| Ira Chernus PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER |
I AM PRO-ISRAEL, THEREFORE I CRITICIZE
I am pro-Israel. That’s why I criticize
I don’t say much about the immorality of Israeli
actions. They are shockingly immoral. But talking about it won’t make much
difference. So I appeal to naked self-interest. I point out the obvious: Every time
a Palestinian or Lebanese is hit by an Israeli bomb or bullet, it spells more
risk for the safety of
Most Jews who say they are pro-Israel act as if they are deaf to the moral arguments, anyway. They do have hearts and consciences. They are not unmoved by the TV pictures of the carnage their military creates. But precisely because they are touched by the suffering of their foes, they’ve become very skilled in rationalizing Israeli violence. For every moral criticism they have a rebuttal ready at hand to ease their consciences. They and their ancestors have being doing it for over a century now, so they have a whole arsenal of moral justifications.
In living rooms, town meetings, and op-ed pages, the morality of Israeli policy ends up like a ping-pong ball, batted back and forth by both sides. Since there is no objective referee to keep score, the game just goes on forever. While we all have the right and duty to speak the moral truth as we see it, that’s not likely to change anyone’s mind very soon.
So it seems more fruitful to set the ethical issues aside and appeal to the self-interest of Israeli Jews and their pro-Israel American supporters. What they want most, they say, is for the Jewish state and all of its citizens to be able to live normal lives, free from worry about terrorist rockets and suicide attacks. It’s a perfectly understandable, indeed laudable, goal. Who would argue with it?
In that sense, I am pro-Israel too -- not least
because I have close family living there, just a few miles from
The latest development in the conflict is a perfect
example. Diplomats at the UN have finally hammered out a resolution to end
hostilities in
Moreover, it says that all forces
should remain where they are, meaning that the Israelis can stay in
What is more surprising is that,
according to Aluf Benn, “
Israelis are well aware of what’s
happening. It’s now taken as a given that
In a column titled “Cease Fire Immediately,” Haaretz journalist Uzi Benziman
makes the argument succinctly: “The experience of the past three days, in which a broader ground
operation has unfolded, has also involved an increase in the number of Israeli
losses -- both at the front and the rear -- and in the number of rockets
landing inside the country. … In this confrontation, we will not emerge clear
winners. Hezbollah is about to emerge from the battle smoke with the aura of
one who did not succumb to the IDF. In view of the fact
that this is the expected outcome of the battle, it is best to end it
immediately.”
Unfortunately few Jews, in
The practical argument for peace is one that most
pro-Israeli people can easily understand. Arguments about who is more justified
and more ethical will put them on the defensive. They’ll dig in their
intellectual heels and just stop listening. But arguments based on the
pro-Israel concern about safety and security are
turning the tide of Israeli public opinion. One Israeli journalist predicts
that “very soon, it won't be just the Four Mothers [a group
that sparked the Israeli withdrawal from
If those of us who speak out for peace stress the
pragmatic benefits, we may turn the tide of American opinion, too. By focusing
on the very concrete benefits of an end to the shooting, we can stand in
solidarity with Israelis and Jews everywhere. We can make it clear that we are
pro-Israel. And at the same time we can be solidly pro-Lebanese,
pro-Palestinian, pro-everyone in the
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