Conscience at War: The Israeli Soldier as a Moral Critic

7. Criticism and Culture: From Collective Memories to Voice

7 Criticism and Culture From Collective Memories to Voice Critical thinking requires the use of imagination, "seeing things from perspectives other than our own and envisioning the likely consequences of our position" (Barnet and Bedau, p. 4). In this chapter we argue that the collective memories of the Holocaust serves as a central perspective for the Israeli civilian in uniform; that fighting and refusing soldiers often construct their criticism within the metaphoric system of the Holocuast. Since an individual's decision to join a military enterprise is not performed in a social vacuum, his moral reasoning and action cannot be understood detached from the historical self (Broughton 1987), his desire to preserve the values of a given society (Shinhar 1989), and his "imaginative rationality" (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, p. 193). Though only 25 percent of the subjects in this sample had parents who were Holocaust survivors, most (65 percent) indicated they often used the Holocaust as their moral frame of reference. This chapter examines the formative role of the collective experience of the Holocaust in the construction and understanding of common civil and military phrases in times of war and threat. It will be argured that Holocaust-related metaphors create a reality in which some Israeli soldiers tested and judged their moral claims when facing morally ambiguous situations. They are being used in times of moral confusion when Israeli soldiers question themselves as to how to behave in a morally correct way when constraints may swing moral actors into positiOns similar to those played by victors and victims in the Holocaust. Although the indi137 138 Conscience at War vidual Israeli soldier could not by himself change the reality of war, he is capable of questioning the situations and of reexamining his moral threshold, particularly in terms of his sensitivity to the words and phrases used to define the phenomenon. EVlw if Holocaust-related metaphors are not viable, one's own moral claim is to be judged against them. It is argued in this chapter that, by using such metaphors, Israeli soldiers were able to generalize beyond their immediate situation in a particular morally conflicting experience in their attempt to make sense of their lives in some larger perspective. The use of Holocaust metaphors and symbols not only provided the soldiers with guidelines for the present situation, it also allowed them to locate themselves in the collective memory of their community and enabled them to voice their criticism from a "connected" position. The key metaphoric themes to be discussed in this chapter are: It is good to die for our country Tohar haneshek (purity of arms) Shooting and crying Cog in the machine Camps David and Goliath It Is Good to Die for Our Country The road to Lebanon passes by a statue of a lion under which appears the inscription "It is good to die for our country." The lion is located at the most historic prestate site in Israel, Tel HaL Tel Hai (Hill of Life) was established in 1917 in the northern Galilee , a few meters from the present border between Israel and Lebanon . In 1920 a few Jewish settlers bought the small bindery there from Arabs. During a period when the area was under French military control, a mob of Arabs attacked Tel Hai, mortally wounding the military commander, Joseph Trumpeldor, who was reputed to have said: "It is good to die for our country." Every year, on Tel Hai Day, Israeli youths from all over the country make a pilgrimage to the site, which has come to symbolize the valor of the Jew in combat. Criticism and Culture 139 Until the 1982 war in Lebanon, this symbol was never challenged . Although the war in Lebanon was originally labeled the "Peace for the Galilee" campaign, aimed at destroying terrorist infrastructures , it was not seen this way by many Israeli soldiers. For the first time the Israeli soldier was obliged to find within himself the willingness to fight and be killed in a nondefensive war. With the prolonged stay on the Lebanese soil, the Israeli soldier found himself challengingTrumpeldor's propositionas he was passingbythe statue on his way to his assigned service in Lebanon. This was the first war in which the Israeli reserve soldier questioned what he had never questioned before: "Why is it good to die for my country?" Whereas any soldier is afraid of death, this question does not seem to focus on...