60 years of the ‘Jewish State’

As a person of Jewish descent, I am often asked how I feel about Israel. Of course, being Christian by choice, I am officially kicked out of the club; technically, Israeli citizenship wouldn’t even be mine to claim; I’ve ostensibly abdicated any claim to being one of the “Chosen,” whether I like it or not. Still, I am glad to share my view of Israel, because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and American support for Israel lie at the heart of many international challenges facing humanity.

So here’s how I feel about Israel: Disappointed.

I am disappointed in the State of Israel for making land grabs by force in the name of Zionism. I always thought the Messiah – not David Ben-Gurion and the British Army – was supposed to lead the Jews back to Jerusalem. I am disappointed that the so-called chosen people have allowed torture to occur in their prisons. It continues to occur. I am disappointed that my extended family includes people who believe God wants Muslims dead or gone from “The Promised Land”, so that Jews can have exclusive dominion over that territory. When you hear about Muslims being taught in Midrassass to hate Jews, as I’m sure some are taught, please remember that racism and religious hatred are also found among Jews – in Israel, In Europe, in America. I am disappointed that after three thousand years or so, the descendants of Isaac still think they are fundamentally different from the descendants of Ishmael. Of course, they are all Sons of God, brothers from different mothers, but brothers all the same. And I am disappointed that instead of seeing the common bonds shared by all people and from these bonds building a lasting peace, the superficial and illusory differences between people still lead us into war. My acceptance of the teachings of Christ is antithetical to any tribal allegiance or desire to conquer a piece of territory that others also claim. Jesus taught us to love others as ourselves; we are equal; I am commanded to give my enemy all I have rather than striking him in anger; those who live by the sword…

That’s Israel on the spiritual level, from where I’m standing: Separation, violence, nationalism – not love.

Israel is essentially a colonial state – a modern, armed, mostly European society arrived in Palestine in 1948 and took over by force. Yes, the Shoah happened; yes, the Arab world certainly could have been more welcoming, though in the context of 1948, with Europe vying for every bit of Middle Eastern power it could grab on the way out the door, it’s hard to blame Muslim nations for mistrusting Zionist motivations. Zionism couldn’t have occurred without help from the allied powers, and since they had always acted in their own interest, there is no reason to think support for Israel was not self-interested as well (of course it was) – and did not necessarily account for Palestinian or Arab interests. But Jewish attachment to that land – coming out of religious tradition – was enough of a reason to force the issue. Was it worth it?

We always hear that Israel is the region’s only democracy (I suppose that depends how you define “region” and “democracy”) and that that is why it receives American support. (How then to explain Saudi Arabia, which is the farthest thing from a democracy – it is a religious dictatorship – and supplied most of the 9-11 hijackers, but still receives billions in American aid? Oh, right, I forgot – they have our oil.) Yet Arab Israelis – despite the dominant Zionist rhetoric – do not enjoy equal status to Jewish Israelis. They cannot own or cultivate land without special permission. Many sites are off-limits entirely to them – including places their ancestors lived and worked for decades or centuries. The Israeli government has even explored the idea of what the NY TIMES euphemistically calls the mandatory “transfer” of Arabs out of desirable regions of Israel to neighboring nations – what would be called in any other country “ethnic cleansing.” No one blinks.

Why it is not called ethnic cleansing in the case of Israel is a complicated and mysterious matter. Somewhere along the way, the mainstream American media, to be sure, decided that Israel was the exception to an important American value – that government should be secular, and that religious and tribal government cannot be democratic. Israelis may insist that their government is secular, but they will also acknowledge – or, indeed, insist – that Israel remains a majority Jewish state, and that it is the Jewish homeland. Are these two views – one of a secular, modern democracy, and one of a Jewish State – compatible? And is the desire for a Jewish state worth fighting World War Three over? Because sometimes it looks like that’s where we’re headed.

Most Israelis have little historical connection to Jerusalem and environs. Their families, like mine, have wandered Europe, Western Asia and the world for almost two thousand years, and many if not most Israelis would have a hard time tracing their lineage directly to Palestine. Be that as it may, let’s grant that those who convert to Judaism for one reason or another, or who are born to the daughter of a Jewish mother, are Jews – still, Jewish land claims on Israel are based on a military occupation (and, essentially, a genocide) that occurred perhaps three thousand years ago, and lasted mere decades. This is the basis for a foreign policy, and for international law? Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the last two millennia don’t matter. We’re going to rectify the wrongs of Biblical times, but the moral errors of colonialism are grandfathered in.

If the Jewish people get their ancestral homeland back, what about the Kurds? There are 25 million of them and they have no country. Turkey – our ally in NATO – denies them the right to speak their own language or teach their own culture. And what of Tibet? Its ancient, spiritual culture is being displaced by modern Chinese capitalism – much to the glee of international investors of every race and religion. And of course, there are the Navajo, and the Cherokee, and the Chumash; when will they be allowed to claim their ancestors’ kingdoms, which were taken from them in a diaspora much more recent than the destruction of Herod’s Temple?

Israel has claimed its redemption while the claims of so many peoples go unheard.

I do not believe buses and cafes should be blown up in response. I am asking, as always, for peace. If Jews are chosen, by God, the God of creation and of love and justice, then surely it means we are chosen to lead in righteousness and humility, not to claim real estate at the barrel of a gun. If we are chosen (and I’m not saying we are, but if we’re not then so much for any claim on the Holy Land, so let’s say we are)then surely love is the lesson we are here to learn and teach, and love is not taught with barbed wire and border walls. It is taught with sacrifice.

Here is my suggestion. It is a declaration. All Jews are invited to say it:

We believe in God, the One True God, who is the Father of all Humanity. We believe all people have a divine right to live and work the land in the fields of their ancestors. Therefore, we pledge to be last to come home, and the first to struggle with our brothers and sisters in the Australian Indigenous nations, in Africa, in the Amazon, in the American forest, plains, and deserts, and from the North Pole to Patagonia and everywhere there is life, so that all these nations can dwell again in their proper and desired homelands. We will not go home until they do. We will work to help the Lakota of North America and the Kurds of Asia, the Yaqui of Mexico and the Piraha of Brazil, the Kakadu of Australia and the Ainu of Hokkaido – to help all the lost tribes who wish to see home again – to return to their native lands, and to live in these places as they so choose, with their ways, their sacred places, and their relationships with the land intact.

We will not build houses in the olive fields of our brothers while they wail and resist. We will not drive bulldozers through their homes. We will not amass armies to protect illegal settlements. We will not deny the right of return to others while claiming it for us. Instead, we will work to seek justice for all people before seeking it for ourselves.

We will wait until this work is done, and only then will we go to Jerusalem to recline in peace and joy, an empty chair for Elijah.

I am asking a lot, I know. I am aware that defending the ‘homeland’ by force is normal. Israelis are only doing what other peoples have done throughout history. But normal is normal; chosen is chosen. Normal means war; chosen means divine service. If the Jews are called, that is the calling. Normal isn’t good enough.

And yes, I realize this is a crazy idea. Wat other kind of idea has any chance of saving us? As far as I’m concerned, only crazy ideas are of any use whatever; only crazy ideas are going to change anything; only crazy ideas are good enough.

We need crazy ideas; the crazier the better.

Unless, of course, you think everything is fine as it is.

Daniel Brezenoff is a clinical social worker, performer, and former Green Party Congressional candidate. He lives in Long Beach.

Tags: ben gurion, homeland, Israel, jerusalem, jewish, palestine