Sunday, January 4, 2009

Why We All Bear The Blame, Part 1: The History of Ghettoization

When I was in the Army, there was a phrase bandied about by my commanders and leaders. That phrase was "proportional force." It was a phrase meant to guide our actions as American soldiers, working in a hostile environment where the local population did not always welcome our presence. Distilled to its essence, the phrase's interpretation is clean, elegant, simple. It says: "Defend yourself and those around you, but be measured in your responses." An edict to live by--to use no more force than is necessary. As a soldier, I internalized this lesson.

Sadly, my leaders and countrymen have not.

For as long as I have been alive, the news reports from Israel have always been somewhat stark: blockades and checkpoints in the West Bank, gruesome attacks against civilians in Jerusalem. For every week of my twenty-five years, a tale of violence, a checkmark on the tallies of blood-debt. When one grows up with it, it can be easy to allow that custom free reign. I am not alone in this. "They've been killing each other for thousands of years," my countrymen say. "So what difference does it make?"

We say these things, all of us. We even believe them. But we do not understand WHY.

Just for a laugh, go look up Gaza on Wikipedia. There, you can find a history whose players have shaped the society we know today: the Greeks, the Ottomans, the Israelis. It is a diverse place, with a culture and life of its own, and yet most of us will never learn of that place's history, nor will we care to. Just a few days ago, I had a co-worker ask me: "Who are Israel even fighting? Afghanistan?"

It is this ignorance that I use to excuse my peers. "We don't know," I tell myself, "and if we did, we might feel differently." But we don't know, and most of the time, we don't care. Which leaves me to wonder: where is the line between ignorance and blindness?

We all have something of a working knowledge of modern Israeli history. We know that it is a place raised from the horrors of the Holocaust, a place created so that that tragedy's survivors might have a place to call home. For decades, we have nurtured and defended this fledgling state, like a mother with her young. We have spoken of her virtues to our peers, and bared our teeth to those who might bear her harm. We tell ourselves that we are noble in this, and once we might well have been. But like any loving mother, sometimes we can be too quick to defend our brood, too eager to blind ourselves to their missteps. But still we love them anyway, and try to encourage them as best we can.

But at what point do we stop simply forgiving their mistakes, and start enabling them?

The Jewish people are a people unique among all those of the earth, not so much scripturally as historically. The sons and daughters of Abraham serve for us as a link to the past, a living people whose histories and traditions are recorded in some of the oldest, most well-known documents written by man. The Torah, the Talmud, the Old Testament of Christianity: these are works that tell of how an ancient people once lived, once saw themselves. Even the dullest among us must marvel at this thought. I once had a friend in college, a non-practicing Reform Jew who, despite his lack of observance, still insisted on maintaining a kosher diet. When I asked him why, he replied only: "It's part of who I am, where I come from." In hearing this statement, I felt a flash of envy. If only I had something like that to belong to, I thought. Maybe I might feel more at home in myself.

At the same time, the Jewish people are a misunderstood people, having been forced to endure the worst excesses of history's cruelty. The Diasporas, the Inquisition, the Holocaust: these names serve us as reminders of our own brutality, stark illustrations of how we can marginalize the smallest groups among us. It is a legacy for which many of us still bear shame: every European, every Christian, every child of the Reich, every Baby-Boom baby ever born. The taint of that dark sin stains us all. It makes us who we are, and for that we should be grateful, but we should never let that gratitude blind us to the truth. In that sense, we are all sinners, not against God, but against our fellow man.

Read your histories, the tales left behind by those who survived. It started slowly, of course: Public acceptance of demeaning speech in the public forum, the creation of a narrative within a society that says: We are special. All others must pay tribute. Later, that narrative was given academic credibility, with the publishing of books and letters of dubious scientific merit. Through the halls of learning, dark whispers began to spread, tales of conspiracy and of the dilution of an ancient heritage. Searching for a focal point for their indignation, the majority began to single people out: the sick, the lame, those of alternative sexuality or ethnic minority. And of course, when society begins to seek out those that are different, those with the highest profile begin to stand out. In Germany, as the largest minority, that group, of course was the Jewish community.

Once the seeds were sown, it could not be long before such dark plantings bore fruit. Soon, people of a certain background were subject to loss of employment, loss of social status. Jewish businesses and homes became targets, most infamously on Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass. Soon after, it was declared that the majority were no longer willing to live alongside a culture that they blamed for all of their own social ills. Seeking to purify themselves, the German people rooted out the Jewish among them, saying: You are not like us. Soon, the Jewish people had nowhere to go, having been ousted from their homes and communities. They began to be herded into smaller and smaller quarters, isolated areas where resources and infrastructure were crumbling, even nonexistent. Here, it was felt, the Jewish people could be controlled, could be managed. None ever thought about WHY the Jewish people should have to be managed, but when the question was raised, it often proved more harmful to the interrogator than to the interrogated.

In sociology, there is a term for this kind of forcible isolation, this excise from our midst of The Other. It is called "ghettoization." It is a practice meant to render groups invisible, meant to remove them from the minds of the public; for the memory of the public is short, and Authority knows that what we do not see, we soon forget.

And any sociologist can tell you: once we forget, once ghettoization becomes commonplace, it is only a matter of time before the killing begins.





16 comments:

Seven of Six said...

...You are not like us. Soon, the Jewish people had nowhere to go, having been ousted from their homes and communities. They began to be herded into smaller and smaller quarters, isolated areas where resources and infrastructure were crumbling, even nonexistent. Here, it was felt, the Jewish people could be controlled, could be managed. None ever thought about WHY the Jewish people should have to be managed, but when the question was raised, it often proved more harmful to the interrogator than to the interrogated.

I don't know if it was your intent Milo but in that paragraph you could substitute Jewish people with Palestinian. And your description left me with an image of the Jewish Ghettos of Poland similiar to the Palestinian Ghettos in Gaza. The Theology is different but it seems like the intent is the same. I guess we'll have to wait and see if Israel goes for the full genocide package.

Judith said...

Genocide has been going on for a very long time in the Palestinian's lives. The only difference now is the out and out full assault on those in the Gaza area.

When people believe in only the Old Testament, then it gives them permission to practice an "eye or an eye" philosophy. However, one would think that with the history of the Jews, one might see more empathy and grace when it came to their treatment of others. However, anger always blinds and distorts.

We also have our "gettoization." We kill off it's occupants with despair. Much cleaner that way.

CG said...

Milo, I appreciate your post. I know your point in the beginning was to say that Israel is going overboard, but your brief explanation of the lead-up to the Holocaust and the other historical references shows an understanding that I think many non-Jews don't have. And like your friend, while I don't keep kosher, I am Jewish to the core of my being regardless of how much or how little I practice. It's just who I am.

Like many and possibly even most American Jews, I don't agree with everything Israel does--sometimes not even most things. Some of it is certainly very disturbing. However, I wouldn't toss around the term "genocide." Genocide is the systematic extermination of a group. Israel is not trying to kill Gaza civilians. Just the opposite in fact, but it's difficult to get to an enemy that stores weapons in mosques, schools, hospitals and private homes and whose fighters hide among innocent civilians.

When people believe in only the Old Testament, then it gives them permission to practice an "eye or an eye" philosophy.

So we should all be Christians? Wow, Judith--didn't expect that from you.

Try reading some Talmud to see how Jews interpret the Old Testament. And "eye for an eye" can be paid in financial restitution, the forerunner of our legal system today.

Milo said...

CG,

Thank you for your response. I am glad that I made a positive impression, and I hope I can extend that impression to the next two installments in this series.

You're right, I wouldn't call it genocide, not in the Holocaust sense anyway. That requires infrastructure But I would call it pogrom, for that is what I believe it to be: a systematic campaign of marginalization and persecution, one whose execution has already led to an excess civilian vs. military deaths, not to mention numerous violations of the Laws of Land Warfare. We wouldn't tolerate it from our own soldiers, so why do we tolerate it from our allies?

Call it "pogrom by proxy."

Seven of Six said...

Milo, Can I cross-post this at Left is Right?

Anjha said...

Good post Milo.

The hsitory of all of this is too much for most Americans to hold their attention spans...most Americans are very USA-centric and have a difficult time looking outside of our geography to anything that occurs in this world.

I know that this is a "blanket statement" and blanket statements are always subject to exceptions (and usually result in pissing someone off) but, I find it to be relatively true.

I believe that our country's leaders keep our populace so busy - because everyone must work two jobs to survive - and so horribly uneducated that most people do not have a good perspective on anything that happens outside of our own County, not to mention the other side of the world.

I was reading articles yesterday, a couple of them, about the crappy reporting on the issues in Gaza. The articles stated that the reporting has been extremely pro-Israel. I think, though, that US reporting has historically been pro-Israel.

Husband and I cannot talk about this at all. He is, which I find bizarre, completely PRO-Israel - with a capital PRO. He cannot hear anything that does not support this predetermined attitude.

I asked him where it came from the other day, because it is so obvious...he said that it dates back 30 friggin years to a Jr High School debate where he took the Israel side and did research and debated from that. He claims that he has kept abreast of the situation since then. He cannot hear that his approach from a PRO-Israel POV 30 years ago might have spoiled his ability to see things objectively. It is just this way and there is no conversing with him...so I can only talk about it here, on the blogs.

It seems that emotions flare high around this and it is very easy to say the wrong thing and piss someone off. I find myself typing on eggshells.

There is really no "right" when it comes to matters like this.

CG, I did not read Judith's comment as you did...I saw it as an emotional reaction - trying to find (as I think that we all are) some kind of explanation for such horrendous acts of "self-defense" or "retribution." I know that I have a very difficult time justifying Israel's aggression; I do not think that it is justified. Most people do think that it is justified. I find it easier to try to stay out of it because the wounding is so deep and emotions run so high.

However, "staying out of it" is one of the problems around all of this crap. If we, as Americans, always decide to "stay out of it" while our leaders tacitly offer permission to Israel to do whatever it wants (and block UN action against Israeli aggression) then how will we ever stop this violence?

There are no good answers. I just do not want to be afraid to tell the truth because I might hurt someone's feelings or because someone might misunderstand what I mean and get angry with me. I think that we should be free to tell how we feel and hear each other out without a divorce ensuing.

CG said...

I just do not want to be afraid to tell the truth because I might hurt someone's feelings or because someone might misunderstand what I mean and get angry with me. I think that we should be free to tell how we feel and hear each other out without a divorce ensuing.

I completely agree Anjha, and I know that the peril of reading lefty blogs is that they are often going to strongly disagree with Israel. I'm not so blindly pro-Israel that I can't handle that. I do think they've gone too far right now with a ground invasion (not to mention that it's extra stupid because it won't work.) I think they had a right to bomb tunnels and weapons caches though. We may disagree, no hard feelings.

Judith can explain her statement to me if she cares to. When you believe only in the Old Testament.... That's just anti-semitic. If she didn't mean it that way, she can explain what she meant.

Milo, my genocide comment was directed at Judith, not you. But I also don't think the word "pogrom" applies, at least as I understand it. Yes, it's the same in that homes are being destroyed and people are being killed. But homes are destroyed (often with warning) because weapons are believed to be there and civilians are killed accidentally. Yes, they're just as dead as killing them on purpose, but pogrom comes with intent. The intent is to harm innocent people and property associated with innocent people just because of their ethnicity.

It seems to me that war used to be much "neater." Soldiers in uniform on one side fought soldiers in uniform on the other side. Civilians were mostly out of the way. If that were the case in this situation, if Israeli soldiers in uniform were fighting Hamas soldiers in uniform I don't think anyone here would have a problem with that. But that's not the way Hamas operates, so how is Israel supposed to deal with that?

I think the best Israel can do in this case is to try to contain Hamas, but how? How do they keep them from firing rockets into Israel on a daily basis?

Anjha said...

I completely agree Anjha, and I know that the peril of reading lefty blogs is that they are often going to strongly disagree with Israel. I'm not so blindly pro-Israel that I can't handle that.

Heh. Husband is not. I was not kidding when I said that he and I simply cannot talk about any of this....because he is so pro-Israel.

I am not pro-either side. I think that war is BS and I understand the history and I get that Israel needed to be created - I believe that the Jewish people needed a homeland and that both sides would be well if people would just leave each other alone.

I mean holy crap, talk about fighting with a laundry list of old hurts.

I don't get it but I am also completely grateful that I do not have to try to solve it. I am grateful that I am in no position to attempt to deal with the issues. It is easy for me to sit here typing and pretend that I have any answers or have any solutions or even, any friggin opinions. I have never been to the middle east. I have never been to Israel. I am not Jewish and I am not Muslim and I am not Christian. I just don't get any of it.

From what I understand about all three of these religions is that they all worship the same "God" - the God of Abraham. The differences came later, after Jesus and after Mohammad...the first books of all of the books (Bible, Talmud and Koran) are the same, are they not?

Judith can explain her statement to me if she cares to.

And you are correct. The statement was not great; I will stay out of it. I just hate the tension. I escape to here to avoid that. However, as long as we always tell each other the truth then there will be tension because life is not always clean and pretty and carefree and loving - I will put my foot down, however, if we ever start lobbing bombs at one another. Real bombs - the verbal ones I accept.

CG said...

Not much of a bomb lobber myself. My Wow Judith comment was about as nasty as I've ever gotten on any message board. I'm hoping she'll post an explanation. I'm not one who looks for anti-semitism (or sexism for that matter--I only "got" maybe half of the sexism complaints about Hillary Clinton's treatment), but her comment was either very poorly worded or reveals what she truly believes about Jews--that without the New Testament, you just really won't behave morally. I just can't believe she would think that though. Judith? You there?

So anyway Anjha, don't feel tension because of me. I'm not feeling any. Just sort of bewildered is all.

Milo said...

Wow. Whatever the case, I'm glad I helped foster discussion. Thanks, guys :D That makes me happy.

Oh, and Seven? You can cross-post any thing you want. Same rules apply as with CBTS. Do it up, man.

Milo

Judith said...

WOW, I didn't mean my comment to be nasty nor was I lobbing a bomb. CG, I obviously have offended you, and for that I am truly sorry. It was never meant to hurt. I said something without thinking through what I was saying or how it might be interpreted. Lesson learned.

No, of course I do not believe that we all should be Christian or believe in the New Testament to be moral.

Here is what I do know, and that isn't much. People are being killed. Neither side is all right or all wrong. The killing has gone on for years, and absolutely nothing has been resolved by those deaths. When is enough, enough? How many Jews and Palestinians have to die before a peace is agreed upon and kept?

CG said...

Glad to hear it Judith. I didn't think you had that mindset, but I'm glad to be reassured and also to be able to let you know how your comment sounded to my not-easily-offended Jewish ears.

Judith said...

CG, when I went back and read my words, I certainly understood why you were offended, as I would have been also.

I often times say things that are not meant as they sound. You have given me food for thought. My Sister and I are always at each others throats (two very strong opinionated women). Perhaps I need to re-evaluate how I say things to her that just might trigger some of her responses. Thanks.

CG said...

I often times say things that are not meant as they sound.

I'm often guilty of this too. I've been told I'm blunt. I'm pretty careful in writing, but in real life, I sometimes say things that I don't think are any big deal, but sound a little, well, blunt, to others. Good luck with your sister.

See Anjha, no tension :).

Judith said...

CG, I'm chuckling, as that is exactly the same problem I have.

If people could only read my mind when I say things, the problem would be solved.

Anjha said...

See Anjha, no tension :).

That's cause it is all in my body; there's none left to be spread across the blogs.