JEWISH-ISRAELIPEACEBUILDERS AND THE HOLOCAUST: PERCEPTIONS, NATIONAL MYTHS, MEANING AND ACTIONS By Anne Marie Marsa Submitted to the Faculty of the School of International Service of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of the Arts In Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs Chair: Mohammed Abu-Nimer he A. Mertus QO (3-1 O' Louis W. Goodman, Dean a H fo u frfT 2^rQ(= Date (J 2006 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1439944 Copyright 2006 by Marsa, Anne Marie All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 1439944 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © COPYRIGHT by Anne Marie Marsa 2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake. Viktor E. Frankl Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. JEWISH-ISRAELIPEACEBUILDERS AND THE HOLOCAUST: PERCEPTIONS, NATIONAL MYTHS, MEANING AND ACTIONS BY Anne Marie Marsa ABSTRACT This study considers the Holocaust’s continuing psychological impact on Jewish-Israelis and on their treatment of others. It concludes that a significant factor behind Israel’s aggression toward Palestinians, and toward perceived enemy-others in the region, manifests a residual, collective trauma, reinforced by the horrors of the Nazi holocaust. However, some Jewish-Israeli Holocaust survivors and their descendants do not participate in this sense of trauma and related aggression, but work for peace and justice for Palestinians. Through interviews with these social deviants, and qualitative analysis, this study examines their perceptions and motivations, considering how they relate to the Holocaust and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how these views were developed. The findings reveal these salient characteristics that influence how they relate to Palestinians: for Holocaust survivors, experiences of empowerment as compared to helplessness during the Holocaust. For children and grandchildren of survivors, parental role modeling and empathic ways of relating to others. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dear parents, Robert and Ulrike, and my sister and brother, Karen and David, for their love and support. I would also like to thank Ilham Nasser, Father David Neuhaus, and Nahanni Rous for helping me establish initial contacts in Israel; Dan Bar-On for going out of his way to recommend relevant sources for my research, and for taking the time to meet with me while I was in Israel. My thesis chair, Mohammed Abu-Nimer and thesis advisor, Julie Mertus, for being instrumental sounding boards, and for their efforts and valuable suggestions I remain grateful. A special word of thanks to Cherie Rouse and Barbara Kirby for editing this thesis in its entirety; their assistance and expertise has been invaluable. I would also like to thank Tazreena Sajjad and Shane Boris for reviewing the final versions of this thesis, and for providing helpful critiques and suggestions. To others whom I remain appreciative: Danyce Mills, and Susan and James Walters, who have been a wonderful and positive part of my life for many years; and to my dear friends, who have added much joy and depth to my life. Sarah, thanks for being such a kind and tolerant roommate. Majeed, your support and encouragement has meant so very much. And of course, this work would not have been possible without the brave women and men who willingly shared their thoughts and experiences with me, and whose life stories, ethics and actions, remain a source of true inspiration. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1. THE PAST IS PROLOGUE....................................................................................1 Development of Research Topic .....................................................................2 Significance of Study.......................................................................................3 Rationale for Theoretical Approach ................................................................5 Outline of Chapters ..........................................................................................7 2. LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................... 9 Chosen Traumas: Transmission of Transgenerational Trauma ................. 10 The Holocaust and Jewish-Israeli Identity ................................................... 14 Cycles of Violence: Germans, Jews and Palestinians.................................23 Mourning, Healing and Identity Construction............................................ 28 Context and Genocidal Behavior ..................................................................32 Psychodynamics and Holocaust Meanings..................................................38 3. METHODOLOGY............................................................................................. 44 4. A RELATIONAL APPROACH TO THE HOLOCAUST...............................52 Object Relations Theory and the Holocaust ................................................54 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5. VICTIMIZATION, EMPOWERMENT, AND OUTCOMES: THE EXPERIENCES OF ORIGINAL HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS...........61 Empowerment versus Helplessness ..............................................................82 6. CARRYING THE TORCH: THE DESCENDANTS OF SURVIVORS ..........84 7. ON EMPATHY ...................................................................................................95 Realistic and Cognitive Empathy .................................................................96 Affective Empathy .........................................................................................99 Empathy as an Impediment to Aggression and Dehumanization ............ 100 Development of Empathy in Childhood ................................................... 108 8. ON DISRUPTING THE STATUS QUO AND CHALLENGING AUTHORITY............................................................................................. 116 Like Sheep to the Slaughter: Israeli Culture on Weakness .......................121 9. CATALYSTS.................................................................................................... 128 A Crisis in Perception..................................................................................129 10. CONCLUSION: A HUMAN-CENTERED APPROACH........................... 140 Implication of These Findings for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 143 Preserving the Humane Tradition through Education .............................. 145 11. BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................. 148 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 THE PAST IS PROLOGUE Overview of Study The barren landscape of Be’er Sheva stretched out around me under a bright February sun. I was on my way to meet with Israeli social psychologist Dan Bar-On, well known for his conciliation work with children of the Third Reich, second-generation Holocaust survivors, and Palestinians. By this time I had been in Israel for over a month interviewing Holocaust survivors, as well as the descendants of Holocaust survivors, who work in a variety of ways for understanding, peace, social justice, and equity for and with Palestinians. I came here to learn more about what led them to be involved in such work; and I wondered how their direct ties to the Holocaust influenced their activism and perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also wanted to learn if there were other significant life experiences they had in common that influenced their decisions to become involved in such efforts. Several characteristics set these Holocaust survivors and these descendants of Holocaust survivors, which I interviewed, apart from a large percentage of Israeli society. The way they have responded to the suffering and victimization of