Of Churbans and Nakbas

And the different responses

How do you respond when something devastating happens to your nation?

When the state of Judea fell two thousand years ago in the churban, there was certainly plenty of blame to be placed upon the Romans. Still, while you find condemnation of Rome in Jewish writings, that’s not the emphasis. The emphasis is on figuring out where the Jewish People went wrong and what they could perhaps have done differently. For a nation that sees Divine control of the world, there was a contemplation of which Jewish sins brought it about. In our prayers, we do not rail against Rome, but instead declare that “for our sins, we were exiled.” There was also a subdued but clear acknowledgement that the zealots who said “Rome Shmome” and provoked an all-out confrontation were badly mistaken, and that the correct approach was that of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai who circumvented the militants and sought to compromise with Rome for a very small settlement that was still better than the alternative.

The Palestinians claim (and seem to truly believe) that Gaza suffered not just a nakba but a genocide. Even putting aside that nonsense, it’s clear that they suffered enormous devastation. There’s at least 50,000 dead and vast swathes of Gaza have been destroyed. They may see all that as worthwhile in order to harm Israel’s long-term survival chances and to earn dignity by hurting Israel. Yet it’s nevertheless certainly a huge price to pay. But where is the soul-searching?

There are some Palestinians, like Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who are emphatic that Hamas brought disaster upon Gaza. Ahmed also says that there are many people in Gaza who agree. I don’t know how many there are, but on Facebook and Twitter, I’m seeing a very different picture.

For example, I joined a group called Israelis and Palestinians for Peace (the name of which turned out to be something of a misnomer). I posted a poll asking the Palestinians in the group whether 7/10 was a good idea or not. I got plenty of responses, but none to the question that I asked. They all answered a different question instead, which was whether 7/10 was morally justified in light of all the terrible things that Israel had done (to which their answer was yes).

On Twitter, when I see Palestinians talk about the rebuilding of Gaza, I ask them if it should be rebuilt with Hamas tunnels underneath it again. Again, they inevitably respond by talking about how terrible Israel is and about how Hamas’ actions against Israel are justified. When I respond that I’m not asking about the morality of it, and I’m instead asking whether it’s a good idea for Gazans to have Hamas tunnels under civilian areas and Hamas weapons depots in schools, they do everything other than respond to the question.

This echoes a phenomenon that I’ve seen with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general, going back to its earliest stages. The Jews disliked and feared the Partition Plan but accepted it; the Arabs rejected it because they cared only about what they saw as right (which did not involve considering the needs and rights of anyone else) and not about what would actually be the consequences. And if you talk to Palestinians today about the history of the conflict, they constantly stress the fact that they had the right to do everything they did and that they should not suffer any consequences as a result. And if you talk about the value of reaching a compromise, there is a constant rejoinder that they should not morally have to compromise on anything at all, and therefore why should they do so?

This inability to self-reflect, to take responsibility, and to consider that one’s approach has been harmful to one’s own cause, seems to have a cultural and religious component for the Palestinians. Of course, it is exacerbated by the message that they receive from many people around the world that everything is indeed the fault of the Jews, as it always has been. But it does not bode well for them. Those who fail to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.