"In the coming 50 years, Arabs will constitute the overwhelming majority of people between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. The new generation of Arabs is much more conscious of democracy, freedom and national dignity. In such a context, Israel cannot afford to be perceived as an apartheid island surrounded by an Arab sea of anger and hostility. Many Israeli leaders are aware of this challenge and therefore believe that creating an independent Palestinian state is imperative.
In a previous post we noted that issues of communication should be resolved by communication. Here's another example when something that exists in language - the metaphor of Israel as an apartheid island – is expected by the writer to induce real world actions.
Israel is not an apartheid state by any sensible definition of the word. But there is more in the Turkish President’s article that deserves a remark: it’s the absurdity of claiming that if Israel is perceived as such, then Israel should respond by adjusting its policies towards a Palestinian state.
In a way, Gul’s advice for Israel is good as gold: the country really can’t afford to remain silent about being bullied into actions with false metaphors that are spread around, to audiences that don’t question them. It really needs to start articulating what an illusion it is to assume that changing its policies will improve its international image. If Israel is wrongly perceived as an apartheid state right now, when in fact it isn't, there is no reason to think that similarly wrong perceptions will suddenly seize to exist after Israel has made its latest round of concessions.
The cognitive mistakes that are inherent in metaphors like “apartheid state” or “Gaza as a prison camp” will not go away unless their illogical nature is revealed. They are in the eye, or mind, of the beholder and can only be changed when the vision of that beholder is corrected.
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