A white tent in the square

The slogan was pointless: Peace is better than Greater Israel. Of course, peace is better than Greater Israel but, even at Peace Now's first demonstration in April 1978, that wasn't the choice. Even less is it so now, as the movement marks its 30th anniversary this month. The visionary element in Peace Now was, and remains, an illusion. It was a messianic illusion, a self-deception. But, illusory slogan aside, there was also an incisive grasp of reality. It understood that occupation corrupts, that the settlements were a disaster, that every effort must be made to divide the land between two nation-states. The movement was formed at the end of the '70s because a new generation of Israelis understood that in the face of the right wing and settlers, a different Zionism was called for. An educated, rational, enlightened, moral Zionism - that would be a contemporary reflection of the founding fathers' fundamental insights. A white tent in the square By Ari Shavit