Issue No. 602
International
Previous issue
Site map
|
|
5 - 11 September 2002 Issue No. 602 International |
Current issue Previous issue Site map | |
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Swimming against the tide
Unprecedented criticism of Israel by Britain's chief rabbi has been met by a mixture of consternation and praise. In London, James Corbett finds that much of the criticism reflects many British Jews' growing unease with Sharon's Israel
In an unprecedented attack, Britain's chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, last week created a sensation by arguing that Israel was adopting a stance "incompatible" with the deepest ideals of Judaism, and that the current conflict with the Palestinians is "corrupting" to Israeli culture.
Promoting his new book The Dignity of Difference Professor Sacks told The Guardian newspaper, "I regard the current situation as nothing less than tragic, because it is forcing Israel into postures that are incompatible in the long run with our deepest ideals." He went on to say, "There is no question that this kind of prolonged conflict, together with the absence of hope, generates hatreds and insensitivities that in the long-run are corrupting to a culture."
He then rounded off his attack by expressing reservations about Israel's post- 1967 borders.
The remarks brought about an immediate reaction that veered sharply between consternation and praise. Sacks, The Guardian and The Jewish Chronicle -- Britain's largest Jewish newspaper -- all found their letter boxes bulging with comment on the issue.
One Jewish Chronicle reader characterised Sacks as an "enemy" of Israel, while another raged, "No one has the right to condemn a country at war when they do their best to protect their civilians."
Despite such criticism, the most vociferous of which came from overseas, Rabbi Sacks's comments have been broadly welcomed by many in Britain's Jewish community.
Tom Goldschmitt, a 29-year-old teacher, told Al-Ahram Weekly, "Because it's an issue that raises such passions, every time someone says anything a little out of the ordinary everybody goes a little bit mad. What he says isn't that out of the ordinary, it's just what most liberal and secular Jews here and in Israel think, but don't always say. I think that it's important that someone of such seniority has come out and said the unspoken."
It is a view shared by Nadhezda Semilinski, a 27-year-old academic. "Despite what some British Jews might say, because most are usually lapsed or not Orthodox, Israel has very little to do with most our lives." "There has been a tendency in Britain, where there are two newspapers --The Guardian and The Independent -- plus the BBC who are often very critical of Israel, although usually with good reason, to blur anger directed towards the Israeli state with anger at the Jewish community at large."
Anti-Semitism is relatively rare in Britain, although two synagogues were recently vandalised. More marked has been the sense of outrage at the actions of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Israel.
British journalists have been amongst the most tenacious Western critics of Israeli policies since the Intifada began, two years ago. Award-winning exposes have touched the British consciousness in a similar way that reports of atrocities in the former Yugoslavia did in the 1990s. Arguably, only effective diplomacy and the brooding presence of the United States have stood between increasingly strong anti-Israeli opinion in Britain being translated into political action.
Such sustained criticism has led to much soul-searching amongst Britain's 280,000 Jews. While some have followed Israel's rightward political swing, many have voiced their concerns at the country's increasingly brutal occupation of Palestinian land. There has also been the formation of a number of protest groups along the lines of Israel's Peace Now.
This will not have gone unnoticed to an astute public figure like Rabbi Sacks. Since becoming chief rabbi of Britain's Orthodox Jews in 1991, Professor Sacks has become one of the most prominent and well- respected religious leaders in Britain.
His essentially Utopian world view centres on the arguments that when the political and economic order is iniquitous, it causes "anger, resentment and a burning sense of injustice". In his new book he writes, "The greatest single antidote to violence is conversation, speaking our fears, listening to the fears of others, and, thus, discovering a genesis of hope."
How this is translated into action, remains to be seen.
However, the importance of Rabbi Sacks's comments lies in the fact that he made them in the first place. By speaking out against Israel, even in reserved terms, he has put paid to the expectation that Israel could continue to have the unconditional support of the Jewish religious establishment, voiced or otherwise.
By calling into question the current status quo, Sacks has also cast doubt on whether Israel's post-1967 borders have the religious legitimacy that, many Israelis argue, underpins their country's expanded borders.
At the moment though, Rabbi Sacks stands alone amongst senior rabbis in voicing his concerns. For his warnings to have any real significance, others will have to follow suit.
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
