Doubling down on tribal identities is an understandable response to oppression, but ultimately, it may not be the most effective way to eliminate it. Zionism is an interesting case in point because it represents the politics of identity and tribe taken to its utmost conclusion — the establishment of a military state.
In response to millennia of anti-Semitism culminating with as many as 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi holocaust, many Jews became convinced of the Zionist argument that their best defense against such a tragedy ever repeating was to form a well-armed nation state.
Given the circumstances, the sentiment is perfectly reasonable, there is, however, an issue with the math. Putting aside the entire question of the displacement of the Palestinian people, Jews are a miniscule fraction of the world’s population — at time of writing just 15,200,000 out of 7,980,000,000- less than .02%. Outnumbered by about 500 to 1, were there to be a widespread outbreak of anti-Semitic violence the only hope for Jews would be that there remained a sufficient number of places in the world where they would be protected. Lacking such places of safety, in a scenario where the entire world became violent towards Jews, with a 500 to 1 disadvantage it is hard to see how having even a militarized nation state could ultimately save the day.
On the other hand, if during a violent outbreak of anti-Semitism there were a sufficient number of places that would protect Jews it seems questionable why having a separate state would have been necessary to begin with. Of course, if during a violent outbreak of anti-Semitism the number of safe havens for Jews was insufficient, having a Jewish homeland could provide Jews at least a temporary refuge until the immediate danger had passed.
It is also true that at the end of WWII there were about 250,000 displaced holocaust survivors. And at that time the US and other nations were only willing to accept about 100,000 in total – less than half. Had there been no Zionist state, it is possible that the 136,000 people who then settled in the new nation state of Israel might have remained homeless. A balanced consideration of the problem of these displaced Jews needs to be evaluated in light of the predicament suffered by the many Palestinians, estimated to be as high as 750,000 who themselves became displaced as a result of the creation of the State of Israel and the subsequent 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Complicating the situation, these events triggered a wave of persecution, expulsions, and forced migration of Jews from across the Middle East and North Africa. Scholarly consensus generally estimates that between 850,000 and 1,000,000 Jews left or were expelled from Arab and Muslim-majority countries between 1948 and the early 1970s.
Ongoing hostilities between the displaced Palestinians and the Israelis have continued for the past 76 years, alternating between protracted periods of low-level violence to outbursts of full-scale war. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been devastating to the Palestinian people leaving most of them impoverished, in exile, exploited by their own self-interested leaders, and by the leaders of neighboring Arab states. It has also been disastrous for the state of Israel having been in a state of war and a target of ceaseless terrorist attacks since its inception in 1948. The conflict also provides those with an anti-Semitic agenda a cover of legitimacy.
Today, after decades of both the Israelis and the Palestinians bringing untold death, destruction and misery to each other, without a sufficient number on each side being willing to stop trying to prove which party is more aggrieved, there can be no going forward. Each will remain dedicated to committing genocide against the other. Alternatively, if both sides decide that the suffering simply cannot continue, there are ways of solving seemingly intractable problems like dealing with the right of return, non- contiguous borders, Israelis who may reside in areas designated as Palestinian, and returning Palestinians who will reside in areas that are part of Israel.
The best of these solutions seems to be a two-state confederacy as promoted by Australian-Israeli educator, journalist, peace activist and Education Director for Kids4Peace Jerusalem, Ittay Flescher and the organization A Land for All. Here is how A Land for All describe their vision:
A Land for All: Two States, One Homeland – was founded by Israelis and Palestinians as a joint movement with a vision both simple and transformative. We envision two democratic, sovereign states – Israel and Palestine – linked together in a confederation with gradual steps toward freedom of movement and residence for all Israelis and Palestinians across our shared homeland. Our model offers national self-determination without domination, shared governance without erasing identity, and security without subjugation.
It’s only by letting go of the past, looking forward, and being to adopt such a vision, or an equally bold alternative, that the endless cycles of death and destruction will finally cease.
In the long term, the only viable solution to the threat of hatred and violence based on race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin will not be a military state, or a passionate recommitment to tribal identity, but a willingness to stop blaming each other and commit to universal human empowerment and universal access to fundamental resources.
In an alternative Jewish response to the horrors of antisemitism and the holocaust, in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s many American Jews became outspoken in the fight for black civil rights. The values that those Jews were fighting for was an end to the oppression of any group.
Rather than doubling down on their tribal identity, those Jewish activists reacted to the horror of the Nazi holocaust by saying we all must fight together to end all prejudice and oppression. No approach to protecting one’s own group is as potentially effective as joining the fight for universal human rights and empowerment.
In a world free of oppression anyone can identify as being anything they want without having to fear or hate the others.