Time to Grow Up Israel, You’re Not a Victim Any More

 Assault on Hamas in Gaza Kills Hundreds

It is with a mixture of grief, love and rage that I watch the assault by Israel on Hamas in Gaza which has taken upwards of 350 lives. I am a lover of Israel who has bent over backwards to accept and to understand as Israelis struggle to defend themselves from terrorist attacks. 

The Victim Has Become a Bully  

Imagine a parent whose child repeatedly gets beaten up by bullies. The parent counsels his/her child to face his bullies. The child takes the parent’s advice and learns to fight his aggressor.  Only he learns his lesson too well. One day after one too many complaints from the school and the police, the parent discovers that his child has become the town bully.  He has to have that “tough love” talk he never dreamed of having: “My son, you have become a bully. Yes, people are hurting you but you stronger than the other kids. You are making enemies everywhere. You have to find another way of solving your problems with people.” 

In this situation there is no parent.  Israel taught itself to fight and to fight well to defend itself after paying the most terrible cost the world has known, for being picked on by the bullies of the world.  But times have changed and now the former victim is perceived as a bully in many quarters.

Israeli Response Unworkable and Ineffective Over Long Term

Israelis who face rocket fire from Qassams are terrified. No one in the Western world would long tolerate living under such daily threat.  But one has to question whether the Israeli response was appropriate or effective in stopping this threat. In fact, the response has been so over the top that the likelihood of retaliation and revenge, if not by Palestinians, then by other sympathetic mujaheddin makes Israelis far less safe.  

Hamas is a wily, cunning and resistant opponent. They thrive on the use of violence. The more violence is done to them the more they seem to like it.  It makes them angrier and feeds their longing for revenge. The Arab people are proud and longing to heal the sense of  shame and humiliation they feel.  They will correct their sense of powerlessness the only way they know how–in acts of violence against their perceived oppressor.

Hence, continuing to use violence against them is futile.  In the history of war “breaking their back” has worked only a few times, e.g. Carthage, Hiroshima/Nagasaki and Nazi Germany. That is not a strategy that will work in the narrow confines of Israel/Palestine. Nuke them? Uh-uh. Unworkable in the Middle East. 

Israel Needs to Do Something Very Different

Different tactics are needed. Israel must do something completely, wildly different. Like what? Like listen to them! What if every Qassam rocket sent up was a plea to be heard, a desperate message of “talk to us!.” What are they trying to tell you? Maybe you ought to listen.

Instead of insisting that they “drop the violence first,” you might listen newly:

• What are they so upset about?
• Try seeing the world as they see it. What is it like to be an Arab? A Muslim? How do they experience the world?
• If you were them, what would you do? What would you want? (A guess: Honor? An end to shame and humiliation? Empowerment? Food? Water? Sanitation? Health care?)

Look for Constraining Stories from the Past

It would also be helpful to engage in self-reflection, looking for stories that Israel tells itself over and over that hobble its ability to respond creatively, e.g. “We can’t be soft. We have to be strong.” Where do these stories come from? Do they come from the past? Do they come from the Holocaust or other experiences with anti-semitism? What would it take to get complete with the past so the country is free to take new action?

Designing a New Future

Finally, isn’t it time for Israel to to design a future that its citizens would want to live into?  It’s really time to grow  up.  The victim story, and  the perpetrator one too, need to be given up. Neither one is working any more. New stories, new possibilities of a far more satisfying future are waiting to be invented.

What is your response to Israel’s actions in Gaza? We want to hear from you. Leave a comment.