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Seemg Through 1Srae1i State Efforts to Mstrumenta1ize Oeath & Heroism

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Seemg Through 1Srae1i State Efforts to Mstrumenta1ize Oeath & Heroism SCR 7532 Soapbubbles by Asako Futemma seemg through 1srae1i state Efforts to mstrumenta1ize oeath &Heroism Thesis bY: Ere11a Grassiam umversitY of Amsterdam 2001 Table of contents Summery in English 1 Summery in Dutch 2 Introduction 4 Chapter 1: Theoretical orientations 11 Ruling elites and consensus building. 11 Public dissent. 17 Chapter 2: A fighting hero in a militarized society 21 Historical roots. 21 The status ofcontemporary fighting heroes: militarization ofIsraeli society. 32 Chapter 3: Yom Hazikaron: the sacred side ofdeath 40 Rituals and symbols: a discourse of commemoration. 43 The role of the military in Israeli commemoration and grief. 52 Chapter four: Other voices: daring to burst that bubble. 57 General conclusion 73 Literature 7 5 Summery (English) The active production of hegemony by the Israeli state achieves the existence of a public that will fight the state's battles. In this work I show how through ritual and myth making that glorify death and the fighter image, the Israeli public is drawn into a way of thinking that is uncritical of the state. With this hegemony, the state creates the possibility to naturalize unnatural military-related deaths of many young soldiers. By making these (combat) soldiers heroes and by glorifying their battlefield­ death, the message is sent out that dying for one's country is a good thing. It is the greatest donation any citizen can give to its nation. Through education and ritual this ideal is made natural in the minds of the Israeli citizens. Especially Yam Hazikaron, the national Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers in Israel, has a great influence on the public. Formal ceremonies bring out the message that the fallen that are commemorated there did not die in vain. Their death, so it is said at this occasion, is the reason the state of Israel still exists. These "boys" died for the nation, and therefore the nation should look at them in awe and see them as an example to follow. This discourse that I called the "heroic discourse" of the Israeli state thrives at these ceremonies, but also in more individual commemorating material for example of the bereaved families. This shows the strength of the hegemony; the public uses it without questioning. There is a part of the public, however, that chooses not to comply with this militaristic and nationalistic hegemony. This resistance movement that consists mostly of women, refuses to go along with the state's efforts to form the public's mental map in an indoctrinating way. Organizations like "New Profile" and "Women and Mothers for Peace" go out to "slaughter" some of the state's "sacred cows". These activists refuse to sacrifice their or their family members' lives for the sake of the state's policies that are many times seen as illegitimate. Furthermore the militaristic character of the Israeli state is questioned. Although this movement is small and seen as very "radical" by the Israeli public, it has an important function in bringing awareness and in making a start for real change. Summery (Dutch) Het actief produceren van een hegemonie door the Israelische staat brengt het bestaan van een publiek voort dat bereid is in de oorlogen van deze staat te vechten. In dit werk laat ik zien hoe door ritueel and mythe vorming, die de dood en de gevechtssoldaat verheerlijken, het Israelische publiek een bepaalde denkwijze wordt opgedrongen. Deze denkwijze bekritiseert de staat en haar acties niet. Door deze hegemonie, creeert de staat de mogelijkheid om onnatuurlijke militaire overlijdensgevallen van jonge soldaten te naturaliseren. Door van deze gevechtssoldaten helden te maken en door hun dood te verheerlijken, wordt de boodschap gegeven dat het goed is om voor je land te sterven. Het is de grootste donatie die een burger zijn staat kan geven. Door educatie en rituelen wordt dit ideaal beeld aan het publiek overgedragen en genaturaliseerd. Vooral Yom Hazikaron, de nationale herdenkingsdag van de gevallen soldaten in Israel, oefent een grote invloed uit op het publiek. Formele ceremonies brengen de boodschap over dat de gevallen soldaten niet voor niets zijn gestorven. Hun dood, zo wordt op deze dag gezegd, is de reden dat de staat van Israel nog steeds bestaat. Deze "jongens" stierven voor de natie en hierdoor moet de natie tegen hen op kijken en hun voorbeeld volgen. Dit vertoog dat ik het "hero'ische vertoog" heb genoemd, heeft een duidelijke opleving op deze dag, maar niet alleen aan de officiele staats kant. Ook in individuelere uitingen van de herdenking van de doden komen dezelfde thema's ter sprake. Dit laat de kracht van het vertoog zien; het publiek maakt er gebruik van zonder vragen te stellen. Er is echter een deel van het publiek dat de militaristische en nationalistische hegemonic van de staat niet klakkeloos accepteert. Deze protestbeweging, die grotendeels uit vrouwen bestaat, weigert mee te gaan met de pogingen van de staat om de publieke opinie te vormen. Organisaties als "New Profile" en "Women and Mothers for Peace" maken er werk van om de "heilige koeien" van de staat te "slachten". Deze activisten weigeren hun eigen leven ofhet leven van hun familie leden op te offeren voor het beleid van de staat, dat vaak als niet legitiem wordt gezien. Ook het militaristische karakter van de Israelische staat wordt bekritiseerd. Al is deze protestbeweging klein en wordt zij als erg radicaal beschouwd door het publiek, zij heeft een belangrijke functie om bewustzijn 2 te creeren en om een begin te maken voor echte verandering binnen de Israelische maatschappij. 3 Introduction "Today, we can be proud ofour achievements. But we must remember the heavy price that has been paid by the lives ofso many thousands. With their lives they defended the country; the ground soaked up their blood. Without them, without their lives, without the sacrifice oftheir deaths, without your sacrifice, your losses, and your pain, dear family members, we would not have reached the point where we can dream that the country will be quiet and peace will prevail within its borders. " (Memorial Day speech 1994 by president Ezer W eizman.) " ... and so I reached a decision, that you sir [Prime Minister Ehud Barak], decided that my sons life will be the additional price that our family has to pay. This price has to be paid according to standards that in my beliefs reduce the value ofhuman lives and according to a policy that goes against my democratic values. This policy states that our soldiers are expected to conduct actions that have a chance ofbeing defined as war crimes. I won't allow that my son will sacrifice his life for these goals". (Atalia Boimel, in Maariv 30-8-1998, the author's translation.) These two quotations, one from the president and one from a soldier's mother, show ~wo completely different discourses on sacrifice of human lives in the face of the nation. The second quote is disputing themes that show up in the first one, like self-sacrifice for the good of the collective and the defense of the country. These themes are part of a highly militarized, nationalist and heroic discourse that is used by the Israeli State. First I will discuss this formal, hegemonic discourse with its climax the National Memorial Day (fpm Hazikaron) and look at its; effect oµ sooi~ty. Seconqly, I will qjscuss resistant voices that chose to go against these highly consensual ideas. The second quote illustratps this focus. 4 Development of the research plans When I searched for the ways nationalism is manifested in Israel, I quickly came across "Yam Hazikaran le hallale tsahal" (National Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers). This day is loaded with emotions and rituals, with ceremonies, songs and most of all sorrow. It furthermore seems to have a big impact on the Jewish Israeli population. Once an Israeli girl, that lived in Holland told me that the holiday she missed most was Yam Hazikaran. An Israeli friend I spoke to after I already began my research, told me how she loved the music played on this day and how she had videotapes with stories of the helicopter disaster (1997, where 73 soldiers died at once) that she loved to watch. From these conversations I understood these girls were attracted to the atmosphere of communal grief, the nostalgic feeling of belonging to the Israeli community in the difficult situation it faces today. This was not totally strange for me. For me as an Israeli, Yam Hazikaran was a very emotional but quite natural event. I accepted the ceremonies and speeches as they were and felt sad with the rest of the nation when this was expected from me. So when I read about an Israeli mother that refused to participate in the sphere of this day and that wasn't prepared to sacrifice her son in the military service, I got intrigued. I began to see Yam Hazikaran from a different angle, the angle that sees another disguised function of this day in the nationalist quest of legitimizing certain unnatural "realities" in Israel. Leading argument I decided to focus on Yam Hazikaron in this research, because here one can see a clear climax of the nationalist, heroic discourse I will discuss. Furthermore, because this day deals with death, it contains one of the heaviest taboos of the national discourse. It is very difficult to break through its myths and look at it from a different angle. It is important to note that I will not only discuss Yam Hazikaron and the language that is used during its ceremonies. This nationalist discourse of sacrifice for the nation is much wider and can also be heard at separate memorial services for soldiers, in schools or even during different holidays.
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