My
personal experience was very similar to those of the other American Jews in the
film: A childhood in a reform Jewish community and a passive acceptance of all
things Israeli as part and parcel to my Jewish identity. This came, I should
add, from my community institutions, not from my family. Nonetheless, the
connection I thought I felt to Israel as a young person was powerful, albeit
unexamined. In college, I was confronted with confusing contradictions, then
participated in a Birthright trip during the 2006 Lebanon war that catapulted
me into a serious examination of my long-held ideas about the Middle East. I
began to face criticism from my Jewish colleagues and peers. But I had to keep
in mind that this difficult experience of "political awakening," so
to speak - while it was profound for me in many ways - was minor when compared
to the kinds of difficulties that Palestinians must face as they struggle to
negotiate their places in academic, professional and other realms. I want to be
careful to avoid what Steve Biko, writing on the white liberals in Apartheid
South Africa, called "claiming a monopoly on intelligence and moral
judgment and setting the pattern and pace for the realization of [in this
case, Palestinian] aspirations." So, I am aware that if there is ever
to be a just solution in Palestine, it will be, first and foremost, the result
of Palestinian efforts. Palestinian voices - not Jewish ones - really do need
to be front and center. But this is one reason why this film and the
stories in it are so critical: in order to help create more space with
Palestinians for Palestinian voices, American Jews need to work diligently at
dismantling this notion that any serious critique of Israel is a critique of
Jews or Judaism. As a Jew, I am uniquely suited to this role, and it is a role
I am still trying to figure out how best to fill.
Bearing
this in mind, I have approached with cautious determination questions about
Zionism as a movement, about American political support for the state of
Israel, and about my role as an American Jew in this discussion. My questions
have led me, for the most part, to more questions. But one thing is very clear:
This is not about Jews vs. Palestinians. Looking at it as such distracts from
some very important realities.
One
important question I have tried to understand is: what historical processes
went into and continue to shape the current discourse on Zionism? I have tried
to look at what was at stake in this effort to couple Judaism and Zionism and
who stood to gain from such efforts. These questions led me
throughout graduate school to research the history and current
manifestations of Christian Zionism, a movement that actually pre-dates Theodor
Herzl - widely considered to be the father of Jewish Zionism - by hundreds of
years. The relationship of the American Christian Zionist movement to Jews
and to Palestinians - both Muslim and Christian - can be an odd one, at
once intertwined with broader political philosophies of the American
right, American exceptionalism, notions of philanthropy, and, I would argue,
racist and reductive views of Jews, Palestinians and "The Holy
Land". Today, Christians United for Israel is the largest pro-Israel
organization in the United States and boasts of strong connections at
the highest levels of American politics.
I
introduce this topic here to illustrate my point that the discussion
surrounding Israel and Palestine is not about Jews vs. Palestinians. Zionism is
not even strictly a Jewish ideology. Yet, so many Jews see Israel's
relative success over the past 70 years as a result of a Jewish moral
righteousness. They see an Israeli David vs. the Goliath of the rest of the
world. So many believe that Israel needs to exist first and foremost to ensure
Jewish survival. All of these ideas serve to silence critical Jewish
voices and all of these ideas share the same blind spot: they fail to recognize
that so many others out there have something at stake in Israel's success
that has little or nothing to do with protecting Jews from another Nazi
Holocaust, nothing to do with ensuring human rights for Palestinians,
and that these people are very powerful.
So, as
Jews, if we choose to throw our hat into the ring when it comes to the
conversation on Palestinian rights, we need to be prepared to account for who
else is out there claiming to speak in our names. We need to remain firm in
our commitment to continually opening up space with and for Palestinians
to speak on their own behalves. We can do this by chipping away at
the tired Zionist tropes so often used to silence them. This film is an
important step in that direction. I hope it serves as a catalyst to action for
others who may identify with the experiences recounted within it. For
me, watching the film was cathartic and has certainly inspired me to work
harder to establish a Jewish community here in Champaign-Urbana where anti- and
non-Zionist views are accepted and even championed.
I am
very flattered to have been invited to speak alongside the others here. And I
would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Bruce Robbins for his work on
this very important topic.
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