Geoff Sifrin

TAKING ISSUE

An Israeli commentator, alluding to former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s view that one can’t be prime minister without possessing a killer instinct, summarised Herzog thus: “When [he] looks someone in the eye, it’s not in order to kill but in order to recite a poem.”

Similar things have been said of British Labour leader Ed Miliband’s defeat in the recent British elections – he is too “nice” to inspire confidence in an anxious populace looking for strength and the conviction to do what’s necessary in this scary world. Not enough of a “tough guy”.

Nelson Mandela was a tough guy – a warrior leader. His charisma and conviction saved this country from a bloodbath by making diverse South Africans follow him, feeling they were all building the same dream. Warrior leaders can take a multiplicity of voices and forge them into a unified vision through which to do great things.

Sadly, this feeling of common purpose seems to be disintegrating lately as South Africans tussle over competing outlooks, leading to absurd incidents like black students at UCT throwing faeces on Cecil John Rhodes’ statue at the university, a veteran white journalist who fought apartheid his whole life – Allister Sparks – being hauled over the coals for saying Hendrik Verwoerd was a “smart” politician, and so on.

The old saying that the victors write the history books has long been true, whether in South Africa, Israel/Palestine, Europe and other conflict zones – the dominant narrative belongs to them. But the losers have theirs.

In Israel, a controversial far-left NGO, Zochrot, dedicated to raising awareness about displacement of Palestinians and destruction of their villages in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, has created a mobile app called iNakba, downloadable onto a smartphone in Arabic, English and Hebrew.

It provides the Palestinian side of the story for Israeli memorial sites such as flashpoints of the war, tributes to fallen soldiers, and so on. So a tourist visiting these historical sites can now have instant access to an alternative, Palestinian version.

It maps 520 Palestinian villages which were destroyed, giving information such as their population in 1948, name of the Israeli military operation in which its residents were displaced, and names of Jewish settlements in or around the area after 1948.

Zochrot supports the Palestinian right of return and is regarded with hostility by mainstream and rightwing Israelis. Some have tried to shut it down legally for allegedly opposing “the existence of the State of Israel”.

How many competing narratives can one listen to at the same time without becoming paralysed?

Israel has been built as an incredibly successful country by drawing on its Zionist storyline, supported passionately by the vast majority of Jews worldwide. It was only through cleaving to this vision that creating and defending the Jewish state was possible. Yet hidden underneath it is the Palestinian narrative.

The now discredited “postmodern” ideology of the late-20th-century prided itself on giving equal status to all voices simultaneously, but ended up with a cacophony, a tower of babel from which nothing constructive could emerge. If something positive is to be built, the gaggle of voices have to learn to somehow sing together.

This is where leadership comes in. Mandela was able to listen to the divergent stories of all South Africans – even Betsy Verwoerd, who he had a very public cup of tea with – and out of this chart a course for the whole population to be inspired by.

The Israeli or Palestinian leader who can do this has yet to appear. Neither Netanyahu nor Abbas fit the bill – being able to give enough credence to the other side’s view, while still maintaining the allegiance and trust of their own people.

Buji Herzog has all the wholesome values of open-mindedness and the willingness to listen to the other side, but does not project the toughness to make Israelis feel safe in his hands. And a Palestinian leader who can understand Jewish history and the Israeli ethos, yet bring his own people with him, is nowhere to be seen.

• Geoff Sifrin is former editor of the SAJR. He writes this column in his personal capacity.