Word: secularize
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Peretz and the Flowering of Secular Jewish Culture"--Phillips Brooks Parlor...
...same time that he scores the Israeli government, however, Shahak has some strong criticism to level at the Palestinians. He is especially critical of the PLO's use of the slogan "democratic secular state," for Shahak claims the Palestinians have never defined or explained the concept in print to his satisfaction...
Shahak says he is "an Israeli Jew working in his community, and my political duty is to try to make my community understand the Palestinian demands. I am continually faced by the question of what Palestinians mean by the word 'secular'--since it has not been explained. If not followed by clarification, the word 'secular' in the world-famous slogan not only does not evoke understanding inside this community--it evokes contempt...
Shahak views the upswing in "religious fanaticism," among both Muslims in the Arab nations and the Jews in Israel, with dismay. He is skeptical of just what "secularism" is taken to mean. He recalls a PLO custom in pre-civil-war Labanon. When a Palestinian fighter died in combat, his funeral procession would be led by a Muslim mufti [religious leader] and a Christian priest walking hand in hand. "This doesn't mean secularity," Shahak concludes with a laugh. "'Secular' means, for people like me, putting the clergy in their place...
...Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, headed by hard-lining George Habash, had muddled the Palestinian position. Although the Israelis still accuse them of it, most Palestinian leaders have long since given up the idea of driving Israel into the sea. Lately, even their hazy notion of a secular state of Palestine embracing Arabs, Jews and Christians has also faded (although Israel's Begin, if he manages to annex the West Bank and its 650,000 Arabs, may yet accomplish something like that...