Religion, Statelessness, and Belonging: A Jewish Perspective

Before 1948, and stretching back more than 1800 years, the Jewish people suffered all the problems of statelessness. The Zionist movement, 1897-1948, strove to end the condition of Jewish exile and statelessness. The great historical irony and tragedy is that the establishment of the State of Israel...

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Subtitles:In Honesty and in Hope: Rethinking Interreligious Engagement for Our Times
Main Author: Weissman, Debbie (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2019]
In: The ecumenical review
Year: 2019, Volume: 71, Issue: 5, Pages: 653-664
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BH Judaism
HB Old Testament
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBL Near East and North Africa
NCD Political ethics
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B Palestinian Nakba, 1947-1948
B Zionism
B State of Israel
B Palestinian state
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Before 1948, and stretching back more than 1800 years, the Jewish people suffered all the problems of statelessness. The Zionist movement, 1897-1948, strove to end the condition of Jewish exile and statelessness. The great historical irony and tragedy is that the establishment of the State of Israel brought about the Nakba, the catastrophe, of the Palestinian people. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians see themselves as the victims of the conflict. They seem to be competitors in what I call a "suffering sweepstakes." One of the problems with victimhood is that it prevents victims from assuming responsibility for their actions, including the victimization of others. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both sides are victims and both sides are victimizers. The least helpful thing people can do - and regrettably many well-meaning people do this - is to portray the situation in terms of a zero-sum game, in which, if you're pro-Palestinian, you must be anti-Israeli, and vice versa. We must be both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli, because we are pro-people and, therefore, pro-peace. The achievement of peace necessitates a two-state solution based on some recognition of the two narratives. The best fulfilment of Zionism will come when there is a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.
ISSN:1758-6623
Contains:Enthalten in: The ecumenical review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/erev.12470