A Religious War in Israel’s Army

[Joby]

JERUSALEM — The publication late last week of eyewitness accounts by Israeli soldiers alleging acute mistreatment of Palestinian civilians in the recent Gaza fighting highlights a debate here about the rules of war. But it also exposes something else: the clash between secular liberals and religious nationalists for control over the army and society.

Several of the testimonies, published by an institute that runs a premilitary course and is affiliated with the left-leaning secular kibbutz movement, showed a distinct impatience with religious soldiers, portraying them as self-appointed holy warriors.

A soldier, identified by the pseudonym Ram, is quoted as saying that in Gaza, “the rabbinate brought in a lot of booklets and articles and their message was very clear: We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the non-Jews who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land. This was the main message, and the whole sense many soldiers had in this operation was of a religious war.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/weekinreview/22BRONNER.html?em

I think we in America, and elsewhere, fall into the trap, not only in regards to Israel but many countries, of only hearing the most vocal of a people. It probably holds true that the same could be said about the US going into our last few conflicts.

I applaud the brave Israelis who spoke out about what they saw in the Gaza incursion which went against their principles. I also fully support those in greater Israeli society who work diligently to maintain Israel as a secular nation based on the rule of law and human rights, and not contorting these to be signs of weakness in the face of 'God's struggle.'

One quote from the article which I found very pertinent was by a Mr Halbertal:

"The right tends to make an equation between authenticity and brutality, as if the idea of humanism were a Western and alien implant to Judaism. They seem not to know that nationalism and fascism are also Western ideas and that hypernationalism is not Jewish at all.”

Well said.