anne's dispatches from sydney

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israel and zionism

I think the most difficult thing about Israel, and the way that Zionism has been shaped and owned by the Jewish Diaspora, is that most Jews have incorporated some of their personal identity in Israel.

This means that they personally identify with the state itself, and see it as a metaphor and a symbol for beautiful things such as their collective dreams and aspirations of safety and wholeness. Many see it as a completion of the struggle their ancestors have experienced for millenia. This means that a criticism of Israel can only be taken personally- that oneself is inadequate.

More worrying, perhaps, is the way that the millitary nature of Israel is accepted as part of that identity. The military actions of Israel are given the benefit of the doubt so often by Israel's supporters that this practice can only erode personal moral judgement. The actions of the Israelli Army are justified so routinely, on principle, that any action that can be justified as neccessary to secure the homeland becomes permissible.

The practice of apologetics, that has become the standard method of defending Israel against ALL criticism, is inherently reactionary, and closes off the part of the mind that encourages doubt.

Yet when this faith extends to the indefensible daily abuse and dehumanisation of the checkpoints for Palestinians, and the current Israeli invasion of Lebanon -acts that would be judged to be disproportionate uses of force, and unacceptable in other circumstances- become comprehensible, and oneself is seen as capable of carrying out these acts.

In short, this amounts to an erosion of character- the same sharp and critical thinking character that I admire so much in Jewish culture.

Anyway... those are my thoughts today about all this.... perhaps soon i will talk about zionism and currents within it, if i have enough time in between writing this thesis...

posted by: anneinchaosland at 09:22 | link | comments |