A willed desire not to know

Recent image of a starving child in Gaza

At various points over the years of this blog, I’ve asked whether Israel has the internal resources – psychological, ethical, social, spiritual – to take a critical view of itself, and its founding ideology, Zionism.  Thus far, it has not developed such a capacity.

In a way, this is not surprising, for so pervasive is Zionist ideology – essentially a commitment to an Israeli Jewish Supremacist state – that there are hardly any cracks in the wall of Israelis’ self-belief in it.   Taking a systems perspective, one can see how Israel has succeeded – thus far – in creating for itself a series of interlocking laws, policies, narratives and practices which, taken together, constitute a self-reinforcing, self-replicating worldview, one that leaves little or no space for alternative perspectives. I focus on two: Israeli education system and censorship.

In an interesting paper by Dr Yohai Hakak, Safeguarding from Power: Trauma, Violence, and the Case of Israel she discusses how the Zionist state manufactures and maintains in its population, from the earliest age, a sense of perpetual trauma arising out of:

the long history of Jewish persecution. For centuries, Jews in Europe and beyond endured marginalisation, expulsions, pogroms, and ultimately the Holocaust… These traumas formed a collective memory of profound victimhood, shaping Jewish consciousness to this day.

Hakak goes on to say:

Importantly, these traumatic memories were not left to evolve organically. They were intentionally enhanced and instrumentalised by the State of Israel. From early childhood, Israeli citizens are immersed in a national narrative that highlights Jewish suffering while tying it directly to the necessity of a powerful state.

Normally, one seeks to reduce or eliminate trauma and its consequences.  However, in Israel’s case, the trauma is instrumentalised in service of the, specifically, Jewish state.  

The process of inculcating each generation of Israeli children into a pervading sense of being under perpetual threat, a threat that can only be countered by a strong Israeli military, is reinforced throughout childhood and adolescence.

Thus, children from the earliest age, from kindergarten onwards, are encouraged to identify with the IDF. Orly Noy relates how her then five-year-old child was encouraged, as were other children, to prepare care packages – biscuits, juices, and so forth – for serving soldiers.

For adolescents, there are the organised visits to Holocaust sites in Poland where once again the narrative is about Jews as victims, and therefore they must be strong. As youngsters approach conscription age, there is a one-year voluntary service program for Israeli high school graduates prior to their mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). 

Importantly, Israel runs an essentially segregated education system such that Jewish children and Palestinian children go to separate schools. This mirrored in their living in separate areas. There is little or no opportunity to know the other either in formal settings – the school – or in shared neighbourhoods, in other societies, the venue for daily, informal encounters. 

Thus, by the time an eighteen-year-old starts formal military service, they are well-primed to see the themselves as potential victims, surrounded by enemies - the antidote to which is the harnessing of military might.  This will primarily be directed at Palestinians. Palestinians who are portrayed, in schoolbooks as:  

traditional and objects to changes by its nature [sic], reluctant to adopt novelties. Modernization seems dangerous to them, [i.e. Palestinians] and they are unwilling to give anything for the general good. They also are portrayed as a problem and a demographic threat, as a security threat. And because they are deemed a demographic threat, this legitimates the massacres and their elimination.

We see this policy of elimination graphically at work today.

Censorship

To further limit and distort perspectives, Israel is under a regime of permanent censorship.

Wikipedia, quoting Reporters Without Borders,  states:

Under Israel’s military censorship, reporting on a variety of security issues requires prior approval by the authorities. Journalists can be charged with criminal defamation and ‘insulting a public official’. The confidentiality of sources is not protected by statutory law.

Journalists need to be accredited by the Government Press Office. It is able to deny applications based on political or security considerations. The inclusion of political considerations has an ominous ring. What counts as political? What forms of political expression are denied dissemination?

At least a partial answer to those questions is suggested in Israel’s decision to ban Al Jazeera, a broadcaster that gives time to Palestinian perspectives, closing its Jerusalem offices and revoking its press cards. It then shut down the Al Jazeera Media Network bureau in Ramallah. Israel also seized Associated Press equipment, taking down their live shot in northern Gaza’. Haaretz is boycotted by the Israeli government. As of this year Israel ranks 108th in the World Press Freedom Index.  +972 Magazine reports that Israel’s military censorship reached unprecedented levels in 2024. In that year 1,635 articles were banned from publication.

Thus, the logic of a segregated educational system, with all the distortions and the unknowledge it fosters, is reproduced in the censorship regime. It is a regime designed to hide or obscure alternative perspectives to the dominant, culturally embedded, discourse.

A carapace of protection

Israel’s state-promoted sense of perpetual victimhood functions as a highly effective protective carapace. Because all criticism is taken to be essentially motivated by antisemitism, it gains no traction but acts instead as a protective dome of impunity.

Israel's Iron Dome and other air defence systems

Why should Israel trouble itself to debate the details of any accusation when what is really going on is the latest manifestation of Jew-hate?  Antisemitism is Israel’s Iron Dome, shooting down discordant critiques before they hit the ground. This surely has a bearing on how Israelis respond to international criticism, be that governmental (which is generally mild and toothless) or that of international civil society.

Returning to the question

To return to the question at the head of this article: whether Israel has the internal resources – psychological, ethical, social, spiritual – to take a critical view of itself, and its founding ideology, Zionism, the answer must be a NO. Israel has created for itself systems and structures that foster self-myopia. A willed desire not to know, not to see things as they are. The result is the constant attempt to make the world fit Israel’s distorted perceptions, to wish-away Palestinians; and if they cannot be wished away, then more tangible means must be deployed: Genocide.

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Note: this article was first published on Bernard Spiegal's blog: https://bernardspiegal.com/