Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., October 20, 2009 Cheshvan 2, 5770 | | Israel Time: 13:54 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Last update - 17:41 14/09/2009
Can there be such a thing as an Israeli hero?
By Bradley Burston
Tags: Israel News, Bradley Burston 

Click here for more articles by Bradley Burston

_____________________


In Israel, where vitriolic self-criticism is the norm, we have become accustomed to living without heroes. As statesmen, our once-admired military leaders have often proven to be inept, corrupt, narrow of vision, devious of execution.
Advertisement
There are exceptions, of course, none more exceptional than astronaut
Ilan Ramon, who lost his life in the last flight of the Columbia space shuttle nearly seven years ago. Another might have been Ramon's son Asaf, a young pilot who had set out to follow in the footsteps of his father, and who was killed in a training accident this week.

Can there be such a thing as an Israeli hero? Much of the world appears to have come to believe that there cannot. Many molders of opinion, whether journalists, human rights activists, or present or former world leaders, indicate with unequivocal conviction that Israelis - and, in particular, all Israelis in uniform - have lost their right to be considered extraordinary human beings.

There is an element of racism in this, especially in the implication that Israelis as a whole are so belligerent, brutal and insensitive to Palestinians, they have lost their very humanity - if, in fact, it ever was humanity to begin with.

Following Asaf Ramon's fatal crash, a Haaretz reader from Switzerland wrote in response, "Every Israeli should learn from him how to crush your head on some Hebron rock. Your war and death cult ist [sic] simply disgusting."

There is a sense that the transgressions of Israelis are so grave, that they have lost their very right to grieve over their own very real tragedies. At the same time, there is a sense that Israelis have also lost all right to take pride in themselves, in their accomplishments, or even to believe in their own future.

On the far left, in Israel and across the world, there is a sense that the only heroes among the Jews are those who function as patriots exclusively of the Palestinian cause - those who believe that the Palestinians have every right to a state, but that the Jews, if they ever had such a right, have long since shown themselves morally unworthy.

The Jewish far right has also made a mockery of the word hero, exalting those who shoot innocent Arabs and burn their crops, battle IDF soldiers and brand them Nazis.

Perhaps the time has come to ask, as the Talmud asks, "Who is a true hero?" The sage Ben Zoma responds that the true hero is the person who succeeds in conquering the basest of impulses, the worst of human instincts.

In an age of quietly tyrannical political correctness and instant-messaging, the complex heroism of individual Israelis may have no place. Israelis themselves have by and large learned to hide it, to dismiss it, to denigrate it.

Three days before Asaf Ramon was killed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from his Likud to put on a display of toughness, told party leaders "We have proved time and again that we are willing to make concessions for peace, but we won't delude ourselves - we are not willing to be freierim."

The word Netanyahu used, a word for which the English translation "suckers" is an anemic equivalent at best, is at the heart of the secret heroism of Israelis.

There is no small element of tragedy in the circumstance that hardline Israelis are often so desparate to act so as to avoid "coming out a freier" that in the end, they cause themselves, their loved ones, and their country tremendous harm.

And there is no small element of irony in the fact that the most truly heroic of Israelis fit precisely the mantle of "freier." People who give of themselves for the sake of others, people willing to do the work when no one else is, people of genuine honor, profound and silent self-esteem, people who see moral complexity without allowing themselves to be paralyzed by cynicism or seduced by simplicity.

Ilan Ramon was a hero not despite his complexity, but in many respects, because of it. In an interview he gave soon after returning as one of eight Israel Air Force pilots who bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 - an interview which was released to the public only many years later - he said:

"You go around on the street just like any person, and you come upon the people of the Land of Israel - shoving, yelling, and all manner of things of that sort - you know what you're headed for, and you often ask yourself, are you willing to give everything you've got for these people, because you live among these people.

"Of course, in the end, you do give, because you give not because of all these people, but because of the people close to you."

On Monday, as preparations were underway for the burial of Asaf Ramon beside his father's grave, Netanyahu's voice on Army Radio was that of a different man, the very human brother of an army officer and fellow member of a commando unit, who gave his life in 1976 leading a mission to rescue 100 hostages held in Entebbe, Uganda.

Netanyahu's voice was that of another kind of silent Israeli hero, a member of a family who has lost a loved one. His voice was that of the Israeli who knows most intimately, that it is the freier who, in the end, is responsible both for Israel's survival and for its moral compass.

For many years I wore the uniform of the IDF with pride, specifically because of the heroic freiers with whom I served. I learned that for every story making world headlines, and justifiably so, in which IDF men are accused of undue violence against Palestinians, there are easily scores of unreported incidents in which IDF commanders, enlisted men and reservists, marshaling their creativity and their individuality and their humanity, have aided and refrained from injuring Palestinian civilians, often endangering their own lives in the process.

But the secret heroism of Israelis is by no means confined to the military. Large numbers of Israelis work tirelessly, heroically, to help pave the way to a common future with the Palestinians. Many Israelis have opened their hearts to helping refugees from foreign genocides. Their stories go largely unnoticed abroad, in no small part because it takes work to make a people long marketed as villains, into flesh and blood fellow humans.

This is the truth. It is politically incorrect in the extreme. It muddies the colors of cardboard ideology and blanket support for one angelic side over the diabolical.

In a post-modern world, many of Israel's true heroes may have no place. Abroad, extremists of the right and left are often singled out for recognition as heroes, while the people who simply get up in the morning and keep the state safe, are dismissed as fence-sitters or dupes.

In a post-modern world, we have come to believe that self-defense, self-esteem, compassion, love of country and love of peace are issues of the left and the right. It is the true hero, though, who realizes that all of these together are parts of the same whole, the conquest of our lowest impulses for the sake of our best version of a reflection of the heavens.

It may be all too true, that the best of us go young. I have spoken with Palestinians who say the same thing. For those of us left to grieve, there is a constant impulse to give in to revenge, to fury, to callousness. Heroism may be nothing more than defying all of these, and seeking, in our feeble way, to follow the example of our best and our lost.

____________________


Follow Bradley Burston on Twitter

Previous Blogs:

For Israel, a New Year, and a new left
This Jewish New Year, let's put an end to hope
A straight's prayer for young Israelis shot for being gay
Mr. Obama, have a talk with these Israelis, and soon
The painful cost to Israel of its settler adventure
Will Israel grant asylum to fascism?
This is what is wrong with a Jewish state
Slapping Obama, or Please God, keep Israel from making peace
Outpost Watch: Obama's future minefield - and Netanyahu's
I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Plea to save rabbi
Haredi urges: Give a year of your lives to save ailing Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu
Israel vs. Dovish Jews
After Goldstone and Turkey, right-wing Israel wary of North American Jewry
  1.   A thoughtful and beautifully written tribute... 17:28  |  P. 14/09/09
  2.   hero 17:36  |  Robbie Gringras 14/09/09
  3.   Thank you 17:58  |  Thom 14/09/09
  4.   Israeli Hero 18:05  |  Nili 14/09/09
  5.   Nice article 18:21  |  Frankie 14/09/09
  6.   Hero is a greek concept, brother a jewish 18:21  |  Esaias 14/09/09
  7.   A thoughtful and beautiful response... 19:56  |  Raphael 14/09/09
  8.   A potential hero 20:00  |  MarkC 14/09/09
  9.   Heroes versus occupation 20:10  |  MarkC 14/09/09
  10.   We needed that 20:12  |  Noah M 14/09/09
  11.   Beautifully expressed 20:44  |  mariapalestina 14/09/09
  12.   Rabin 21:23  |  Yosemite 14/09/09
  13.   Yes, there are heroes in the IAF 21:32  |  Pierre S 14/09/09
  14.   Genuinely touching 21:49  |  Claudia 14/09/09
  15.   Like the Youri Gagarin story, only even more tragic 22:11  |  christoph 14/09/09
  16.   Thank you Bradley... 22:18  |  Helen Jones 14/09/09
  17.   Heroics are always personal 22:29  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 14/09/09
  18.   The true hero is the freier 23:15  |  sh 14/09/09
  19.   For Israelis they are heroes 00:06  |  mehmet 15/09/09
  20.   Only the good die young 00:50  |  Shoded Yam 15/09/09
  21.   Israel becoming like USA 01:38  |  larry lynch 15/09/09
  22.   The story of Israel is 01:43  |  Mark Lincoln 15/09/09
  23.   No tool for state propaganda 02:00  |  Frank 15/09/09
  24.   In a world... 03:13  |  Chaphari 15/09/09
  25.   Wow 03:15  |  Dan 15/09/09
  26.   envelope please, and the winner is: Shimon Peres 06:02  |  Peter Rouget 15/09/09
  27.   Yes 06:31  |  Shimon Cleopas 15/09/09
  28.   To the world you are all heroes 06:34  |  Julio 15/09/09
  29.   Only the good die young 06:41  |  Shoded Yam 15/09/09
  30.   An Israeli Hero 06:54  |  Mark Scher 15/09/09
  31.   this one`s a gem, mr. bradley burston 07:10  |  eric 15/09/09
  32.   having the ability to persevere or change course wisely 07:32  |  bar kochma 15/09/09
  33.   Assaf Ramon, RIP 07:56  |  avrum pesach 15/09/09
  34.   If Everyone Jumps off a Bridge. Do You Have to Jump To? 08:46  |  Eli Wapniarski 15/09/09
  35.   The difference between a "real hero" and a "local hero"...... 10:42  |  Swiss (Dino) 15/09/09
  36.   Israeli hero 10:47  |  rm 15/09/09
  37.   Does it matter? 11:48  |  sh 15/09/09
  38.   ".. and they loved not their lives unto the death." part 1 12:37  |  mary for Jews 15/09/09
  39.   heroism is not defined by nationality 12:38  |  tom s 15/09/09
  40.   we have thousands of heroes in israel 12:40  |  harzion 15/09/09
  41.   the reservists are quiet heroes 12:46  |  harzion 15/09/09
  42.   loved not their lives unto the death. part 2 13:10  |  mary for Jews 15/09/09
  43.   hero 13:37  |  oz 15/09/09
  44.   No. 35 15:05  |  a wandering Jew 15/09/09
  45.   # 43 a wandering Jew 15:40  |  Swiss (Dino) 15/09/09
  46.   No. 45 Swiss(Dino) 17:18  |  a wandering Jew 15/09/09
  47.   Mehmet - one person`s hero 18:43  |  David Israel 15/09/09
  48.   Indeed, freierim are the true heroes! 19:19  |  S 15/09/09
  49.   I can name at least one Israeli hero 20:10  |  Mark B. 15/09/09
  50.   BB would be that hero IF... 20:48  |  Michael Greenberg 15/09/09
  51.   runaway train 22:51  |  paul durham 15/09/09
  52.   Israeli heros are people like Amira Hass, Gideon Levy, etc. 00:09  |  peacelover 22/09/09
  53.   Being a hero means to grow out your shadow 06:57  |  Kris Lazar 25/09/09
  54.   Major Roi Klein covered a grenade by his own body 11:21  |  Michael 15/10/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Date Local Jewish Singles
Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
13:27 Sources: Would-be U.S. spy worked for Israeli arms firm
13:18 Diplomats: Iran nuclear talks stalled over French role
13:42 'If Israel strikes Iran, U.S. will likely join'
12:26 Goldstone: Lieberman doesn't want Mideast peace process
12:30 Peres' second Presidential Conference kicks off with gala event Tuesday
11:09 Top IDF officer warns: Settlers' radical fringe growing
06:26 Poet booted from J Street meet for comparing Guantanamo to Auschwitz
10:15 TV ROUND-UP: Basketball exec commits suicide; Swine flu vaccines arrive
12:46 Galilee man gets 9 years for killing girl with ATV on Yom Kippur
08:14 Ministers set up task force to ease West Bank settlement construction
09:05 I quit Labor post over Barak failure to push peace
08:11 Cabinet to weigh inquiry panel on Goldstone report
12:57 Arab League chief eyes Egyptian presidency
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved