlers are heroic because they persevere in the face of technical and political obstacles, Arabs are destructive and violent.

Shaul Goldstein - The mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council. The messages: settlers are innovative and provide technologically advanced products to the world market, settlers have very good relations with regular Arabs, Arab leaders undermine their friendship and cooperation.

I asked the mayor, "Do you think there should be a Palestinian state?" He said no.

I honestly enjoyed the siyur, even though I felt it was inappropriate for the organizers to have so obviously taken one side (the wrong one) on a controversial issue.

Alternates (like me) were, as a rule, not permitted to attend committee meetings or vote in the general plenary session, but I subbed in for actual delegates in both the committee meeting and the general plenary.

After some initial turbulence, the committee meeting settled down into a very respectful atmosphere, which I attribute partially to the even-handed chairmanship of Hadar Susskind. The final resolution, which I presented on behalf of Habonim Dror, Ameinu, J Street, Hashomer Hatzair and Meretz, recognized a two-state solution as an urgent priority. It passed with a vast majority and the support of Likud after the Labor-Meretz-Reform faction accepted some of Likud's amendments.

After the resolution passed, an orthodox man praised the process even though his political beliefs forced him to vote against the resolution.

Susskind discusses the desertion of the committee by some of its right-wing members and the subsequent fiasco in the general plenary in this blog post. I would add that Liam Getreu from Habonim Dror was one of the "two young Australians from opposing political perspectives" referenced by Susskind.