Trauma begets Trauma: The Holocaust and the Jewish State

Families torn apart. Starvation, torture, and brutality. Six million killed. Six million men, women, and children murdered. Six million people murdered based upon uncontrollable circumstances. Six million people murdered purely due to their heritage. The Holocaust marks one of the greatest tragedies in the history of humanity. An event so significant leaves a stain on humankind.

The Holocaust has affected the Jewish people significantly and defines modern Zionism. Zionism has shaped the creation of the State of Israel and the ongoing IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Trauma and victimization of the Jewish people during the Holocaust has since caused further trauma at the hands of the once victimized Jews. First, the Holocaust dismantled the concept of empathy for many of the victimized. Second, the Holocaust has become the sole justification for Zionism by many who were not direct victims of the Nazi regime. Third, the Jewish state has created a hostile environment for the Palestinians, in some contexts almost resembling aspects of the victimization faced originally by the Jews at the hands of the state. Trauma is often the underlying cause of trauma. The same concept applies to the Holocaust. Jewish Trauma caused by the Holocaust has caused trauma for the Palestinian people residing in and near Israel.

Zionism:

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Zionism is: “an international movement originally for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel.”1 There is contention around which people group

historically settled in the region of Israel. Over the past thousand years, Jews, Muslims, and Christians have all attempted to claim the region based upon historical religious evidence. Until 1945, no religion was granted control of the land now occupied by Israel, but in the wake of the Holocaust, with the intention of rectifying the horrors experienced by Jews in Europe, the United Nations approved a plan to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Local Arabs rejected this plan but on May 4, 1948, Israel proclaimed its independence. This declaration was met with significant pushback by the surrounding Arab countries and those living in the new Jewish state. The creation of the Jewish state is controversial and unorthodox. Many would argue that the Jewish people are not sovereign and should not have the right to the country. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines the core Children in a Nazi concentration camp. The meaning of sovereignty as Globe and Mail, January 25, 2020. Fair use. “supreme authority within a territory.”2 Israelis were not the predominant people group in this territory prior to the Holocaust. Territory is a significant ingredient to sovereignty, and this is where issues arise in the creation of Israel.

A final ingredient of sovereignty is territoriality, also a feature of political authority in modernity. Territoriality is a principle by which members of a community are to be defined. It specifies that their membership derives from their residence within borders. It is a powerful principle, for it defines membership in a way that may not correspond with identity. The borders of a sovereign state may not at all circumscribe a “people” or a “nation,” and may in fact encompass several of these identities, as national selfdetermination and irredentist movements make evident.3

Jews and the Holocaust:

There are two people groups within Judaism that are important in understanding the Holocaust—those who were directly affected by the Holocaust (victims, the family of victims, friends of victims) and those that were not. Survivors of the Holocaust have undergone great suffering and were changed because of it.

Psychological studies on Holocaust survivors have found that many survivors suffer from clinical PTSD, and show higher levels of somatic symptoms, anxiety hostility, and phobia. vulnerable to the distress caused by new stressors, such as the current conflict in this region.5 These psychological struggles not only affect the survivors, but those in close proximity to them. Family members and friends of survivors are often affected second hand by the trauma of the holocaust. Consider the following excerpt taken from a study surrounding parent-child relationships in Holocaust survivor families:

L. is the only child of her elderly, widowed, Holocaust survivor mother. They have no other relatives, and L. is childless. Both mother and daughter love their pets and treat them as family members. However, L. described that when her favorite cat died, her mother saw her crying and became enraged, screaming at her daughter that this loss was trivial in comparison to the loss of her own mother in the Holocaust. L. said she was hurt and devastated by her mother’s rage and belligerence and shocked by the lack of empathy to her loss. Clearly, the daughter’s grief triggered in the survivor mother her own intolerable grief, as well as her difficulty tolerating the emotional pain of and reactions create emotionally potent, incongruous intersubjective experiences in the parent–child relationship, sending confusing messages to the child about which emotions are “allowed” to be expressed or even experienced.

“Remembering,” Christians United for Israel, August 7, 2020. Fair use.

There are two people groups within Judaism that are important in understanding the Holocaust—those who were directly affected by the Holocaust (victims, the family of victims, friends of victims) and those that were not. Survivors of the Holocaust have undergone great suffering and were changed because of it.

Psychological studies on Holocaust survivors have found that many survivors suffer from clinical PTSD, and show higher levels of somatic symptoms, anxiety hostility, and phobia.4 Survivors are also more These psychological struggles not only affect the survivors, but those in close proximity to them. Family members and friends of survivors are often affected second hand by the trauma of the holocaust. Consider the following excerpt taken from a study surrounding parent-child relationships in Holocaust survivor families:

L. is the only child of her elderly, widowed, Holocaust survivor mother. They have no other relatives, and L. is childless. Both mother and daughter love their pets and treat them as family members. However, L. described that when her favorite cat died, her mother saw her crying and became enraged, screaming at her daughter that this loss was trivial in comparison to the loss of her own mother in the Holocaust. L. said she was hurt and devastated by her mother’s rage and belligerence and shocked by the lack of empathy to her loss. Clearly, the daughter’s grief triggered in the survivor mother her own intolerable grief, as well as her difficulty tolerating the emotional pain of her daughter. Such instances of dis-regulated trauma-related affect and reactions create emotionally potent, incongruous intersubjective experiences in the parent–child relationship, sending confusing messages to the child about which emotions are “allowed” to be expressed or even experienced.6

This does not represent the entirety of Holocaust survivors, but it does illustrate how the psychosocial trauma inflicted by the Holocaust affects not only the victims but their family and friends as well.

Trauma is destructive to the human brain. There is evidence to suggest victims of significant trauma can become so dehumanized that they lose their capacity for empathy.7 Empathy is an essential characteristic of human flourishing. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, empathy is “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.”8 Trauma has a major effect on one’s ability to empathize.

The link between self and other is predicated on the possibility and the expectation of empathy, which are to some degree taken for granted. In the concentration camps, the sadistic, bureaucratic killing disproved this basic expectation. An empathic response was absent not only from the Nazis, but from fellow citizens and Allies as well (i.e., from society at large). When people prove malignant on such a massive scale, the survivor retains the memory of a basic deficit—of a compromise in the empathic dyad. When their vital needs are neither heeded nor responded to by others, individuals lose the expectation that their needs will be met.9

The Nazis’ disregard for basic human needs during World War Two caused dehumanization and loss of empathy in those who survived the concentration camps. Victims witnessed firsthand the worst of humanity. These experiences have had a significant impact on their psyche, and changed how they relate to and view others. The loss of hope and trust in humanity shattered any possible belief in basic human goodness.

Zionism and the Holocaust:

The State of Israel was created in the wake of the Holocaust as a source of reconciliation. On May 14th, 1948 Israel was proclaimed in its capital Tel Aviv:

We, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world, met together in solemn assembly by virtue of the national and historic right of the Jewish people and the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called Israel. The events of the Holocaust were horrific. It has become the foundational argument behind the creation of Israel. Furthermore, it is the foundation of modern Zionism. of an innocent people group justify the creation of a country? Furthermore, is it justified to displace people groups in the location on behalf of reconciliation efforts? The region was inhabited by various people groups, largely Palestinians, and now, their land is no longer their land. The Treaty of Westphalia is the foundation of the modern international system. For a group of people to participate in the international system they must be considered a nation. There are a few key criteria set forth by this treaty that help define what a nation is. A nation must have territory, sovereignty, and autonomy (self governance). These criteria layout a clear characteristics of an established and recognized nation. Israel at the time of its creation, was lacking most of these criteria, most notably true territorial autonomy and sovereignty.

We, the members of the National Council, representing the Jews are not a nation deserving of self-determination, Zionism is a colonialist phenomenon, and the State of Israel was erected on the ruins of another people’s homes, following a long series of crimes Zionism committed against them. Consequently, the Jews living in the piece of land called Israel do not have a “natural” right to self-determination or a state. They obviously have no “historic rights” to the land either. The world consented to the wrong done to the Palestinians as atonement for not having prevented the wrong the Germans did to the Jews.

The author follows the criteria and expectations set forth by the Treaty of Westphalia and argues that the state of Israel is not worthy of self determination. Although this article is about analyzing the affects of trauma in relation to the Holocaust, understanding the situation that is Israel, is essential to properly understanding trauma. Looking past the unorthodox creation of Israel for reconciliation purposes, the victims of the holocaust were not the people that suggested the creation of a Jewish state. It is unclear how many of the Holocaust survivors immigrated to Palestine/Israel, but between 1948 and 1951 almost 700,000 Jews immigrated to Israel. It is uncertain how many Holocaust survivors actually moved to Israel. Between 1967 and the cr Palestinians in Israel.14

Map from mapsland.com

We, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world, met together in solemn assembly by virtue of the national and historic right of the Jewish people and the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called Israel.10

The events of the Holocaust were horrific. It has become the foundational argument behind the creation of Israel. Furthermore, it is the foundation of modern Zionism.11 Is this enough? Does the victimization of an innocent people group justify the creation of a country? Furthermore, is it justified to displace people groups in the location on behalf of reconciliation efforts? The region was inhabited by various people groups, largely Palestinians, and now, their land is no longer their land. The Treaty of Westphalia is the foundation of the modern international system. For a group of people to participate in the international system they must be considered a nation. There are a few key criteria set forth by this treaty that help define what a nation is. A nation must have territory, sovereignty, and autonomy (self governance).12 These criteria layout a clear characteristics of an established and recognized nation. Israel at the time of its creation, was lacking most of these criteria, most notably true territorial autonomy and sovereignty.

We, the members of the National Council, representing the Jews are not a nation deserving of self-determination, Zionism is a colonialist phenomenon, and the State of Israel was erected on the ruins of another people’s homes, following a long series of crimes Zionism committed against them. Consequently, the Jews living in the piece of land called Israel do not have a “natural” right to self-determination or a state. They obviously have no “historic rights” to the land either. The world consented to the wrong done to the Palestinians as atonement for not having prevented the wrong the Germans did to the Jews.13

The author follows the criteria and expectations set forth by the Treaty of Westphalia and argues that the state of Israel is not worthy of self determination. Although this article is about analyzing the affects of trauma in relation to the Holocaust, understanding the situation that is Israel, is essential to properly understanding trauma. Looking past the unorthodox creation of Israel for reconciliation purposes, the victims of the holocaust were not the people that suggested the creation of a Jewish state. It is unclear how many of the Holocaust survivors immigrated to Palestine/Israel, but between 1948 and 1951 almost 700,000 Jews immigrated to Israel. It is uncertain how many Holocaust survivors actually moved to Israel. Between 1967 and the creation of Israel there were approximately thirty-one terror attacks by carried out

Modern Israel:

Israel is a place of conflict and violence. Since 1948, there have been 4,145 Israeli and 2,021 Palestinian casualties due to terrorism. Since the creation of Israel, the region has only furthered in violence and casualties. The situation in Israel since 1948 points to a clear reason for the conflict. Palestinians have been treated poorly by the Israeli government to the point of it being hypocritical with regard to the creation of Israel. Comparing the actions Israeli government towards the Palestinians

[T]he Palestinians were never consulted about this, and they have never agreed that Europe’s crimes should be expiated at their expense. The State of Israel thus persists on moral credit given by the world at the Palestinians’ expense. Even if this credit had originally been understandable, it was squandered by Israeli policies, at least since 1967, but in fact ever since its founding, by the conquest and abuse of the Palestinians. In fact, there is an almost exact similarity between the actions of the Nazis and the Israelis.

Flags of Israel and Palestine, World Affairs Council of Greater Houston, February 25, 2020. Fair use.

Israel is a place of conflict and violence. Since 1948, there have been 4,145 Israeli and 2,021 Palestinian casualties due to terrorism.15

Since the creation of Israel, the region has only furthered in violence and casualties. The situation in Israel since 1948 points to a clear reason for the conflict. Palestinians have been treated poorly by the Israeli government to the point of it being hypocritical with regard to the creation of Israel. Comparing the actions Israeli government towards the Palestinians

[T]he Palestinians were never consulted about this, and they have never agreed that Europe’s crimes should be expiated at their expense. The State of Israel thus persists on moral credit given by the world at the Palestinians’ expense. Even if this credit had originally been understandable, it was squandered by Israeli policies, at least since 1967, but in fact ever since its founding, by the conquest and abuse of the Palestinians. In fact, there is an almost exact similarity between the actions of the Nazis and the Israelis.16

Flags of Israel and Palestine, World Affairs Council of Greater Houston, February 25, 2020. Fair use. to that of the Nazi Regime is inaccurate and disrespectful. However, it does illustrate a serious issue in the situation that surrounds Israel. There are faults on all sides of the conflict, there is no one group responsible for the conflict. The conflict arose from the purposeful displacement of the Palestinians. The Palestinians have continued their violent response to this displacement with the help of several surrounding countries. There is not a redeeming aspect to the war in Israel. On one hand, the Jewish people were given rights to the land, which should be respected. On the other hand, the Palestinians are responding just as any group of people would in that position if it were their land and sovereignty taken away.

Conclusion:

The creation of Israel was, is, and will probably always be a source of contention, especially in a region such as the Middle East. The Middle East is predominately Islamic, and Islam opposes westernization. There is a divide between the ideas, teachings, and ideals of Islam, compared to western culture. Since Israel was created by powerful western countries, largely European countries, Israel acts as a symbol of westernization in an otherwise Islamic region. The dehumanization, loss of empathy, and trauma experienced by Jews only adds to the conflict. There is a major divide between Palestinians and Israelis, which stems directly from the Holocaust. Through the analysis of various studies and sources, it is clear that trauma begets trauma. The victimization of the Jewish people has caused the victimization of the Palestinian people and the furthermore the continued victimization of the Jews. The trauma experienced through this conflict, does not come close to that of the Holocaust, however it argues for the idea that trauma often causes a never-ending cycle of pain and suffering.

Isaac Alstad

Education major; Political Studies and Music minors