PRESERVING THE SOUL OF ISRAEL: Pursuing a Moral, Ethical and Spiritual Path of Peace Ofer Zur, Ph.D. Published in: Song of Peace, Sonoma Valley Congregation Bulletin, Issue #3, December 2000. To order audiotape of lecture on "The Soul of Israel", click here. I vividly remember a day in 1970 when I served as a young officer in the Israeli army in one of the poorest and most overpopulated refugee camps in the occupied Gaza Strip. Unexpectedly, my platoon and I were surrounded by several hundred rock throwing, hate spewing young Arabs. As the circle closed around us I called for back up, which was not immediately available. I had to make an instant choice: Do I want to get out alive or not. The only way to stay alive was to shoot in the direction of the quickly encroaching mob. Desperately torn between my ethics and my survival instinct, I knew right then that something was profoundly wrong with the moral junction I faced.

Serving in the occupied territories provided me with a deep realization of the psychological and spiritual costs of being part of an occupying force. Shooting towards a rageful mob of young people in order to save one's life is not easily forgotten, if ever. Thirty-three years of occupation has taken a greater toll on the soul of Israel than on the lives of Palestinians. Although it took many years I physically recovered from my 1973 war injury, but to this day I still carry pain and regrets from that war which I have come to recognize as being preventable. As military control over the lives of the Palestinian people continues, we Jews and Israelis are losing our moral, ethical and spiritual foundation.

Most Jews and Israelis react from a place of immense, deep-rooted fear of another holocaust. Considering the long Jewish history of oppression, including the recent Holocaust of WWII and the present actions and rhetoric of many Arabs and Palestinians, such fear seems easily justified. However, the reality is that Israel has one the best-equipped and most powerful armies in the world, including nuclear weapons. I believe in the critical importance of Israel as a home for the Jews and feel safe in the assurance that Israel is here to stay. It is in no danger of being eliminated and is not even mildly threatened by the lightly armed, rock-throwing Palestinians. What is in danger is the soul of the Israelis and Jews who continue to support the military control of Palestinians. This long period of immoral occupation has driven some Israelis like me to leave the country, but many more turn politically to the right in an attempt to justify Israel's actions.

I strongly believe that a peaceful solution is not only possible but is essential for the long-term survival of the Jewish State. Initially, such a resolution would not necessarily be based on trust or love between the Palestinians and the Israelis; instead, it would be fueled by each nation's desire to stop the violence against its own people. The Israeli army was originally positioned to protect the fundamentalist settlers in their scattered settlements all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The presence of these settlements and the military in the midst of the occupied territories is the most significant factor in the deadly escalation of tension.

In order to halt the violence and set the stage for long-term solutions, radical changes are in order. All the fringe settlements should be dismantled while the others should be consolidated and annexed directly into Israel and the two countries must separate completely. Definite boundaries are called for, complete with fences, electrical devices, and any other effective divider. The security must be absolute, with exchanges between the countries limited to goods and laborers. Philosophical acceptance of the idea that G-d is on both sides would be healing, accompanied by an agreement that Jerusalem would either be divided, shared or become international.

A critical shift for American Jews would be to realize that their fears about Israel's annihilation are unfounded and to become more selective in their financial and political support of their homeland. United States politicians will also have to be more critical about their financial and military aid to Israel, even though arms sales are profitable.

As a nation and as human beings, we must reject the moral junction that I faced as a young officer and pursue the moral, ethical and spiritual path of peace.

• Special thanks to Azzia Zur for critiquing and editing this article.

To order audiotape of lecture on "The Soul of Israel", click here.

 

Inner-tubing on the Jordan River:
The Holy Land, Sonoma, and the Sixth Option
(Or: Why I left Israel)

By: Ofer Zur, Ph.D.

Published in: Song of Peace, Sonoma Valley Congregation Bulletin, November 1996.

The sound of heavy artillery launched from Israel into Lebanon mixing with the sound of small waterfalls along the Jordan river was overshadowed by the cries of joy of our children jumping into the refreshing "holy" water not far from where St. John baptized Jesus a couple of thousand years ago. These days of inner-tubing with my family and dear friends capture for me the immense complexity of my homeland: Close and life-long friendships, the beauty of the land, the rich and turmoiled history, the tension of living in a war zone, and of course the spiritual overlay of the land.

Most of my life I have lived with ambivalence towards my country. On the one hand I loved the close feeling of community, the idealism, the sense of mission, the soulfulness of the land. On the other hand I could not stand the dehumanization of the Arabs, the mentality of siege, the overused metaphor of Masada, and above all the superiority of the "chosen people" that was connected to entitlement rather than to responsibility.

I go with my beloved wife and children every other year to Israel to visit my family and friends, to smell the air, remember the sounds, and always to spend time in Jerusalem. Last summer's visit was colored by my disappointment about the last election. Like clockwork, after being in Israel 3 weeks, I am painfully reminded of why I left my motherland.

Since 1967 I have felt that it is morally, ethically, and spiritually wrong to continue the occupation of the West Bank. As a lieutenant and a paratrooper in the IDF I served in the West Bank and Gaza and later was wounded in the 1973 war. As a young officer I felt torn between my desire to defend my country and my guilt about being part of a force of occupation. Later on I had to decide how to deal with this conflict. I figured out that I have a number of options. Firstly, I could continue to serve in the West Bank and numb myself to what I did, just to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder further on down the line. Secondly, I could serve and shift my policies to the far right to justify my actions. Thirdly, I could become a conscientious objector, which would mean spending long years in prison. Fourthly, I could become politically active, which I became, even though I felt extremely ineffective. Finally, I made an extremely difficult moral decision to leave. I felt that staying in Israel was colluding with the immoral occupation. I could not live with that burden.

The last election in Israel saddened me and painfully reminded me of why I left. The most recent violence has deepened my despair about the possibility of peace. I often feel that Sonoma is the closest to Israel I can get without the burdens. The weather, the vegetation, my close community and deep friendships remind me of Israel. I still wake up some mornings and hope there will be a sixth option.

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