shanshee_allures wrote:
Almost none whatsoever. Which is very much my point. With 'reflection' would come a more balanced understanding of the holocaust and its effects. The broader perspective that reflection allows might begin to shift Israel away from the self-destructive spiral it has entered.
But how can Israel reflect? It was born out of the holocaust. And right from day one it's been surrounded by people who hate it. People who -- and this makes it all the worse -- by virtue of living under occupation, can put up pretty strong arguments for why that hatred bears much legitimacy.
So, for all the chest-beating and wailing, there's never been a real period of reflection about the holocaust, because that would suggest it's something in the past. When in fact it has been kept alive in the Jewish psyche by the constant threats of extermination by those around them.
It doesn't matter that they are now stronger (militarily speaking) than those around them, those who threaten them. Post-traumatic stress exaggerates those small threats by linking them to the very real holocaust. This not only damages Israel (and make no mistake, in the long term it's doing terrible damage) by keeping the holocaust here in the present with them, but it also ensures that Israel inevitably over-reacts to every expression of outrage, frustration and hatred at their often tyrannical behaviour. Lashing out with an army when 'reflection' would clearly be the better response for everyone involved.
Or that might be a bunch of psychobabble predicated on a host of dubious assumptions. I hold out hope though, that it may be a useful way of looking at things.
