The slaughtered Jewish people speaks...

On New Year’s eve January 1^st, 1942, 150 members of the HeHalutz youth movements gathered in the public soup-kitchen in Vilna at 2 Straszuna Street. At this meeting, Abba Kovner, a Jewish Hebrew poet, writer and partisan leader, read the following manifesto:

“Let us not be led like sheep to the slaughter”: Jewish Youth! Do not place your trust in those who deceive you. Of 80000 Jews in “Yerushalayim de Lita” only 20000 are left. Our parents, brothers and sisters were torn from us before our eyes. Where are the hundreds of men who were seized for labor? Where are the naked women and the children seized from us on the night of fear? Where were the Jews sent on the Day of Atonement? And where are our brethren of the second ghetto? No one returned of those marched through the gates of the ghetto. All the roads of Gestapo lead to Ponar. And Ponar means death. Those who waver, put aside all illusion. You children, our wives, and husbands are no more. Ponar is no concentration camp. All were shot dead there. Hitler conspires to kill all the Jews of Europe, and the Jews of Lithuania have been picked at the first line. Let us not be led as sheep to the slaughter! True, we are weak and defenceless. But the only answer to the murderer is: To rise up with arms! Brethren! Better fall as free fighters than to live at the mercy of murders. Rise up! Rise up until you last break.”

And so there you have it... the beginning of the popular phrase that Jews were like "sheep to the slaughter". This is the first time this saying is said in the context of the Holocaust, but certainly not the last. What is most interesting is at the time Kovner stated this speech, most of European Jewry was still alive. The height of Hitler's furnace raged most fiercely in the later half of 1942 and 1943: Kovner accurately foresaw their future.

For those unfamiliar with Kovner, he was a socialist Zionist in Lithuania and during World War II was part of the FPO- the official resistance group in the Vilna ghetto. Here he organized young Jews to fight as partisans in the surrounding forests, where he himself fled to with the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto. Kovner eventually settled in Israel, where he lived the rest of his life. Upon his arrival in Israel, Kovner was considered a hero. He was the representation of a Jew during the Holocaust that had not been like sheep to the slaughter, but rather had fought against the Nazi's. Israel society after Holocaust can be described as embarrassed of Jewish inaction in the Holocaust. There was an unofficial silence on Holocaust stories. No one wanted to hear about them. Holocaust survivors were meant to assimilate quickly and become "Israelis". Therefore, Kovner stood in opposition to most Jews, as an advocate of fighting and resistance. However, in the 60's Israeli society began to slowly change, and so did their attitude on the Holocaust. Thanks in part to the Eichmann trial, Holocaust survivors, many for the first time, were sharing their stories: and Israeli society listened. The young were fascinated by a narrative they had never heard. Soon, the idea of "hero" began to shift. It no longer was someone who fought, or resisted with arms. A hero was someone who survived, in the face of death. Someone who kept their morality, in the face of evil. Even Kovner himself questioned what it meant to be a hero. He said later in Israel, “Am I this Abba Kovner, the hero? Or am I Abba Kovner the man who betrayed his mother, who left her behind to go to the forests to fight?” Those that stayed behind, with their parents, with their sisters, with their brothers, with their family- they too were strong.

Today this idea seems obvious. The Jewish people today have taken it upon themselves to remember all the Jews slaughtered in the Holocaust- each one was brave, even the most frightened. The Holocaust has woven itself into our collective memory: it is part of our identity. I would like to end this post with one of my favorite poems. The poem was written by Kovner, and it can be found at the beginning of his book, “Scrolls of fire”, (a sort of glossary/testimony on the Holocaust, set up like Talmud.) This is the real reason I made this post, I really wanted to share this poem. And the poem is written for us.

"The Slaughtered Jewish people speaks,
in silence and in words,
to the living Jewish people:
You who were unable to save us,
listen now with all your heart to our testimony;
it is all that remains of our lives.

Do not regard this testimony as an inspiration for hatred.
By the rivers we sat down and wept when our turn came to be murdered.
By the chimneys of the crematorium
even there
we preserved scraps of
incinerated time and we pondered the future as we thought of you...
Do you have a spare moment to think of us
innocent of crime and unashamed?"-- Abba Kovner

The Fear of Democracy

"It's as though we never prayed for our Arab neighbours to become liberal democracies," Steven Plocker in Yediot Ahronot.

For years, Israel has prided itself on being the "only democracy in the Middle East". And haven't we always thought, how much better would the world (and the Middle East) be if our Arab neighbours turned into liberal loving, people voting, Western style democracies? Isn't this what Shimon Peres meant when in the 90's he talked about the "New Middle East", that if Israel made peace with it's neighbours, our democracy would stand as a model and would influence the peoples of the Middle East to stand up for democracy themselves?

Well that time has finally come: one of our closest Arab neighbours, the Egyptians, have taken to the streets to demand their freedom. Right now it doesn't seem like they have much of a plan, other than to flow into their streets, and into their squares, demanding that their 30 year tyrant step down, in favor of democracy, in order to regain their freedom.

In fact.... it's all very inspiring. Even as Mubarak sends the police in, closes down the Internet, demands a 4:00pm curfew and refuses to step down... the people don't give up. They are relentless as they continue to fight for their unalienable rights for freedom.

I think that many freedom, democracy loving peoples of the Western world are rooting for them to overthrow their dictator. But over here in Israel, the answer is not as simple as: democracy vs. dictatorship- it becomes a question of: what about us? What is best for us? And the answer: seemingly NOT democracy.

Even though our inclinations lean towards democracy, rationality dictates we ask- what kind of democracy? Will it be Iranian democracy? Gazan democracy? Lebanese democracy? The kind of democracy that supports terrorism and radical Islam? What is the cost for Israel of a

Egyptian democracy- the loss of a peace deal, the loss of a partner in fighting Hamas/Iran, a loss of aide in making peace with the PA and the gain of one more enemy, one more hostile border? And this is why Netanyahu, after being mum on the issue for a week, came out today in favor of the Mubarak government. Because while the Mubarak government continues to rule over the people- he offers stability to Israel: but democracy- well that's up in the air.

I don't know.... analysts across the world are debating this question. While Israelis are tending to believe that the Muslim brotherhood (or even ElBaradei- who as an opposition is not part of this group, but is supported by them) is the obvious group that will take power (mostly because they are the largest organized opposition, not necessarily most popular) others around the world are hoping for a more moderate government.

And even if this new moderate government starts to come together- how happy will they be towards Israel who, as self-righteous liberals, have thrown their cards not being the people, but behind the dictator? Wouldn't they have expected us to have some kind of obligation to do just the opposite?

But despite what Israel says right now and who they support, the reality is that Mubarak is going down. Maybe it won't be today or tomorrow, but the people of Egypt have put an expiration date on his rule. This is why the U.S has basically thrown their support to the people (saying everything BUT Mubarak should step down), calling for democracy and a reform to the system.

My left winged tendencies are rooting for a takedown of Mubarak... I want the Egyptians to live in a system that I believe provides freedom of rights, that every human deserves. However, as an Israeli citizen, it doesn't stop me from sleeping in fear that maybe they will create an Islamic state, that will eventually transform Egypt into Iran part II. Maybe it isn't, as I fear, so black and white. Maybe if the world, including Israel, can acknowledge what is best for the Egyptians, and not only themselves, they can extend a hand of support, in order to really help them create a true and lasting democracy. My roommate said to me the other day, that the mere idea that people are asking for freedom (and remember the rhetoric in the streets is not calling against Israel to stop settlements, or against Israel's existence, or against US- the rhetoric is freedom, and the fall of a dictator) means that the dissidents that want this, really want this. It's true that the Islamics are there, it's true that the radicals are there- but they are everywhere in the world, just as they are in Israel and the United States-- because they too make up a fabric of democracy. And so maybe those educated with a thirst for democracy, rights, equality and closing the gap between rich and poor, have a possibility of coming together and forging a real democracy.

We might fear what Egypt's democracy will look like- but how much of this should stop us from following what we know is right. But in the end, I suppose only time will tell what will be of the "New Middle East"

Lessons from the Holocaust

Today is the International Holocaust day, but I wonder what is the point of such a day? I suppose it’s appropriate to have a set date for the world to remember the Holocaust. Instituted by the UN in 2007, its purpose was to remember “the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.”

Today is the day we are specifically supposed to remember the past, but also remember what not to do, or not let happen- don’t let evil and hatred to take a hold of society again.

But I always wonder about this… is it only today we are supposed to go around making flowery speeches about world love and peace and acceptance, and beautiful morals and principles? Generally that’s what most of these international memorials do. Yet is it what’s happening on the ground?

For me, living in Israel, these ideas are consistently making me shudder as I see what is happening to Israeli society. There are policies and attitudes, that I don’t think will lead up to anything close to a “Holocaust”, but to actions that shame the lessons we learn from it. Protests continue in Tel Aviv against the African refugees taking temporary refuge here, bills in the Knesset that discriminate against minorities and Rabbis banning together to warm Jews not to sell or rent to Arabs. It’s racism, prejudice and fear of the other.

It’s great that we can take one day from the year to remember this world’s largest genocide. Today I take the time to think about the victims, and the atrocities they faced. However, it shouldn’t only be today that we think about the lessons of the Holocaust: the consequences of racism, and exclusiveness. How many times do we say never again? We shouldn’t only say it in face of the genocide itself, but also the hate that took grip of a people- and hate that still exists today.

Reclaiming Zionism

"Fighting Racism, Return to Zionism

Last night, on the eve of the 15th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s murder, more than 1000 people gathered at Kikar Zion, in the heart of Jerusalem. The rally wasn’t a Rabin memorial but its date is significant and even metaphorical. While Rabin’s legacy looms larger than any of his actions- the moral from it is also clear: democracy and the quest for peace. It is over these principles that the rally was convened. Called, ”נאבקים בגזענות חוזרים לציונות”- Fighting the Racism and Returning to Zionism, the rally was sparked by the controversial loyalty oath, yet this wasn’t the main topic, rather the question was: how did we get here? What has our Zionism become?

Yes, the loyalty oath is serious, (as serious as Gideon Levy’s suggestion that we will become The Jewish Republic of Israel… I don’t know about that) but serious enough because it reflects the path we are taking and what our Jewish state represents. There was a time where many believed that Zionism was beautiful; Jews were returning to their ancient homeland to create a democratic state. Today all I hear is that Zionism=racism. To me, Zionism is just as beautiful as it was when Herzl first came out with “The Jewish State”- the problem is rather that my conception of Zionism is being hijacked. The Zionism presented to me today is reflected by ofracist policy and politicians, the neglection of peace, and lack of equality for all its citizens despite race or religion.

My Zionism wasn’t born out of exclusiveness, but in defense of being excluded. It was created in order to provide the threatened Jews of Europe opportunity to reach their potential, away from antisemitism in an effort to create a beacon of modern civilization in the Jewish ancient homeland. In many ways we have lived up to this, and become this beacon. We have provided to the world medical, scientific, agricultural and technological breakthroughs. We have a an amazing and unique culture. And we are the only democracy in the Middle East; and while we have our mistakes, we are still learning and growing.

While it is true that our country was born in a moment of war and therefore survival meant defense, we have never stopped letting ourselves be the victim and on the defense. (Not just militarily) We are the oppressors in occupied land, we claim we want to provide for peace, yet we keep onto this land for 43 years. We claim to be a democracy but we continue to worry about the rights of our majority, and neglect the rights of our minorities- these very same minorities that we have a duty to protect. (Rule of majority means defense of minority). After years of foreign rules, the persecuted Jewish nation is given their own land… and wouldn’t you think that the moment they received a non-Jewish minority, they would say to the world, “this is how you treat your minority”… yet we fail to live up to this. (The treat your neighbor the way you’d like to be treated principle) Instead we have chosen to alienate them, instead of bringing them closer.

So what is my Zionism? My Zionism is a Jewish state in the land of Israel. My Zionism is justice for Palestinians and Jews. My Zionism is democracy, equality and freedom within the state. My Zionism is peace. But most of all, my Zionism is the belief that we can make all this reality. When 1000 people gathered last night they weren’t just complaining about Lieberman’s bill, they were asserting the need to reclaim our Zionism. We need to step forward and preserve it… not by defending it, but by showing what it can be through our actions.

Dangerous Areas

View from Hebrew University of East Jerusalem and the West Bank (including the wall)

When I first moved to Israel I lived in the student dorms in Mount Scopus, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. For those unfamiliar with the area, the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew U is located in north-east Jerusalem. Therefore there are many Arab neighborhoods around the University.

The location never much mattered. However, soon many people began to think otherwise. The news was first announced to the overseas Undergraduates on a trip up north. They were told minimal news; only that 2 boys had been beaten up by Arabs near campus right near campus and student dorms. Rumors spread quickly. The next day there was a security meeting: I was sent e-mails about the emergency meeting and my roommate was even sent a text from the administration. Everyone was concerned.

So what happened? Two boys were walking to a nearby synogogue on Friday night. They looked Jewish- wore kippas. They were walking through the parking lot of a gas station when a group of young Arabs approached them. They were far outnumbered. In English they warned the boys that they could not pass, this wasn’t their place, and then they jumped on them, while they were talking. They hit one of the Jewish kids on the back of the head, and the other boy ran in the opposite direction. A large number of the Arab boys followed him, and the rest went after the other. The Jewish boy pulled out a pocket knife and the Arab boys ran away, he continued to run until he got to the security at the front of the student dorms. The other boy ran into the road, in front of a car and plead for help. They helped him, and the remaining boys ran off. However damage had been done, the one hit on the head was injured and spent some days in the hospital. All this happened only a few minute walk away from the front gates of the student dorms.

It was no wonder an emergency security meeting was adjourned. The University warned all the students (students from oversees who are Jewish, and non-Jewish) to be aware and careful walking through Arab neighborhoods- they were dangerous- as was obviously shown.

Sheikh Jarrah, an Arab (dangerous?) neighborhood near Hebrew University

But what does it mean to say that this or that any area is dangerous? Are we saying that Arab areas are inherently dangerous because they are Arabs? Why is there no mention of Jewish areas? After the meeting they issued a warning to not walk through east Jerusalem- especially during Ramadan, when religious fervor is high.

Speaking with my fellow students from the Univesrity, I asked them how they felt: did they perceive Arab areas as dangerous? Did they feel the same about Jewish areas- like Haradi neighborhoods such as Mea Shearim? There was a clear consensus: as long as they followed the Jewish rules; dressing modestly or keeping the laws of Shabbat on Shabbat, they felt safe walking through Jewish areas. However, the same line of thought did not follow from Arab neighborhoods. My friend said she walked through East Jerusalem to get to the old city, and although dressed modestly, she still felt uncomfortable: receiving cat-calls and looks the entire walk.

So what am I supposed to take from all of this? Jews are good. Arabs are bad. Have we all become racists? We can all so easily brand areas? Or is there truth here? Talking about the situations to one of the boys who fell victim to the Arab boys, I asked him if he felt like a racist after the situation. He said he didn’t hate Arabs, although he hated those that beat him up. He, like everyone else I spoke to, agreed that Arab neighborhoods were dangerous, and he had no problem admitting it, despite my question of racism… he after all had found out the hard way of what it means for an area to be dangerous.

This kind of branding is common all over the world. Like Harlem in New York, or Jane in Finch in Toronto. Yet we don’t attribute fault to the residents, but the conditions of the residents: because they are poor, or immigrants with low education. But the tone in Israel is different. The areas are dangerous because they are Arabs, not because the Arab neighborhoods are poorer than the Jewish ones, or that they are treated differently in a Jewish state.

Just last week, me and my Israeli cousin were driving home from a hiking trip up north. On the drive home a car irrationally and incredibly fast tried to pass by a car lineup and cut through traffic. My cousin said that he must be an Arab. I asked why, and he said because the car was shitty and he was driving too fast and dangerously: only an Arab would do that. I asked him if he thought this characterization was a little racist. He responded no, and that after all he was only telling the truth.

The Debate on the Jewish State

There has been a lot of ruckus lately in the Israeli media about the idea of Jewish state. Well, not the idea of a Jewish state per se, but the debate over whether the PLO, specifically Abas, must recognize that in a two state solution, one state is comprised of a Jewish nation. Netanyahu said that in order for peace to be achieved, the Palestinian nation must recognize Israel as a Jewish state made of a Jewish nation. But… why is this pretext so incredibly important to Bibi, and is it so important?

I have been reading Netanyahu’s book “a Durable Peace”- revised and re-edited in 2000 (originally written in 1993 and called “A place among the nations”) and written for an English and American audience. In the book, Netanyahu firmly defends his conception of Zionism and the importance of a Jewish state for a Jewish nation. He writes about ancient Jewish attachment to the land of Israel, which prevailed through years and years of exile. The perpetual Jewish longing for Zion, is one of the basis for the justification that the Jewish nation lacks its state but meets the criteria for a nation that needs a state. Therefore, he explains the world leaders understood this idea when they met in Versailles to cut up the world into nation-states. The Jewish people were a nation, like any other nation, but lacked their own state. This was acknowledged in the writing of the Balfour declaration, which promised the Jewish people, who at this time, drunk with Zionist ideology were sewing the land of Palestine: their ancient land. Coupled with later history: the Holocaust and the exile of thousands of Arab Jews from Arab lands, the Jewish state become an even more important idea to Netanyahu. Therefore to see Israel in any other way (other than a Jewish state) would oppose its very legitimacy, according to Bibi.

In fact for so long Bibi even denied the legitimacy of the nation of Palestine. He claimed that any nationalism felt by Palestinians did not deserve a state- because that state was clearly already created- and called Jordan. If Jordan was carved out of the original Palestine by Britain (the same Palestine that was promised to the Jews in the Balfour declaration) than the area of the land, now Jordan (East of the Jordan river) should have the same significance to all Arabs as the land which is not the State of Israel (West of the Jordan river)
However, Netanyahu neglects to write about the effect of history on a people. Perhaps the peoples who lived in “greater Palestine” (Transjordan and Israel) 200 years ago felt nationalism towards all of this land (if even there was such a thing as nationalism in Arab lands 200 years ago…) but those Arabs who grew up under the creation of the Jewish state, and then occupation by the Jewish state- would feel different than those Arabs growing up in Jordan, and absorbed into their society. In short- Israel helped create their identity- and national longing for self-determination. (Whether that is expressed in radical, violent measures or moderate peaceful measures)

But what of it all in terms of a Jewish nation? To Netanyahu, being a nation legitimizes why Jews need/have a state. A nation has again and again been persecuted and lived under foreign rule is justified a state- and this sentiment has been recognized twice over by the world- once at Versailles (and Balfour declaration) and the second through the UN Vote in November 1947, partitioning the land, and granting the Jews a state, alone justifies Israel.

Abbas is obviously and justifiable so, hesitant to throw around this definition, “Jewish state” because, it denies national rights to the Arab population within Israel. It also denies them the feeling of complete statehood- as if this state can never be completely theirs. But in terms of negotiations, for Abbas to recognize the Jewish state, rejects the Palestinian concept of right of return to Israel- any number of return. It assumes that this right is illegitimate, because they are not Jews partaking in a Jewish state, despite any claim they might believe they have to the land.

But is it really important for us? If there is peace and if the land is split it signifies that both sides want to create peace with one another. It means that in some way that Abbas recognizes that we are some kind of people: shouldn’t this be enough? Are we so unsure of our own identity that we have to have our neighbors confirm it as well? We can’t just be happy as Israel, but must also be validated as Jewish Israel? How integral is this concept?

I’m beginning to see this idea as integral to Israel and its future survival. I know that I have and always will believe in Israel as a Jewish state for the Jewish nation, this to me is obvious. Yet if we don’t have the confirmation from outside, it delegitimizes the policies that Israel will enact in the future. Israel can never be as democratic as it wants to be as a Jewish state; in less it becomes a nation of all its peoples there will always be problems with its religious minorities. But those policies that it does enact to preserve and encourage its Jewish character will seem as racist and exclusive without understanding the beginnings and motivations of Zionism and the Jewish state. Israel can’t act alone in the world as if it is isolated within a bubble- it needs to act as though it is in a theater of other nations. It shouldn’t have to ask permission for every policy it enacts from the rest of the world, but something as significant as its definition as a state is something that the rest of the world- especially its partner in peace- needs to understand. However, at the same time, peace is something that is so important for the preservation of the Jewish state, that perhaps the recognition of the Jewish nation as a pretext to peace negotiations is not necessarily important. If peace is achieved, than this idea can eventually be pursued.

Reflections on the eve of renewed peace talks...

I woke up this morning to the news that four people had been gunned down and found dead in their car.

The details explain that this was a terrorist attack, carried out by Hamas, against four Jewish settlers in the West Bank. After years of relative calm, this disguising murder was perpetrated.

As Israelis across the country weep for the lives of four people, Hamas supporters in Gaza and the West Bank celebrate over the deaths. There are pictures of children in Gaza, waving green Islamic flags – they believe that Hamas is successfully fighting for their “freedom” against the evil occupiers. Those evil occupiers: all Israelis, not simply the settlers.

This attack comes at a critical time: the day before direct peace talks in Washington, between Abbas and Netanyahu.

It is no coincidence. Its consequences are reverberating all over this country, and beyond. The settlers came out with a statement today claiming that this murder justifies them to break the settlement freeze- of which they plan to do at 6:00pm today. The Palestinian Authority is trying to make good to America, and in one of their biggest group arrests, has arrested over 300 Hamas supporters. People are claiming that Hamas is trying to spoil the peace talks- in an attempt to scare Netanyahu away. However, Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad both condemned the attack and vowed to prevent any further terrorist attacks.
Yet, no matter the reaction, the murder has created a dark cloud over the entire peace talks. Israelis are reminded, yet again, of their security issues, and the horrible means of which Hamas will take to pursue their goals. And as settlers rear to continue building in the West Bank, Palestinians are reminded, yet again, of on what land will their state be created.
George Mitchell has said that the attack only shows how critical peace is and that Obama is putting the peace talks at top priority. He hopes that within the year there will be an agreement. Shimon Peres has made a statement saying that we should put our faith in the peace process- don’t let terrorism win. Obama has said that only peace in the region can bring about a different path.

But… is anyone convinced? Today’s attack only proves how difficult the situation really is.

In Annapolis, in 2007, Ehud Olmert, Mahmoud Abbas and George Bush convened, and together they spoke and decided that in one year there will be peace, following the two state solution. There was even a countdown in Tel Aviv. But 3 years later, are we any better off? What hope have we to put in these peace agreements? What’s better now? A right government coalition, instead of Olmert’s center left? Already it doesn’t look like Bibi has any intention of renewing the settlement freeze , and if he doesn’t Abbas has threatened to pull out of talks immediately. But does that even matter when settlers are going to build either way, and terrorists are going to kill either way?

I’ve always tried to be hopeful when it comes to this peace process. I was brimming with excitement when the leaders met in Annapolis. But it failed… it fell in line with all the other attempts at peace. Are we doomed to live in this status quo forever?

I’ve always believed that terrorism has been a symptom rather than a disease. We have to treat the real problem- the occupation. If a real two state solution was created, self-determination and self rule would help to empower Palestinians to believe in Fatah rather than Hamas. To believe in peace rather than violence. To pursue education and careers instead of martyrdom. Younger generations are growing up learning violent radicalism because they have no hope. After all- what has Fatah offered to them?

Israelis are growing embittered and fed up with the situation- there is no trust. There is a growing right winged Zionist nationalist movement in support of settlers and the status quo. The thought is that despite a peace- there will still be terrorism, because Palestinians are growing up radical- it’s not simply a land issue it’s religious one.

I know that I still believe in the ideas of peace, but how much can I believe in its reality? The issues are so sticky and run so deep that every possible solution has a counter argument. I can remember myself in November 2007, I was incredibly hopeful, but then incredibly let down. So what can I think now, on the eve of renewed peace talks? I can only pray to be surprised, I can only pray that this time it does work, and I can only pray that there will be peace.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 a