Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua: Acquiring False Identities At Great Psychic Cost.

• Author: Normey, Rob
• Position: LAW AND LITERATURE

Sayed Kashua wrote his novel, Second Person Singular, as an Arab-Israeli. He has since sadly reflected on his need to leave Israel for the US, after years of trying to find a place for himself in a society that treated him and other Palestinians as second-class participants in a country dominated by hard- right, nationalistic voices.

Before turning to Kashua's novel, I wanted to place it in the harsh and punitive legal context of a variety of repressive laws that have been passed in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset. One such law enacted by Israel in March, 2017 denies entry to any foreigner who has exercised his or her freedom of conscience and of expression to support the international boycott movement that has gained steam. This law comes in an era where the ever-expanding illegal settlements established by the state of Israel calls into question any prospective two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians that could have any hope of a just and peaceful resolution of the ongoing turmoil endemic to the Palestinian / Israeli situation. It was reported that the vote came as the Israeli government's right wing was clearly emboldened by the election of President Trump and his warm welcome the previous month of Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as the statements made by key members of his administration which have been highly supportive of the illegal settlements project.

Rabbi Rich Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish movement in North America, was quoted in an interview as follows: "It's going to be a giant sign...'Don't come unless you agree with everything we're doing here.' I don't know what kind of democracy makes that statement." A peace activist sees the law as redefining as an enemy of Israel anyone who does not agree that the settlements are now and forever to be part of Israel.

A second law that was enacted in the Knesset some years ago will now be utilized to punish two foreigners who have dared to call for a cultural boycott of Israel or the territory it controls. The 2011 law allows civil suits against those who might call for an economic or cultural boycott, by anyone who can claim economic harm. The law was heavily criticized by Israeli civil liberties groups, and as expected, the criticisms were to no avail.

But I certainly had these reports etched in my mind as I read Kashua's novel. I thought about the fact that one of the protagonists' is a lawyer whose name we never learn, but one who...