Jewish Fundamentalism in the Occupied Territories

Michael Feige. Settling in the Hearts: Jewish Fundamentalism in the Occupied Territories. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2009. 328 S. $54.95, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8143-2750-0. Motti Inbari. Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount: Who Will Build the Third Temple?. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009. 211 S. $24.95, paper, ISBN 978-1-4384-2624-2. Nurit Stadler. Yeshiva Fundamentalism: Piety, Gender, and Resistance in the Ultra- Orthodox World. New York: New York University Press, 2009. 196 S. $39.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8147-4049-1. Reviewed by Peter Lintl Published on H-Soz-u-Kult (October, 2009) This year as many as three monographs on gious Zionism. Finally Nurit Stadler, in “Yeshiva “Jewish fundamentalism” have been published, Fundamentalism,” concentrates on shifts of piety yet all three of them focus on different move‐ within the ultraorthodox world. ments. Whereas Michael Feige, in “Settling in the Compared to the numerous studies already Hearts,” deals with the religious Zionist settle‐ published on the subject, Michael Feige’s book ment movement, Motti Inbari, in “Jewish Funda‐ “Settling in the Hearts” differs in methodology as mentalism and the Temple Mount,” focuses on well content. Almost all of the previous works groups that are located on the periphery of reli‐ H-Net Reviews dealt either with the political-religious agenda of connection to the land and the attempts and the settlers, the impact on Israeli and Palestinian methods of proving their authenticity (chapter 4), societies and/or the ramifications for the Peace the role of the Palestinians (chapter 5), and the in‐ Process. Feige however chooses to answer the fluence of the Intifadas not only on their daily life, question: “how does a radical fundamentalist but also on the whole construction of reality movement go about settling in the hearts of peo‐ (chapter 6). ple?” (Feige, p. 4) Among many good chapters, the second might In order to answer this question Feige’s re‐ be in respect to the leading question the book’s search does not focus on the history or politics of most outstanding one. It shows most clearly the the movement as others did before, but – and this differences of legitimation between secular and is in wide part a new approach to research on the religious Zionists and their concept of time and subject – he concentrates on anthropological con‐ history. While both use the bible as a point of ref‐ cepts of the settlers’ lifeworld, such as time, space erence, the secular Zionists exploit it to prove and memory, semiotics and semantics, or the per‐ their historical right of return, whereas religious ception of themselves vis-à-vis others. In doing so, Zionists refer to the ahistorical connection of Jews he always contrasts the settler’s view to the logic to the land promised to them by God. This is em‐ of the non-settler Israeli society and thereby phatically articulated, when Feige quotes Gush comes back to his actual task of analyzing to what Emunim founding member Hanan Porat: "The extent the settlers succeed in incorporating their historical reason, in its literal sense, is not rele‐ narrative into the wider Israeli narrative. vant. If two millennia ago there were Jews here – As an anthropologist Feige research was con‐ does that give us any rights? Will the Vikings ducted via several years of participant observa‐ come and demand rights to Scandinavia or Eng‐ tion, a method which he applied also for previous land? […] The uniqueness of the Jewish people is works on the same subject. Therefore it is not sur‐ that their connection to the land is metahistorical. prising that he is a former student of Gideon They create history and are not just derived from Aran, who applied this method also in his ground‐ it.” (Feige, p. 44) breaking study on Gush Emunim. In what can be seen as the second part of the The book can be divided in three parts. The book (Chapters 7 through 9) Feige switches from first part connects the central question of the describing the inner logic of the religious settlers’ book with the general logic and lifeworld of the world view to a portrayal of three settlements: religious settlers. Here Feige explains how the set‐ Hebron, Gush Etzion and Ofra. In line with the ar‐ tlers construct their reality, how they interpret gument of the book, Feige chose these settlements and apply Jewish religious tradition to the world because each one of them takes a different stand around them, how they react to developments in trying to incorporate into the public’s narrative: their environment and to what extent their narra‐ Hebron calls upon Jewish religion and history, tive is compatible with the Israeli narrative be‐ Gush Etzion appeals to the Zionist pre-state ideals, yond the green line. and Ofra pledges to the Israeli society that there are ‚reasonable‘ and normal religious settlements In order to give the reader an idea of the set‐ – not fundamentally distinct from communities tlers’ everyday life, Feige explains its significant within the green line. features. He explains their concept of time, space and history (chapter 2), their self perception of The third part of the book (chapters 10-12) living in settlements, as well as the outreach of looks at very different developments, all of them the image of a settlement (chapter 3), the settlers’ with a certain potential to distress the settlers’ 2 H-Net Reviews cause. Chapter 10 deals with the ramifications of It is a pity that Feige draws no connection at the evacuation of Sinai for the settler’s relation‐ all between different attitudes characterized in ship with society, which is in their view a kind of the book and the political differences within the an original sin of the state. Chapter 11 deals with religious settler community, as they erupt pretty the challenges of feminism for a fundamentalist much along the debate, if ‚settling the hearts‘ or movement, and chapter 12 focuses on the frst ‚settling the land‘ is of higher importance. But be‐ West Bank born generation, which displays com‐ sides these minor points of critique Feige’s book is pared to their parents a very different, dismissive definitely a very valuable and knowledgeable attitude towards Israeli society. This chapter is es‐ contribution to the study of the religious settlers pecially interesting, as it is (to the best of my in particular and to the understanding of reli‐ knowledge) the frst scholarly, non-Hebrew publi‐ gious movements in today’s world more generally. cation to deal with the so called “Hilltop Youth”. One consequence of the settlers’ failed at‐ In the concluding chapter 13 Feige answers tempt to establish their narrative as part of the the question if the settlers have ‚settled in the mainstream is a fragmentation and radicalisation hearts‘ negatively and he explains why. On the of Israel’s orthodoxy. That is exactly the topic Mot‐ one hand the settlers did succeed establishing a ti Inbari’s work “Jewish Fundamentalism and the settlement complex in the Palestinian Territories, Temple Mount” devotes its attention to. His book which has assumed such vast proportions that it deals with the radical fringes of the Jewish reli‐ is probably the single-most important obstacle to gious scene – Inbari relates to them as “small, ex‐ the peace process. On the other hand Feige can tremist and semi-clandestine groups.” (Inbari, p. demonstrate that the settlers failed to incorporate 15) In doing so, he provides the reader with an in‐ their view into the general Israeli narrative, by sight to a topic, which was by and large neglected pointing out to different events. The most obvious by scholarship so far. display of failure was visible throughout the Correlating to the fact that the book touches protests against the disengagement in Gaza. While in wide parts on new aspects, Inbari’s research the mobilization of the religious Zionist camp was has been conducted mainly with primary sources, close to total, almost no one else joined in. being written materials by the various groups, in‐ Feige’s insight that the settlers did not man‐ terviews as well as participant observations in age to ingrain their essentialist account of the their gatherings and ceremonies. West Bank into the Israeli narrative might be sur‐ Common to all of them is an experience of prising to some, but it is nevertheless correct. disappointed messianic expectations, which led Polls have indicated for a long time that for the them to take a more activist stance towards the majority of Israelis, the reason for remaining in fulfillment of redemption. This activism focuses in the West Bank are more related to economics and one way or another around the rebuilding of the security (however justified that may be), but hard‐ Third Temple, and is normally accompanied by a ly to a spiritual connection to the land in the set‐ political doctrine to erect a Torah state. Both are tlers’ sense. essential features of the Jewish belief of redemp‐ But the greatest merits of the book lie else‐ tion. where, namely in delivering an anthropological Two of the book’s chapters deal explicitly study of the lifeworld of the religious settlers, with post-Zionist or anti-Zionist and anti-statist which permits the reader both, a very broad but movements, openly supportive of the use of vio‐ also in depth understanding of the logic of this lence, and for whom the establishment of the movement. Third Temple is just a feature (albeit an impor‐ 3 H-Net Reviews tant) in the course of the founding of a theocratic ing people.

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