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04/22/2002 Archived Entry: "3/5/02 Israel & Palestine"

Sometimes, when I read about the Israel – Palestine situation, I wonder if Israel is not acting out in its policies the national equivalent of the behavior of a severely abused person

A person who suffers physical abuse when growing up is fairly likely to be an abusive parent and/or to seek out relationships in which they continue to be abused. It happens over and over again in individuals. My question is: "is it happening on a national level?" It is a horrible thing to think about. But, if it could possibly be the case, it needs to be looked at, and dealt with.

For myself, the holocaust plays a profound role in who I am. I did not suffer from it directly. I was not born in Europe but in the United States. But the fact remains that I was aware of the nature of the holocaust when I was six years old. At six, that knowledge is quite overwhelming. In a sense, my whole life was defined by that knowledge. First, trying to deal with a God who would allow such things to happen. Which resulted in my becoming an atheist at age ten (until about 25). Trying to not live a life in fear that horror is just around the corner. Then trying to do something to make the world a better place, a safer place. I lost many relatives, but I did not suffer myself directly. There was no physical suffering. I did not lose my parents or other close relatives (of those I knew).

But Israel was founded and defined by the holocaust, by Europe’s collective guilt over allowing it to happen, and in some ways and places, Europe’s participating in carrying it out. Certainly, "never again" resounded through its founders. I think that there needs to be a new Jewish holiday, an annual event, a day of ritualized anger and forgiveness. Anger over all the years of suffering since the Diaspora, plus the holocaust, and then of having to deal with all the hostility in the new/old homeland. Let the anger out, the fear and the grief, and then accept that this is what God has allowed to happen. Then embrace humility and forgiveness. Looking over this, I realize that this would need to be a Middle Eastern event, embraced by the Palestinians as well.

There is no way out on the current path. The Irish and the English have made that clear to us. War unending. Intentions of every kind on both sides: good, bad, evil. Hate passed down through generations.

Is it possible that the Palestinians have no intention of ever allowing Israel to exist as a state, as some say? Maybe, maybe not. Is there any chance of peace through endless retaliation? Is there anywhere in the world that peace has ever come through such a process? No, there is not.

Hear O Israel. The Lord, our God, has brought these sufferings upon you. Shall you rise as a people and provide a bright shining example for all of humanity? Or, shall we all be dragged down by an endless cycle of retribution, until war breaks out in the Middle East? Until, as Einstein has predicted, the Third World War breaks out in the Middle East, and humanity goes back to living in caves?