1.It is natural and healthy to view the world and make decisions that promote the survival and well-being of my people over the interests of other peoples.This was the essential, non-verbal understanding of my introduction to all politics learned as a child.; “Is he or it good for the Jews?” I could see the tightness in my father’s face in watching or discussing the news, taste the bitter or sweetness in my mouth, and “know” the answer. While some would view this as the natural and healthy way in which individuals identify with their tribe or people, others argue that it is this that leads to many if not most of the great conflicts in the world.
Some people may agree that honoring one’s “people” is a good thing, but might question the rightness of giving them advantage over others. In any case, it is a belief that can be examined and on which people may feel or think differently. One can easily see the different stances people take on what is happening in Gaza as related to this concern.
As it relates to Israel/Palestine, one could say that strong (9 or 10) believers in this statement, would say simply, “Yes, the Palestinians were or are there, and we are taking their land, and that’s ok. We need it”, or even “God gave it to us.” End of story. Benny Morris, the Israeli historian who broke new ground in revealing the ethnic cleansing that took place at the birth of Israel now simply states that this was necessary for our people. It was the right thing to do. Right wing Zionists have often been the most blunt and honest about the reality of the Palestinians and their rational resistance to Zionism. Being unabashed adherents of CB#1, they tend to not concern themselves morally with whatever is happening to the “other”.
Those who question this very basic cultural precept generally come to have a more universalistic view. Martin Buber, Albert Einstein and others, though strong in their Jewish identity, would be lower on the scale of attachment to CB #1 and so they arrived at very different conclusions and advocated for very different policies in the formative years of Israel. Current defenders of Israel’s actions in Gaza, such as Thomas Friedman, may not be willing to acknowledge the role of CB #1 in their thoughts. But, it does seem that if look below the surface of many debates about Israel and the Palestinians, we find that below the argument, this core belief guides to whom one can feel empathy and thus what we think about each military action or peace proposal.
2.The Jewish people are viewed by others (Christians and Muslims especially) with an inherited hatred that can be turned into mass violent actions with very little warning. This belief has a more particular historical context, stemming from centuries of the Christian Church (and nations heavily influenced by that Church) teaching among other things that the Jews killed Christ, killed “our Lord”. This teaching was universal throughout the Christian empires and was frequently used to scapegoat Jews when there were problems of any kind. People were whipped into frenzies of anti-Semitic actions toward individual Jews and whole Jewish communities.
It is also important to recognize that Jews have a very long history and that they have at various times felt comfortable and largely accepted into nations in the past, most notably Spain preceding their expulsion in 1492 and Germany prior to the Nazis. These are real collective memories. One can see them as inducing collective trauma, causing irrational fears in the present that are not warranted. Or, it could be argued that Jews draw rational, cautionary lessons from these experiences and that for example; “Christian America” (a concept which is itself a a core belief of a large number of Christian evangelicals) would be capable of all of what Isabella or Hitler did if certain conditions prevailed.
The relevant question is whether there is any truth in the statement today. At a casual level of observation it certainly doesn’t appear true in the U.S., Europe and outside the Muslim world in general (which is not to deny the existence of anti-semitism in any of those places). There is also the question as to whether Muslim anger towards Jews is not primarily related to Israel and the very powerful influence of Israel and American Jews on U.S. foreign policy vis-a-vis the Muslim world.
3.The Arab world, and in particular the Palestinians, have an irrational hatred of Jews and have an agenda to kill them or at least drive them out of the middle east. This belief certainly has a shorter history, mostly involving the last 100 years. However, especially since Israel’s creation in 1948 and the beginning of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in ‘67, it has become very widespread and deeply felt in the Jewish community. No one can question that violent acts have been committed against Jewish Israelis including civilians and children and in some instances Jews outside of Israel. Athough this has a shorter history than the first two core beliefs, immense amounts of “pro-Israel” literature, website posts and circulating e-mails throughout the Jewish world, drive this message daily into the psyches of those listening to these outlets. “Arabs hate Jews”, ”They learn it in school as children”, “It’s in the Koran, mosques, textbooks…” and in it’s most extreme, racist form, “It’s in their blood, their nature”.
American Jews with the strongest conviction in this have generally never actually talked with any Arab person, much less a Palestinian. It’s been my observation that those who have engaged in dialogue groups or forums in which they have gotten to know Palestinian fathers, mothers and children, generally recognize the distinction of Arab anger over Israeli policy from generalized anti-Semitism. (Likewise, Arabs meeting Jews usually get to understand the difference between being Jewish and being supportive of Israeli policy).
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