Tom Segev
Tom Segev
Tom Segevis an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives...
debating deeply divided future israelis leave people question saying tired
Most Israelis are tired of the big decision. It is as if they're saying to the politicians do your thing and leave me alone. This used to be a very deeply divided society. For 40 years, we have been debating about the future of the territories, and people now feel that question has been decided.
carry continued famous gaza israelis military pinpoint stopped time
For a long time Israelis have long stopped going to Gaza even if they have continued to carry out their military obligations. They are not even able to pinpoint these famous settlements on a map.
conspiracy theories
The conspiracy theories have never had it better.
almost components contrary deep hearts holocaust identity israeli mean memory sky
Yes, Hitler is in Tel Aviv and the sky isn't falling. No, this doesn't mean that Israeli hearts are coarsened to the memory of the Holocaust; on the contrary ? the Holocaust is planted so deep in the components of Israeli identity that almost nothing can get to it.
attitude people childhood
That's a deep change in priorities. People are much less political today. They have found other values of life. We are developing normal attitudes, a normal set of priorities. We are growing out of our childhood.
country thinking people
Ever since our country came into existence, we have always assumed that we are better than the Arabs. But we are noticing that these are no longer backward people. Suddenly we are confronted with a new situation - the fact that the Arab world maybe thinks just as democratically as we do, perhaps even more democratically. Where does this leave us? After all, we're supposed to be the only democracy in the Middle East!
mistake thinking uprising
I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad for both sides. But I don't think the forces are there (that could carry out) an uprising against the leadership. The people that could initiate it are in Israeli prisons. And what could they hope to achieve? In the end, they're too weak to end the Israeli occupation.
world earth imagine
If the region truly becomes democratic, an undemocratic bit of earth would remain here. It's hard to imagine that the world, especially the Arab world, would tolerate this.
country israel people
Like most Israelis, I know very little about the Arabs. We just look down on them and see them as a threat. We have absolutely no experience with a democratic country in our vicinity. Is it good or bad for us? I am convinced that democracy isn't just good for the people in those countries, but for Israel as well.
cannot fight help holocaust papers publish released suddenly
We were always told we cannot use them, we cannot publish them because it would help Holocaust deniers. Now suddenly these papers are being released to fight the Holocaust deniers.