Lebensraum as a justification for Israeli settlements
We were fortunate when we occupied the West Bank because had we not done so, where would we have come to live? And who knows how high housing prices would have risen?
By Yossi SaridUntil now Israel had supported the occupation of the territories with two pillars: history and security - its right to inherit the land and its obligation to defend it. In recent weeks a third pillar was added, which all these years was hidden under straw and stubble. And maybe it's not a pillar but a snake, whose head must be crushed while it's still small.
According to the school of thought based on history and faith, the Land of Israel was received by the Jewish people from the hand of God, and we are commanded to take all of it by dint of the Covenant of the Pieces that God made with Abraham. That was a nice big gift, we have to admit, stretching from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates. It was granted on various festive occasions not only to Abraham but to his heirs as well. Eventually it was forced to shrink, and now there is really no reason to shrink it further out of choice.
The second, security-based school of thought stipulates that we need virtually all the territories for self-defense. Without them we'll never be able to live in security without feeling threatened. Therefore, if we are ever forced to leave certain parts of the country, even then we'll evacuate only in order to remain, relying forever on temporary "security arrangements," which even social-welfare-oriented MK Shelly Yachimovich will sign.
Sometimes one school of thought overlaps the other and the difference between them becomes blurred. It often happens that members of the security school - people who do not lead a religious way of life - put a knitted skullcap on and then prophesy in the same messianic style. And the opposite happens as well: Rabbis and students bring up reasons in the name of security so as not to rely on the promise alone.
And now, in the middle of the summer, when the social protest is putting the housing shortage at the top of the agenda for a moment, the third school of thought is developing and taking hold. The interior minister - in advance of a Black September of his own - approves the construction of 1,600 housing units for the ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, another 624 units in Pisgat Ze'ev and another 930 in Har Homa Gimmel - all beyond the Green Line. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, for whom the election threshold is a sharp knife at his throat, approved 277 homes in the settlement of Ariel, may it be established in his day. And 42 MKs are calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ease the housing shortage in the country via accelerated construction in the territories.
Suddenly we are short of space here in Israel, which has become full to capacity and needs lebensraum. Every cultured person knows that this is a despicable German concept, banned from use because of the associations it brings up. Still, people are starting to use it, if not outright then with a clear implication: We are short of land, we are short of air, let us breathe in this country.
When we embarked on the Six-Day War did we want to remove a threat or did we want to gain control in order to spread out? That's what happens after 44 years of mire and moral corruption, which distort things and make us forget the original objective and replace it with an entirely different one. We were fortunate when we occupied the West Bank because had we not done so, where would we have come to live? And who knows how high housing prices would have risen? The divine promise is now being revealed in all its ability to prophesy about real estate.
The founding fathers, as opposed to the Diadochi who fought for control after Alexander the Great's death, represented a different approach, for the most part. Between "A little goes a long way," and "Don't bite off more than you can chew," they chose to bite; they even agreed to the 1947 UN partition plan for lack of choice. They believed that all the objectives of rational Ben Gurion-style Zionism could be fulfilled even in "Lesser Israel," which is more complete and more at peace with itself. And it has no need for lebensraum, may God preserve us.
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The Promised Land is the original Lebensraum concept, and if you think "Judea" and "Samaria" will be the last of Israel's conquests, you are dead wrong.
Security? Yes But the real reason is deeper still. It's not just about returning to Jerusalem city limits. It's about the region. It's about home. And yes a little elbow room is nice. Not gonna lie. Those lucky Aussies and Canadians.
Whatever happened to the concept: "Just take what you need - and leave the rest...."? But then the powers that be would probably argue that they "need" more and more "Lebensraum". Moderation - a very commendable virtue - has become a somewhat elusive commodity in a mostly capitalistic society. This is part of what the popular protests are all about, but in order to be fully successful and morally justifiable they must also include in their agenda the indefensible, immoral occupation and the subjugation of a people living under siege without recourse to democratic institutions and fully recognized and safeguarded civil rights.
This article by veteran Israeli progressive, leftist, and peace activist, Yossi Sarid, illustrates what is wrong with Israeli leftists, progressives,and peace activists: 1) They demand utopian standards of Israel and the lowest possible standards of Israel's foes. Specifically: the Nazi "lenbensraum" usage was applied to justify colonization of THOUSANDS OF MILES by the most brutal repressive murderous occupying army in recent history. The Israeli occupation makes Israel 40 miles wide instead of 9 miles wide. With the remaining 31 miles going to an armed guerilla group promising to liberate the 9 miles from the Jews. Big difference, wouldn'y you say? 2) These progressives can't stop themselves from calling their political opponents, Nazis, apparently.
Here we go again. More of the slogans meant to delegitimise legitimate criticism. Utopian standards? Please, give me a break. It is we, Jews, who are repeatedly, consistently telling the rest of the world that we are the ones who gave the utopianism Second, lebensraum is lebensraum and not geograpically conditioned by the number of miles. It is the belief that this land belongs to the volk, it must remain pure and in the control of the volk and all others must be dispossessed as aliens or made to live as underlings. That today is the realiy of zionism. Like it or not but that is what Haaretz has exposed and the world quite frankly is fed up with the propganda attempt to cover up Israels shit. Lebensraum is lebensraum. Deal with it but dont cover it up. We areselves make that claim, that Israel is a light unto the nations, that we have a purer army and on and onutopianism
The gibberish that Jossi Sarid can push out is astonishing even to an observer in Sweden, like me. Has he never seen the 3D-maps of Judea/Samaria clearly showing how excellent the heights there are to position Iranian rockets covering all of Israels heart and brain? The prominent leftist of the government, Barak, has assured there are rockets from south and north, does Jossi want to be responsible for rockets from the East?
Mr Sarid is living out of any reality... his arguments are mainly emotional.
ever since the settlements began - obvious at least to any gentile out here. What has always been a puzzle is the complete lack of objectivity of many, or most, Israelis on many subjects. They seem unable to perceive truth. In this they share the problem with Christian, and Muslim extremists. Reality is subordinated to Religion.
You could have made your point without using Nazi vocabulary. Having done so, you have cheapened yourself, your readers, and the memory of the Holocaust.
First Polish rezsistance ordemuch more Poles. Situation w there are not Germen in the East, This is only reminder for Israelis
The way I see it , God gave Abraham and his descendents the promised land. But the descendents include those of his son, Ismael. Therefore, the Arabs are to share the promised land, like it or not. God must love the Arabs, how else can you explain that he made so many of them.
Because both arise from the soil of 19th century Euorpean, with intertwined notions of race, soil, divine destiny. I know they are not identical, but they are subject to the same dangerous concepts.
Nazism developed the idea of the 'Ubermensch' while Zionism was a less radical ideology based on ethnic groups getting their own nations. Fine if you are Hungarian or Polish shaking off the Hapsburgs but problematic for Jews to claim a land unclaimed for 2000 years.
that Ben Gurion's acceptance of the "lesser Israel" never for a moent meant the negation of eventually gaining the "greater Israel", the biblical heartland. It simply was not tactically feasible at that time. Read the works of Rabbi Judah Magnes and you will see the head of the snake very early on, not simply after the 6 Day War, although that was certainly the catalyst for the lebensraum policy. It is logical since the two pillars of zionism were and are,take as much of the "Greater" as you can however you can when the timing is advantageous and sttle that land at all costs with as many Jews as possible whichh of course entials the dispossession or disenfranchisement of Arab residents. That's it and in the long run, this ideology that has taken this direction will prove utterly unsustainable, as Magnes knew.
Under International Law Israel's religious beliefs have no bearing on its borders. It officially accepted frontiers as stated in Resolution 181...West Bank ,Gaza,Golan,Sinai,East Jerusalem were never part of those frontiers. Acquisition of territory by war is inadmissible. Settlements in occupied territory are illegal. At Camp David with Egypt Israel agreed to allow Palestinian autonomy and therefore allow them to have their own state and also agreed to implement Resolution 242....The World is waiting for Israel to comply.
All over the world, it's the one thing anti-Israel sentiment is getting the energy from...
Speaking economically, morally and pragmatically, such a project is simply not do-able. The land for peace idea is a blusted flush.
Yes, let's let a rapist walk free, after all it's not feasible to 'undo' the crime is it Jack ? and btw, it is morally imperative that Israel not be rewarded for violating international law for so many decades.
Sarid is not very sharp, is he?
Lebensraum is a word certain to cause a post to be censored and now it is in a Haaretz headline. Is a breeze of honesty blowing in Israel? Thankfully Israel is far from creating living room in Judea and Samaria by setting up death camps,, but it is systematically forcing Palestinians off their land and into ghettos. Israel would be prudent to decide whether the Jewish State is ruthlessly expansionist or not. "Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s." - Deuteronomy 5:21
The expression "Lebensraum" really reminds me of the 3. Reich! Just get the birth rate dropping and tell the lunatic orthodox not to have up to 12 children! i hope Israel will not be copying their hatefull foes!
Most of the grab of the lands and properties of Israeli Arabs was done under a pretext of 'security zones.' It never had anything to do with security at all as all these lands were never used for security at all. These measures were simply done to take the lands of the natives and give them to Jews who came from other countries. So, Israel in no simple measure built the country on the back of its Arab population.Even lands grabbed from Bedouins and Druze that serve in IDF were never returned to their rightful owners.
Even Yossi Sarid refrains from telling Israelis the truth- Israel has spent over $100bn on the occupation since 1967. Every single shekel that was drained out of the real economy and into YESHA is a shekel denied to the alternative Israel that could by now exist. You could have developed a society with regional balance, a world class education system, social protection and affordable housing for all. instead you worshipped the golden calf and now the bill is due.
Arabs are defending the land. We are defending our lives.
This is why I fully support keeping (at least a substantial part of) West Bank.
Why is he not concerned with building houses, apartments, places to live, infrastructure, in the Negev and the Galilee, sovreign Israeli terrrotory, instead of devouring the Palestinian West Bank?
dear Mr. SArid the minute you use this term you show your colors. you have an agenda. the hateful word from the Nazi era has no place in jerwish history. the areas of the Land of Israel liberated in 1967- through no fault of our own- cannot be given up simply because someone else covets them. for 2000 years others coveted our lands, money, possessions, blood,lives, etc. and it is time to stop this free-for-all when it comes to taking a stand. jews have aright to the land. sure- negotiate to get the arabs out of our country and let them live with jordan or syria or wherever they came from. claiming a palestinian people is a travesty and completely distorts history. and while more land may be a nice thing, that is not the issue. the issue is our right to the land. after all, we do not claim um el fahm or barka el karbia for jewish building. your theory has no umph- it is a balloon which implodes noisily with a slight needle prick of truth
Lebensraum was a Nazi concept, not a "german" one. Since Israel is (supposed to be) a democracy, it looks like we would have more reason now to call it a "jewish" concept since the people are supporting it while still being able to vote the government out of office if they would change their mind. The germans did not have the opportunity anymore once they made the horrible mistake of electing criminals. And BTW, going for more "Lebensraum" was never written on the election posters of the Nazis, and neither was the holocaust.
the entire zionist enterprise makes no sense in the absence of a divine promise to inherit the land. sorry that you are so uncomfortable with it. we simply have returned to our biblical homeland and there's no more biblical land in israel than yehuda and shomron.as you sing at jewish weddings- "it will yet be heard in the cities of yehuda and jerusalem". difficult reality but not immoral. the moral imperative was sanctioned by the divine.
Your imaginary friend told you that you should have it so that makes it ok for you to take it... Couldn't you do a little better than that?
Because In God We Tru$t, i take it?
It is just a myth that you can lower the prices of housing by building more in the West Bank. The housing prices in the West Bank are maintained artificially low for Jews as the state subsidises those so heavily. In fact these subsidies (security, roads, telecommunications, schools, etc) cost very dearly to Israelis, which is the reason there are not enough public housing schemes in Israel within the green line. The housing prices in Israel would have most probably been lower NOT higher without the occupation.
There is only one justification for keeping the territories, which were taken to stop aggression emanating from them, and that is to stop aggression emanating from them. If peace is agreed the territories must be returned, just as Sinai was when Sadat signed a treaty. Neither religious belief, an alleged need for a permanent buffer or lebensraum are valid excuses.are
Why are these conquerors allowed to subjugate and occupy? It's pretty obvious what drives them: if it's important and sensitive to Jews, Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists I will take it by force, by nook and crook, burn it and spit on the ashes; rename it in Arabic and claim it as mine. Oh, it's of significance to Jews? Then I will claim at as my own just to insult them and stick it to them in the worst way.
Jerusalem was a predominately Christian city and area during the Arab Conquest. So clearly they were all out to get the Jews. If you can't express your thoughts without racism don't express them.
As an educated person, I am almost always turned off by sarcasm. Writers who employ sarcasm almost always are attempting to demonstrate how clever they are. Printing such work only encourages this inane practice.
I don't think this is a parallel that you should be making...
Occupation because of lebensraum and believing in a superior race is somthing todays Israel and Germany in the 1930's have in common. What is wrong with saying the truth?
Considering the fact that Israel has invaded and largely taken over the West Bank (there is NO such thing as "Judea and Samaria",) and the Golan Heights, and also seeks to claim sovereign Lebanese territory (see: recent oil tiff,) I see it as a most apt term to use.
Israel's society has either drastically changed or remains oblivious to the discontent by the world of its actions which relate to the Palestinians and its neighbours. Once again as I've stated before, it's practically the same disunity in leadership as the 1947 government of David Ben Gurion's had to contend with Herut (today Likud) which brings about a disservice to the Jewish State once again - uncompromising and not pragmatic in how to resolve conflict.