There were doubts amongst Jews in 1948 – and now.
JVL Introduction
This is a long but very worthwhile read. This interview with Shay Hazkani revisits elements of his book (cover pictured above) and also discusses what is happening now. At this near year’s anniversary and almost at the Jewish New Year and the commencement of the “Days of Awe” for observant Jews, some of his original points are particularly worth remembering.
Many Jewish soldiers saw through the propaganda at the time, eg as one soldier wrote: “We were always taught that we won over the Arabs because we loved the land more, and that it’s ours. But when I walk around, and see all these mountains covered with [agricultural] terraces, I can see it’s a lie.” We can also note S.Yizhar’s book “Khirbet Khizeh” written in 1949 and for some time even part of the Israeli curriculum, that shows some soldiers at the time had to “wrestle with their consciences”.
In those letters that form the book, there were important references to other things rarely spoken about in Israel – or beyond; the fact the 70% of Moroccan Jews wanted to return to Morocco because of the racism they experienced in Israel; the pressure placed on Holocaust survivors, mostly from the Death and Concentration Camps, to join the fight for Israel and the shaming of those who did not want to join up.
When it comes to what is happening now, in Gaza – and, indeed, in Lebanon, one of Hazkani’s conclusions in this interview is that: “In large measure, Israel is throwing the Jews of the world to the dogs.”
You may also be interested to read this Mondoweiss review of “Dear Palestine” from 2021.
LL
This article was originally published by Ha'aretz on Fri 27 Sep 2024. Read the original here.
'Not All Jews Longed for a Jewish Supremacist State in the Land of Israel'
Israeli soldiers abhorred violence, the Arabs didn’t want to throw the Jews into the sea. Through letters written in real time, a historian sets forth what those who fought on both sides in the 1948 war actually thought
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A fascinating interview. What stood out was the paragraph:
‘“Certainly there are antisemites on the fringes, kids of 18 to 21 who say dumb things. But go out into the street where you live, in Tel Aviv, and throw a paper airplane – there’s a 70 to 80 percent chance that it will hit someone who will say that all the Gazans should be exterminated or move to the West Bank.
Well, Tony got there first! A truly memorable paragraph in a memorable interview. What struck me about the whole piece was the emphasis on the fluidity between Jewish and ‘Arab’ identity, and the dismantling of the binary picture we normally receive of a natural and inevitable inter-communal chasm.
Thank you for this. A courageous man, facing the onslaught of endless opposition and disinformation. I wish I didn’t feel so helpless and so hopeless.
Jews in Israel and around the world are losing sympathy and support, and will endure more stress in their lives. Netanyahu’s lasting legacy.