The Druze Sympathy

My goal with this post was to learn about a culture I was undeniably unfamiliar with. Even after reading Donna Rosenthal's chapter, I felt uneasy. Thus, I start with an informative video on the religion of the Druze people.



Lyrics to song playing during video!

As the video points out their is a fusion of three religions (Interesting1 Right?). I found this point so interesting and was able to couple the ideas presented (about the sharing of prophets, etc) with those throughout Rosenthal's chapter. Here are some thoughts about the chapter, which I believe to be more accessible after having seen the video, especially as I juxtaposed the views of the religion with those who may be trying to break free from the religion (not uncommon among young people from religious homes).

As I began to read Donna Rosenthal’s chapter on “The Druze” it baffled me that she would begin her discussion of them the way she does in the book. Two important factors of Druze life stood out to me (from only one paragraph), and only did I realize the significance when I read the second. The first is the fact that she describes where they live as a “postcard-pretty village in the Upper Galilee” (292). The preservation of this beautiful land and their abilities and efforts to preserve it (and thus their culture) is quite notable. The second is that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for their country. Now, there are clearly many groups of people in Israel with the same convictions of pride for the country and that is appreciated. What sets the Druze apart (and the part for me that is troublesome) is that according to Rosenthal,

the nine thousand Druze residents of Beit Jann have lost a higher proportion of their soldier-sons than any other place in Israel…[they are] famous for their fearlessness in the face of death. They believe in the immortality of every Druze soul, that they are brief sojourners in the world. (292)

The fact that they are able to fuse a predominant factor of Israeli society with a Muslim-like tradition, and stand tall (and proud) in the face of it all is incredibly admirable; one being, pride for one's country and two being, focus on what comes next in life. What’s more, they are not worried because, coupled with their immense pride, is a deeply rooted knowledge that their sons will be back soon enough.

So, I read on and could not for the life of me figure out why Donna Rosenthal would begin the chapter this way. In one paragraph she has marginalized the Druze people into a category for me. This is not to say the category is negative, but here they sat in a box for me. She discusses their theories of reincarnation and passionate loyalties to the countries in which they live (and they span a few different countries). She discusses the mysterious nature of the religion and its separation from Islam in the eleventh century. She even discusses those who want to break from the religion today because of their desire to live in contemporary society and to experience the wonders of the technological era. So the themes I saw throughout were controversy, mystery, and confusion, but I kept reading.

Where I find (in general) Rosenthal’s arguments to be particularly intriguing are in her direct interactions with the people of the land, the people who she gets to know and who are the subjects of her studies. Rosenthal knows that by giving readers these people, the people living in Israel serve as a key to understanding the larger context for how they ended up in the country, and what they are doing there daily. And with the chapter on the Druze, this was no different. In my reading, I met seventeen-year-old Salwa. A Druze female who, simply seems to be having a hard time being “modern” and facing her religion daily. And here is where I seemed to grasp a commonality between Rosenthal’s representations of Druze and other groups of people living in Israel. It seems that the vast diversity of the country can be a link to what brings people together. There is a clear cut struggle here for asserting independence and trying to get by when that independence is achieved. Is that not the same ideal which built the country?

Where Rosenthal garners sympathy for the Druze is in their marginality. The same marginality I was confused about when I began the reading. She seems to use this idea here to show the Druze’s minority status in the country and to show some of their desires to be mainstreamed. Rosenthal says, “Right now, [Salwa’s] thinking about Brad Pitt, searching for a spot on her bedroom wall to tape up another poster of the movie star” (299). With that though comes the sympathy for understanding their culture. They are also diverse and have their own struggles within, but aren’t we all? It seems like an incredibly beautiful culture filled with “colorful weavings and wicker baskets made by local Druze women” (Rosenthal 293). I am thankful that Rosenthal chose to highlight the multifaceted and diverse culture of the Druze here in this way.

What Did Cheeseburgers Ever Do To You?

Chapter Eleven of Donna Rosenthal’s book, The Israelis, begins with its title, “The Non-Orthodox,” but quickly follows with this self-explanatory tagline: War of the Cheeseburgers. Not only is it a way to grab readers from the get-go, but it is quite an intriguing concept. Pluralism in Israel is clearly a topic to be discussed as much of the foundational work laid beginning even before the state was established in 1948, is rooted in Judaism. As a previous chapter mentions, only 20% of the country is considered religious now. The juxtaposition of these two groups, religious and non-religious, in the Jewish state speaks to the multifaceted culture one can approach when immersing him/herself in the study of Israel’s diversity. It seems though, that for the Orthodox, the aforementioned tagline can be modified to reflect their position and can be referred to as “The War on Cheeseburgers.”

In the video below, we are first shown background information into what it is to be Orthodox and what characterizes some Orthodox Jews today. With that said, the video jumps into a music scene, with the pianist dressed in Orthodox garb. The irony here being that many think a contemporary lifestyle (filled with music, technology, etc) would not include what is being shown. On the contrary, much of the Orthodox tradition includes being merry and enjoying festivities through music and dance. Take notice though, of the separation of male and female in the video (i.e. they do not/will not dance with each other). Toward, the end of the video, the person who posted it explains, “It was explained to us that this small sect of Orthodox Jews are so ‘high on God’ that they feel they must share their ‘good news’ by dancing in the streets.” For those who may think the Orthodox life of a Jew, living in Israel, is sheltered, on some level this assertion is correct and can be proven, as in Rosenthal’s ninth chapter, but there are clearly other ways to look at this group of people.



What’s interesting in all of this is the lack, or minimal nature, of denominational Judaism in Israel. Clearly, this is viewed as an American construct, but why can it not flourish or be in existence in Israel? In an attempt to be as sympathetic and as balanced as possible to both sides as possible, it seems important to present not only the religious in a positive light (by showing the positive aspects of their culture, above), but to mention the strides being made toward denominational Judaism in the country. Maybe the less religious war is on the fact that the country is less-inclined to be deononiational, especially when compared to America.

First, here is a one-minute video cascading images of the holy city of Jerusalem while running a word reel at the bottom explaining the desire for many Jews living in Jerusalem to make it more seular. The video has been posted by the Hartman Institute, an organization which explains themselves as, "is a pluralistic research and leadership institute at the forefront of Jewish thought and education" (Hartman Website). The reel portrays the views of Donniel Hartman and is titled, "Jerusalem: Capital for All Israelis." Check it out:



Secondly, I want to discuss some of the Rosenthal material. She quotes Rabbi Meir Azari of Beit Daniel Synagogue as saying, “I don’t mind that we’re called the ‘synagogue of the seculars.’ I’m pleased that people are coming here who never have been involved with a congregation. The younger generation, the high-tech generation, have a tremendous thirst for an authentic Israeli form of liberal Judaism” (231). So what is this authentic form of liberal Judaism? It seems contradictory in that he claims it can be authentic, but liberal and (in a way) intrinsically Jewish at the same time. And, of course, I am open to comments and opinions!

Omri Casspi Makes History

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (Emphasis on the "pursuit")!

As Donna Rosenthal explains in The Israelis, the story of eastern Jews to Israel is one that is not often told. She opens by telling a story about a young girl (Naomi) who felt like an outsider, how her school books were written by the Ashkenazim, how this girl’s people did not matter to the rest of Israeli society. Rosenthal furthers that the one time a boy from Naomi’s class, he was shocked, and Naomi was mortified. The path the Mizrahim (Eastern Jews) took to get to Israel was a scary one and once they arrived they were not treated the best that they could have been, they were certainly not welcomed with open arms. The following two paragraphs attempt to shed light on the situation and to offer examples of what this minority group faced.

Michael Greenspan, in the video below, begins to uncover a discussion on Mizrahi Jews living in Israel. From his talk he seems to be generating a strong sympathy for the plight of the Jews of Arab lands who entered Israel He explains, “They had to leave everything behind them.” And, when asked to discuss this issue as being overlooked in comparison to the Palestinian Refugee crisis of the late 1940s, he explains that the UN often has simply left this issue out of their discussions. He claims it never became a global issue. He offers, “Maybe we have to change [the] narrative, you know we use the Zionist story as if everybody wanted to go back home. And that’s only partially true. Many Jews were kicked out [of] Arab countries…and they left behind them a lot of assets.” He wants people to take away from this discussion the truth and a sense of the issues Israel has faced internally over the years.



To further Greenspan’s ideas, there is an article written by Sami Shalom Chetrit on Israel’s Black Panther Party. This article is not a response to Greenspan, but also discusses issues of discrimination, and (some would say) racism, in Israel. The Black Panther Party emerged in Israel for a very brief period of time in the early 1970s and took their name from the famous party in America. In January of 1971, as Chetrit explains, they said, “We shall be the Black Panthers of Israel” wherein they fought for social, economic, and racial equality among the Israeli nation. They staged riots and fought against Golda Meir, they truly tried to uphold the neo-Marxist ideal. The “discourse…was absorbed in the movement’s rhetoric in terms that included ‘oppressors and oppressed’, ‘exploiters and exploited’, ‘unskilled worker’, ‘and of course ‘equality’, ‘justice’, and ‘revolution’” as Chetrit comments. It seems that as unskilled workers and a group of people who were put into development towns by the Ashkenazim, these “Black Panthers” were attempting to create a sense of class-consciousness amongst the nation that did not necessarily exist there before. Perhaps Chetrit’s most important point is the following: “…The Israeli Black Panthers took not only the intensity of radicalization of the discourse from the American Black Panthers, but also the determination in their collective confrontation with the Israeli establishment.” With that said, though, their existence was short-lived and their “determination” could not outlive an international war.

Interestingly enough, and perhaps a matter that would have inevitably “brought down” the Panthers in Israel, the war of 1973 had the biggest effect on the movement. It would appear that national unity was more important regardless of class and race. With time anyway, these Mizrahim would have blended into the society in their own way, much like many of the other nations that make up Israel.

In attempt to generate sympathy for both sides equally, the Ashkenazim were faced with the trouble of what to do with this large influx of people coming into a land they had established and had been working on for years. What were they supposed to do? Put aside all of their hard work to make room for an influx of approximately 600,000 people? Plus, should they not have been proud of the work they had done? Wouldn’t they have wanted to take a minute to be proud? And the Mizrahim needed to stand up for themselves. The Black Panther idea, although extreme, was their way of aaserting themselves as essential parts of this society. They needed to be seen, to be known. As Rosenthal quotes in her book, in an attempt to bridge gaps I suppose by showing a man named Meir’s example, “We Israelis fight together, so why separate ourselves and fight each other? Why keep pushing the differences? We’re all Israelis.”

Dating and Mating

In her chapter on dating and mating, Donna Rosenthal seems to really appreciate the telling of the truth from many different points of view when it comes to Israel and sexuality. It seems fitting that she begins the chapter with a brief discussion of the conglomeration of mating rituals that have come to fruition together in Israel. It is as if she asserts that what exists today on Israel’s sex scene is a joint venture between sexual acts “formed in St. Petersburg, Baghdad, Brooklyn and Bombay…” (Rosenthal 24). Her analysis of the life of the sexually active is coupled with the idea that Israel often faces in that the view is often along the lines of a “now or never” mentality. Rosenthal shows readers that people feel as though if they do not become involved (sexually) as early as possible, they feel they may lose their lives. Her assertion is that people who are afraid most of losing their lives, because of the daily tension between Israelis and Palestinians, are more eager to be sexual earlier.

With that mentality comes a predominant theme as the rules in this area are often challenged. Questions arise which often beg to be asked. How do these views differ when dealing with different genders? How do they advance themselves when we begin to deal with Arab-Israeli relationships, or Palestinian-Israeli relationships? When does early sexual activity become sexual harassment? Does it? And where does the discussion advance when we are dealing with homosexual relationships? These questions come with the territory when discussing a country which is young, when discussing a country which is often subject to religious obligations, and when discussing a country which is in the midst of a highly damaging and constant state of warfare.

Avivit Betzalel, as Rosenthal discusses in her book, feels a separation between the rules which apply to her versus those of her brothers’. She is often frustrated and rebels against those which dictate her life, especially when it comes to sex. She claims that her older brothers can have whomever they want over to their house, but she cannot. She often sneaks out of the house to remove herself from those rules. She mentions how her older brother caught her and warned her against continuing that type of activity. He even told her that she should not join the army and serve alongside members of the opposite sex. Understandably, the inequality her parents impose between males and females and the extreme religious views of her brother would frustrate her, but is this frustration just? It does not seem as if there is a way to rightly answer that question, as everyone will have their own views, but how much of the frustration Avivit feels is because of the society in which she lives. If she were to petition her army service to do what is called Sheirut L’omi, Israel would recognize this as appropriate based on religious reasons. As Rosenthal mentions, who knew this would be an issue when the law was made to have army service be mandatory?

To bring up one last example of the current situation, it seems fitting to mention Israel’s progression when it comes to homosexuality. With that said, there is also a large delegation (among the religious) against homosexuality. Rosenthal, in a later chapter, brings up the threat of life, again, as a part of the Israeli mentality in this area. She quotes a young man who said, “‘We’re living with bombs on buses and security guards in our cafés and schools. So who cares if I live with my boyfriend?’” It is an interesting point, once again. In order to also include religious views, there are also situations where homosexuality is adamantly opposed because of the chapter in Leviticus refuting it as an appropriate Jewish relationship. With that said, Israel has laws against gay-bashing.

Below are a few clips from youtube and articles I found interesting on the topic of sexuality, marriage, and dating in Israeli society.

UN Blasts Israeli Marriage Law

A Chuppah In the Closet

A Third Intifada?

The word intifada is a term which now refers to two different major events of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict wherein the Palestinian side has rebelled against Israeli rule. The major goals of what we refer to as the Intifadas are for Palestinians to gain land in the Middle East. The word is an Arabic word which translates to “shaking off.” In an article written in the Jerusalem Post by Ira Sharkansky, “Window on Israel: The third intifada” the possibility of a third uprising of Palestinians is discussed as a current threat amongst Israelis. Sharkansky points out that Sukkot, the eight day Jewish harvesting festival which is happening in 2009 from October 2-9, is often a time of terror in Israel and hopefully the current situation Israeli’s are facing is temporary.

Sharkansky eloquently demonstrates his knowledge on the topic by pointing out what may seem obvious to many, but is still worthwhile to hear now and again. He notes that

It is no surprise that [Israel], and especially [Jerusalem] provokes religious fanaticism. It is appropriate to admit that Muslims have no monopoly on the trait, even though it is they who are most likely to combine messianism with violence.

The end of his statement is a skewed view that most Muslims would not agree with, I only mention this to keep politics outside of the argument. The goal of presenting a balanced argument is key. What I would like to draw attention to is the first part of hi statements. Even the word Jerusalem today carries not only religious, but political connotations as well. It is important that each side not get carried away when reacting to the much disputed land.

It is furthered in the article that Israel too will resort to violence if necessary. The Muslims are not alone in this endeavor. Yes, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) promote self defense, but as Sharkansky comments that “…history shows that when pushed too far for too long, Israel will resort to military action.” It is not enough to be self defensive alone, when all too often the country is being attacked. The hope that this current terror lasts only through Sukkot, and no longer, is a hope shared by Jews in every country of the world.

A simple Google search will tell readers that Ira Sharkansky is a professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. He has published six books on Israeli politics and the Middle East conflict and has worked in Academia as a scholar on the conflict for over forty years. Professor Ira Sharkansky is a reliable source. His personal political views, as with most scholars, should be irrelevant as he knows enough to state the facts.

In concluding his article, Sharkansky points out that he personally had an awakening a few years back when one of his Arab students commented the following: “He said that many of his friends thought Jews were blowing up their own buses, to give them an excuse to kill Arabs.” How astounding that at the root of many of the conflicts lays fear. Often, people get mixed up in their own political/religious/social views and lose a sense of what the fighting is about. I cannot say whether or not the fighting would still be happening if the aforementioned student’s comments were not true, but it seems notable to mention the thought process of many regardless.

The point of Sharkansky’s article seems to me to be a call to action. Or a call to stop action! Sharkansky feels the need for the Palestinians to stop what is currently going on because Israel, for him, will not fail to take action when necessary. According to Sharkanasky, the option of having a third intifada relies on how Israel will react if pushed too far and he feels the Arabs should discontinue their attempts at creating hostility.

Gilad Shalit Video