Never again – but when?
By Vicki Berenson, Madison Friends Meeting
I am a Jewish Quaker.
My mother escaped Nazi Germany in 1941 with her parents, but left other family members and friends, who were taken to camps and killed not long after that. A few of my great aunts and uncles managed to get visas to countries who would take them, and eventually came together in Cleveland, where my siblings and I had a lot of extra “grandparents.”
In June I’ll be joining other members of my family in Berlin, Germany, for the installation of two Stolpersteine1: brass plates inscribed with the names of my great-grandmother and great aunt. Stolpersteine means “stumbling stones”. These are placed in the pavement where people lived before they were forcibly taken by the Nazis to be killed or deported.
I’ve always been a peace activist, opposing the Vietnam War, the 1990 Gulf War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. I’ve learned much more over the years about how the U.S. does its part to enrich the war industry by undermining efforts toward peace and perpetuating conflict in other countries, at the expense of the people who live there.
But the war in Israel and Gaza has affected me emotionally like no other. I have family in Israel. It’s good to know that they are opposed to their government, and participate in Arab-Israeli solidarity protests and events. But they are also in danger every day from rocket fire, they have children conscripted in the military, and they grieve over the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7. I also have friends with loved ones in Palestine, and colleagues who have worked for peace in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank for years. I mourn along with them for all the people killed, displaced and starving, their homes and hospitals destroyed. And my country–suddenly and too slowly coming around to try to stem the genocide–has been enabling all this for decades with military funding in support of Israel’s occupation and apartheid rule.
The trauma of the Nazi Holocaust continues to feed the Jewish emotional attachment to Israel. It’s no excuse to prop up an oppressive government, but it’s real and must be recognized. It explains the power of lobby groups like American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which has elected officials cowering in their seats if they say so much as a word against Israel. But opposing Israel’s government is not synonymous with antisemitism. In truth, Israel’s actions are contributing to the rise of antisemitism as well as anti-Arab sentiment around the world.
I recently watched the film “Israelism” which described how American Jews are primed to unquestioningly support Israel, even encouraged to move to Israel and join the military there. This disturbingly reflected my experience in Sunday School at my synagogue growing up. We raised money to plant trees in Israel, we were inundated with the history of the persecution of the Jews, and we learned that Israel was the answer–finally a Jewish state, where Jews could live safely. And, we said “Never again.” The Jews “made the desert bloom,” we were told. But no one taught us then about the Nakba, the “catastrophe” during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war when more than half of the Palestinians living there were forcibly removed from their homes and the Jewish state of Israel was created on the majority of their land, with no compensation or ability to return.
I’m disturbed by the divisions between me and Zionist Jews I know whose “Never again” doesn’t seem to include anyone but them, and on the other extreme, young protesters whose war chants “Free Palestine – by any means necessary” and “death to Israel” taint the voices for peace. Don’t they understand that War Is Not the Answer? It’s so obvious to me that war leads to hate, which leads to more war. The cycle must be broken.
The German people have come a long way in facing the truth of their complicity with the Nazi regime, which was not an easy process. But attitudes among most of the German public have changed dramatically over time and leaders followed, changing school curricula to emphasize Holocaust education, celebrating those participating in the German Resistance, creating prominent memorials to victims of the Holocaust, and even declaring a holiday on the 75th anniversary of Germany’s surrender in WWII.
Many U.S. Vietnam veterans have grappled with their service and the atrocities they witnessed or participated in. Some have turned their trauma into peace and community building efforts, such as Madison Quakers Inc.2 which built a Peace Park in My Lai, and partners with Vietnamese organizations to build schools and compassion houses, drill wells, create water filtration systems, and provide bicycles and micro-loans.
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is building support to establish a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools, recognizing the harm we (including Quakers) have done to Native American children and families.
What will truth and reconciliation look like for Israel and Palestine? How long will it take for Israelis to recognize the harm they have done?
Thankfully, organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow are becoming more visible and engaging more people in understanding that opposing Israel’s oppression is not antisemitism. They are helping to change U.S. and Jewish public opinion. And in Israel, the grassroots movement Standing Together is mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality, and justice. Not surprisingly, many of these groups are led by young people. This gives me hope. But we must amplify and support their voices.
1https://www.stolpersteine.eu/en/home
2https://www.mqivietnam.org/
Vicki’s mother (Roni Berenson) at age 10, drawn by a barber in a hotel in Spain, on the way to America from Berlin in 1941.
Roni Berenson circa 2013 at a peace rally