Healing IsraelPalestine Rabbi Michael Lerner

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Healing Israel/PalestineRabbi Michael Lerner

• World Peacemaking Mission Team
• Alison Elder
• Linc Spaulding

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Chapter 3 WWII and The Holocaust

• Pre- and early WWII
• Violent revolts began c. 1920s
• Jews came to see Palestinians as the enemy
  (PalestinianNazi), while Palestinians still saw
  the British government as theirs
• Analysis of Arab revolt (Peel Commission, Br.)
  led to proposal to give 1/5 of the land to the
  Jews, transfer populations
• Emergence of Jewish terrorist groups (Irgun,
  Lehi)
• White paper (1939) limit on Jewish immigration,
  limit on land purchase, independent Palestinian
  state in 10 yrs neither side approved

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WWII

• Arabs tended to support Axis powers (potential
  defeat of Br., Fr. Colonialists), making it
  easier for the Allied powers to align themselves
  with the Jews
• Holocaust significant and on-going trauma for
  the Jewish people

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The Holocaust

• 6 million Jews killed (1/3 of the worlds
  population)
• Rem German Jews were most successfully
  integrated in the world
• Hitlers plans were not secret (population
  transfer ? death camps)
• During extermination phase, and manpower
  diverted from front lines of war to this effort

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Post-WWII

• Rise of Zionism (reprise)
• Response to Holocaust took two forms
• Deep commitment to never again allow such
  atrocities
• Increased Passion for Zionism, intolerance of
  critics
• Rise within the US, decreased interest in Br.
• 1944 armed struggle (guerilla war) for
  independence (bombing of King David hotel)
• Brits dealt less brutally with Zionists than
  Palestinians

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Partition Plan

• 55 of the land went to 37 of the population
• UN resolution passed in 1947 when Br. gave up
  due to political power of US and USSR
• Arab states walked out, predicted war some Jews
  predicted perpetual conflict

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Partition Plan, Contd.

• Palestinian leadership/infrastructure destroyed
  by British colonial system
• Arab armies invaded one day after statehood
  declared (May 1948)
• Deir Yassin turning point (lost trust, start of
  the use of terror to force Palestinians from the
  land)
• Arab states disengage

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Chapter 4 The Refugees and the Arab States

• Progression of events retaliation by Jewish
  terrorist groups 1930/40 preference for
  transfer ? mass flight after attacks ? forcible
  prevention of return, destruction of property,
  settlers (by mid-1948)
• Close of 1948 500,000-1 million refugees
• Fatal errors
• Israelis denied right of return to refugees
• Palestinians had no organized effort to
  compromise with Israel

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Chapter 4, Contd.

• Post-1948 war, Israel occupied 77 of the Mandate
  land
• UN resolution 194 (late 1948) return of
  refugees
• Those few on either side that were willing to
  consider compromise or to acknowledge the
  grievances of the Other were labeled Utopian
  fools
• The rage of the Palestinians was instead
  portrayed as continued anti-Semitism

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Struggle with the Arab States

• Elites fueled anger, anti-Semitism, and struggle
  against Israel to protect their own wealth and
  power
• Another source of tension Sepharidim/Mizrachim
• Nasser (Egypt) push the Jews into the sea.
• 1967 War pre-emptive strike against Egypt and
  Syria
• Result Israel took Gaza, West Bank, Sinai, parts
  of Jerusalem
• Military victory voice of God
• Stalemated war with Egypt in 1973, treaty with
  Sadat in 1977 (Sinai returned) fairly peaceful,
  albeit cool, relations since then

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The 1970s and 80s

• UN resolution Zionismracism
• Legitimized further ignorance of Jewish suffering
• Strengthened Zionist views about anti-Semitism
• US began its campaign to delegitimize the UN
• Palestinian national liberation struggle began
  (Arafat chosen, 1st Intifada in 1988)
• Responses of the Israeli government
• meet stones with cannon fire, increase
  settlements, support Hamas (Islamic
  fundamentalists)

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Questions for Group Discussion

• Would the Holocaust have occurred if not for the
  anti-Semitism of the rest of the world?
• How are Holocaust deniers successful in defending
  their views?
• Why was post-WWII Britain reluctant to solidify a
  Jewish state?
• What do you think contributed most to the apathy
  of the Arab states towards the Palestinians?

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More Discussion Questions

• Is Zionism truly racism (1970s UN Resolution)?
• In light of what we have learned in Chapters 3
  and 4, how do you view the Israeli cabinets
  recent decision to evict the Gaza settlers and to
  expand the border of Israel to include several
  West Bank settlements?
• What universal truths did you discover in these
  two chapters?
• What do you think of the World Council of
  Churches recommendation to member churches to
  examine divestment?