as its result, the creation of the Wandering Arab."
-Baron Edmond de Rothschild, 1934
The state of Israel was established sixty two years ago in 1948, but its story begins long before that and has many participants.
One of the more interesting family histories in Europe belongs to the Rothschilds, a Jewish family that pulled itself up from generations of poverty. Their rise began with Mayer Amschel Rothschild, born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1744 in the ghetto called “Judengasse,” or Jew Alley. Their name, Rothchild, comes from the German for red shield or sign, literally describing the location of their home (the house by the red shield).
Mayer became the “founding father of international finance” by working as an apprentice in finance in Hamburg, developing his own banking business, and then assigning his sons to ‘branch’ offices in Europe. Together they developed a dynasty.
Their power became controversial as the years passed, but their journey very much resembled what we would consider the American Dream, and in 2005 Mayer was ranked #7 of the “20 Most Influential Businessmen of All Time” by Forbes magazine.
Baron Edmond de Rothschild
Later, one of his descendants, Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934) was not a banker, but a philanthropist and supporter of the arts who sponsored archaeological digs in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine.
Edmond was a leading advocate of the Zionist movement and began buying land in Palestine beginning in 1882. In 1924, he founded the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association, which bought more than 125,000 acres of land. In all, it is estimated that Edmond de Rothschild spent over $50 million dollars in founding and supporting the settlements, including the first site at Rishon LeZion.
In the midst of all this, it is important to note that in a 1934 letter to the League of Nations, Edmond de Rothschild stated that "The struggle to put an end to the Wandering Jew could not have, as its result, the creation of the Wandering Arab."
The establishment of Israel following World War II was a cause for great celebration for the Jewish people, and for anyone who felt the atrocity and near-decimation touch their family or awareness in any way.
The years that followed did not put an end to war, but launched instead a whole new experience of homeland insecurity, beginning with the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 that resulted in the Gaza strip.
The Gaza strip borders Egypt to the southwest and Israel to the south, east and north. It is about 25 miles long, between 4–7 miles wide, and holds a population of 1.5 million people. Displaced people. Incarcerated people. Suffering people.
But this would come as no surprise:
Why would they accept that?”
David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister 1948-1953
Child in Gaza rubble, 2009
I ask: Why must the tables turn?
Why must the settlement of one people result in the displacement of another?
Why must the newfound identity of one people result in the destruction of another’s?
Why doesn’t the knowledge of the horror of war result in the living out of compassion and forgiveness?
Why can’t we live beside each other and simply share the land that belongs to all and none of us?
Why must the children continue to suffer?
The last words of Anne Frank’s diary read, “Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”
Yes.
In the end... we are all children of one family.
And we all just want to go home.
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Comments
Carole, the end of this post brought tears to my eyes
Rated
I had a discussion a couple of years ago with a staunch Zionist who believed in the preservation of Israel at any price. Her justification for violence was because of the Holocaust, an even I doubt any Palestinian had a part of.
@Lightning - thank you :)
@Susan - "It all just seems so much more complicated than this when you add in the politics." Agreed. In my work I try to get to the heart of the matter, which to me in this case is home.
@Amy - "It's like someone who grows up in an abusive family, only to become abusive themselves." Well said. This whole situation breaks my heart, and no details - political, national, nautical, historical, or whatever - address the core of it, which is a spiritual (not religious) malady that can only be healed with LOVE.
the west apologizes for israel endlessly, because europe is complicit in the holocaust, and america supported the invasion as a quid pro quo in american elections. harry truman needed the jewish vote.
having created the monster, western governments are loath to cry "monster!" lest the world ask "who are its parents?"
ordinary people are now wondering why their governments do not recognize this reality. so at last, european governments are being led to ask for some more civilized behavior from israel. america is lacking here, still in thrall to aipac and the oil corporations.
What children we are and how much we hurt each other.
Bottom line is that we need to share everything and care for everyone equally. So we must parent our selves to learn manners and play well with others. It's really that simple.
All those "complicated political challenges" would all go away if we had the idea that we need to share and care and that it is not acceptable to defend anyone who aggressively and violently forces his or her way.
We are billions of people refusing to engage and respond with aggression and violence. Even the mighty and misguided US military acknowledges publicly that only the very small majority of soldier are willing to discharge their weapons in combat. Just read Brigadier Gen. S.L.A. Marshall "Men against fire".
Your voice is vital to our human family and you remind me that
when the power of love is greater than that love of power, there will be peace.
We can fight and kill and hurt but in the end only love and care for each other and our home will make us feel that we are here for a reason.
We are beings of goodness and of love. Those who have forgotten that are the confused and bewildered (and usually loudest) ones but they are the tiny minority.
Keep writing - You show the way and there are billions of us on the path.