In a recent meeting with Norwegian pro-Palestinian activists they gave me a letter carrying their NGO logo which you can see here:



Since earlier during our meeting they expressed their positive view about the right of Israel to exist I drew their attention to the fact this logo sends the opposite message – it shows that the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River is Palestine and only Palestine. There is no hint any other entity exists there.
 
First the activists said the map showed historical Palestine. I begged to differ saying historical Palestine included also the vast region of Trans-Jordan, today known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. As you can see this part of historical Palestine, as a matter of fact, the major part of it, is absent from the logo.
 
They then said the logo was only symbolic and did not reflect a defined political position.
 
Well, I could agree logos are not detailed political positions but then again, symbols mean SOMETHING, they represent IDEAS, sometimes they are very powerful.
 
If this would have been an isolated example one might have thought I may be a bit paranoid or over-reacting.
 
This problem does not start nor end with NGOs in Norway. As a matter of fact, Israel does not exist in the public space in the Arab-Moslem world. I mean, it exists as an objective and target of extreme hate and anger but its symbols do not exist. Its flag exists only in order to be burned in public protests and of course it does not exist in maps. Take a flight operated by an airliner from an Arab/Moslem country, look at the brochure in the seat pocket in front of you, the part at the end where the maps are printed – most likely you will not find Israel in it. I hear this is also the reality in some of the flights to Arab capitals operated by Western airliners, after receiving some complaints from angry passengers.
 
Unfortunately the systematic nullification of Israel is much wider than this. Israel does not exist in most of the educational systems in Middle Eastern countries. Huge populations there are being born and raised without having thought anything about my country but hate.
 
The trendy cliché is to blame Israel policies for the fact that a Palestinian state still does not exist. In my view this is a mistake, while the real root cause for the lack of solution is the unwillingness by important parts of the Arab/Moslem world, including within the Palestinian society, to accept Israel as an integral part of the region. Some of them say it openly, others take a more sophisticated approach using softer terms in order to satisfy western and liberal opinions – but then again – there is the logo.
 
In an interview (21 May) with Atlantic’s journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, US President Barack Obama essentially connected denying Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish homeland with antisemitism.
 
For me this logo has only one meaning and only one powerful message – Israel should not exist.
 
Saying this logo is “only symbolic” is underestimating the power of symbols. It also shows lightheadedness in relating to a point that for most Israelis is nothing short of existential.