Yeah, right.

Even when we do something good we have to spoil it...

Do the kibbutz managers really believe that global opinion would ignore the far-reaching political consequences — evidently positive, in this case? Finally the dialog between Israeli Jews and Arabs yields some results; the Jewish people’s mind frame may be shifting towards more democratic values.

At least the media here are less naive and realize how revolutionary and symbolic this decision is.

Or is it? And what is all the fuss about?

Let’s start from the beginning: The kibbutz was the culmination of the Zionist dream of building a land-farming nation on the fertile ground of Marxist principles. A small and effective village, the kibbutz harbored the essence of Jewish political idealism and was a decidedly Jewish economic enterprise. Moreover, early kibbutzim (the plural of “kibbutz” in Hebrew) had to fight off Palestinian attackers who wished to prevent Jewish settlement.

The kibbutzim thrived until around the early nineties, when the whole system collapsed, lacking economic viability. They were then privatized — turned into a sinister parody of their once cherished values. Today’s kibbutz is a shell without the ideological substance: the management employs foreign workers and establishes profitable factories that produce urban goods. Marx would not have been satisfied with a turn or two in his grave: he would have jumped out, scathing.

All this prompts to reassess the situation. If the kibbutz no longer truly represents Israel, it cannot represent major political changes. A failed political-economical movement means just that: a failure.

Although the authorities deny any claims on symbolism, saying the acceptance is a “pragmatic step,” it appears that admitting an Arab-Muslim member is indeed a symbolical gesture — but not in a good way.

It stands for the failure to interweave Israeli Arab population into the state’s fabric. Israeli Arabs are still treated as second grade citizens, and to many of them the kibbutz admittance is a mere curious incident — if not an insult. It is all too little too late.

It is so symbolic as to devoid it of any real influence and mark it as an essentially empty act.

I think I agree with the kibbutz authorities. The decision to admit and Arab-Muslim member was not political after all.