The Movement for Reform Judaism

Even when Palestine becomes a state side by side with Israel (which is bound to happen sooner or later, albeit not without much more pain), there won’t be reconciliation between the two peoples. That’s the consensus among five Israeli scholars who, together with seven others, are authors of essays in a book published by Oxford University Press under the title, “From Conflict Resolution to Reconciliation.” Though the volume deals with wider, often theoretical, issues, the five sat around a table at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem earlier this week to answer the more practical question, “Is Reconciliation between Israelis and Arabs Possible?”

One of the participants, Professor Yehudit Orbach of Bar Ilan University, made a distinction between disputes of a material nature that don’t involve apologies and don’t demand forgiveness (such as the disputes between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Jordan) and disputes that affect our identity and, therefore, do. The dispute between Israelis and Palestinians belongs to the latter category.

Israel isn’t likely to apologize because its narrative doesn’t allow for it. It tells the story of the Jews, a people without a land, who came to Palestine, a land without a people. The Palestinian narrative, on the other hand, tells the story of a people that has been driven out from its land by European Jews with dubious biblical claims to it and a horrible history of Christian anti-Semitism, culminating in the Holocaust. The narrative of the Palestinians suggests that they have to foot the bill for what the Nazis did to the Jews. The long history of Zionism, as told by Jews, has little meaning for them.

As a result, Palestinians expect apologies and compensation. The Israelis aren’t prepared to offer either. In the words of Dan Bar-On, psychology professor at the Ben Gurion University, “before you have reconciliation you must have conciliation, and we haven’t come to that yet.” Yet another reason for the lack of progress has to do with different expectations: the Jews want peace and quiet, shalom; the Palestinians want justice, tsedek.

The religions of the two partners are also in the way. Neither Judaism nor Islam has as developed a notion of asking for forgiveness and achieving reconciliation, as has Christianity. Even though the Pope hasn’t yet been willing to make a blanket apology for Christianity’s responsibility for Jewish suffering, he has apologized on behalf of Christians. And other Christians have gone further: Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt on behalf of Germany, Presidents Walesa and Kwasniewski on behalf of Poland, and many others.

That’s also a reason why a version of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa isn’t likely to work here. Those who had to be reconciled in South Africa were all Christians, irrespective of the color of their skin; the chairman of the Commission was the Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu. In addition to the other challenges, Palestinians and Israelis have also to overcome the religious divide.

Speakers rejected comparisons with the process of reconciliation between France and Germany. After World War II, the two countries had a common enemy, Communism. They needed to work together to stop its progress. Israelis and Palestinians have no outside enemy. Each is the other’s enemy.

What about the process of reconciliation between Germany and Israel as a model? Isn’t it significant that both the book and the event were sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Israel? For all their expressed gratitude to the sponsors, speakers had to admit that Israel and Germany have more of accommodation than reconciliation. Jews are still troubled when visiting Germany, and those who go to live there very often have a need to defend their decision. The situation seems to illustrate how difficult reconciliation is, even when cooperation becomes possible and even when the desire to coexist is strong.

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However, despite their palpable pessimism, speakers, in characteristic Jewish fashion, refused to give up hope. Agreeing that there can be no military solution to the conflict, they suggested two parallel paths toward coexistence. One day it may lead to conciliation that, in turn, may bring about reconciliation.

First, the way questions are framed is important. Dr Yifat Maoz of the Hebrew University argued that problems should be stated, not in terms of competition, but as steps towards agreement. The positive dimension should be articulated long before the stumbling blocks are listed.

Second, the editor of the volume, Professor Ya’akov Bar-Siman-Tov, also of the Hebrew University, advocated “confidence building measures” on small scales in the realm of economics, border arrangements, work permits, cultural exchanges, etc. In such situations it’s also easier to frame tasks in positive terms. As actions “from the top down” aren’t likely to succeed, steps, however small, “from the bottom up” should be considered.

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Listening to the experts confirmed my much less informed opinion that all the grand plans that point to a comprehensive solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are likely to fail. It’s difficult to imagine that the politicians who frame such proposals are ignorant of what the academics seem to know. One is, therefore, tempted to conclude that politicians on all sides have their own agendas that may have little to do with actually wishing to resolve the conflict.

The public is misled to believe that these schemes will become reality. Starting with the Oslo accord, many other agreements have already been pronounced dead and some even given a decent burial. Others are still alive, albeit very sick. They tempt us to believe that the shalom Israelis yearn for and the tsedek Palestinians demand is within reach, because ordinary folk want it.

Therefore, instead of paying too much attention to political placebos, we might use our time more effectively to engage in one or more of the existing grassroots organizations that promote cooperation and dialogue. Cynics may call it futile but realists should know better.
I’ve been greatly impressed, for example, by the efforts of the Interreligious Coordinating Council of Israel, under the leadership of Rabbi Ronald Kronish. The Council brings together Muslim and Christian Arabs with Jews and seeks to promote greater understanding between them on specific issues. It’s obvious that Israeli Arabs, despite their own grievances, can play an important part in the promotion of coexistence between Israelis and all Palestinians.

Jerusalem, March 12, 2004 
Rabbi Dow Marmur        

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