Posted on 06/30/2005 6:53:57 PM PDT by Salem
Civil war is national suicide
As disengagement draws closer, some fear that growing tensions may erupt into armed conflict. Worst-case scenarios of disengagement, security chiefs warn, include assassination of the prime minister or other leaders and violent civil unrest .
The more we positively discount such possibilities, the more likely it is that we are in denial. Civil war could threaten our very existence – the prospect of which, while naturally engendering avoidance of the topic, also demands overcoming anxiety in order to perform a realistic risk assessment.
Clinicians evaluating suicidal clients utilize various factors to assess risk. These include: current suicidal thinking and planning, behavior indicating intent, the availability and lethality of means for self-harm, the number and seriousness of past suicide attempts, major recent or impending life stressors or losses, and family history of suicide. Similar criteria are applied to assess homicidality.
If civil war is "national suicide," let us assess Israel using these criteria.
Many feel that either implementing or not implementing disengagement is suicidal, implying the presence of suicidal thoughts and behavior. Lethal weapons are widely available, with the potential for violent escalation. Levels of stress and loss are extreme: Settlers feel betrayed as dreams and decades of work are about to be destroyed by their brothers and leaders. All face multiple transitions and losses – home, work, school, friends, community, values and world-view. Many feel that lives will have been lost in vain.
Elements of high suicide/homicide risk are thus present.
AND WHAT about our "family history?"
Does the Bible document civil wars between Jews or the assassination of Jewish leaders by Jews? Research at Israeli colleges reveals that most students believe there were no major Jewish civil wars and no political assassinations mentioned – or at most one or two.
But it's there in black and white: At Sinai, the Levites killed 3,000 Israelites on direct orders from Moses after the Golden Calf incident (Exodus 32:26-29); Judge Jephthah's men of Menasseh killed 42,000 Ephraimites over economic status and hurt pride, even those trying to flee (Judges 12:1-6). The incident of the concubine at Gibeah resulted in full-scale civil war, with hundreds of thousands of dead and near-extinction of the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 19-21). And thousands apparently fell in the protracted war between Saul's descendants and David (II Samuel 2:10-3:1). When Absalom rebelled against David, 20,000 died in battle (II Samuel 18:6-8).
After the kingdom split, Israel-Judean hostilities dominated much of the First Temple period. Major wars included those between the following kings of Israel and Judea: Jeroboam-Abijah (500,000 dead; II Chronicles 13); Baasha-Asa (Asa sends to Aram for relief – Aram destroys Israelite cities; I Kings 15:16-22); Jehoash-Amazzia (rout of Judea; II Kings 14:8-16); and Pekah (allied with Aram)-Ahaz (120,000 Judeans killed; II Kings 16:5-10; II Chronicles 28). Ahaz called on Assyria and she conquered northern Israel, exiling northern and eastern tribes (II Kings 15:29; I Chronicles 5:26).
Assyrians, Edomites and Philistines allowed civil war to weaken both Jewish kingdoms and swooped in for the kill (II Chronicles 28:17-18).
Internecine fighting in Hasmonean and Herodian periods climaxed in the Great Revolt against Rome (66-70 CE), when factions attacked and burned precious supplies despite impending siege, hastening the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple.
Ancient Jewish history is thus replete with fraternal conflicts, several far exceeding per-capita casualties of the American Civil War.
Even if the biblical accounts and casualty figures are not taken as absolute gospel, they clearly convey the potential for horrible violence within Israel and for the escalation of aggression from minor beginnings to large-scale conflict. Political assassination is also rampant in the Bible: No fewer than 13 of 40 kings of Judea and Israel following Solomon (35 percent) were assassinated by Jews.
Taking all of the above into account, Israel seems at high risk of suicide and of patricidal homicide of its leaders.
IT IS odd that the People of the Book know so little of their book. Perhaps the Ministry of Education should take note: the Bible could be made relevant to students by studying and struggling with these issues, along with other biblical texts relevant to violence, another topic needing urgent intervention. After all, today's students may well be engaged on either side of tomorrow's disengagement.
It is also curious that our bloody history has not entered the public debate on disengagement – another sign of defensive avoidance.
Ignoring our history may put us at greater risk of repeating it, while accepting it would lead us to take every possible precaution to avoid tragedy. The government would act to ensure its decisions are perceived to represent the will of a clear, democratic majority. Leaders on both sides would act decisively to facilitate moderation, and empathy for the other side.
Avoiding civil war should be our number-one priority. Listening to our past would strengthen us as a society. The process would allow us to stand united in any situation, whether we decide that it requires generosity or assertiveness.
Let us heed the Bible's warning and together choose life, so we can go on together contributing to the development of Israel and to a better world.
The writer is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Kfar Yonah, specializing in treatment of anxiety, trauma and loss.
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Let us heed the Bible's warning
Numbers 25:7-13, Judges 20. Why aren't you paying attention?
That may be, but I'd like to know which "fraternal conflicts" the author is considering. The US Civil War seems sui generis in many ways.
It is also interesting that in the US we are closer to civil war -- or widespread insurrection -- with this recent USSCT ruling then many realize. As Israel is made to go, could we not be made suffer to an even worse result?
The forced removal of Jews from anywhere is a sad watershed momemt for any nation that engages in it -- and if that nation is Israel itself, would not G-d, Himself, feel rebuked?
Don't worry, just as soon as the Israelis get out of Gaza
there will be peace and prosperity in the entire Middle
East, and all the Muslims will love America!
(If not, what benefit is there in handing over Gaza to
the Palestinians? There's no peace or cease-fire now,
and there won't be one after they get Gaza. The only
difference will be that many more Israeli targets
will suddenly be in range.)
You've sure got that right. God only knows what's going to become of our societies and hence, the World.
Where is the negotiations? Israel, cheered and pushed by the Bush Administration, is surrendering to terrorists.
{{Numbers 25:7-13, Judges 20. Why aren't you paying attention?}}
The Jews of Gush Katif, in my view, portend the rise and fall of many in Israel -- and the world. This is quickly coming upon us.
Nonetheless, your investment in Israel is still priceless. Are you ready for this?
The prophet Malachi: "I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say: 'Wherein hast Thou loved us?'"
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