Two Friends Consider Bibi and Gaza

Recent articles in the Jesuit Review, America, include an interview by Gerard O’Connell of Father Neuhaus, a lifelong Israeli citizen, and a response article by Dr. Karma Ben Johanan, a student of Jewish-Catholic relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Two Directions in Gaza

Dr. Karma Ben Johanan teaches at the department of comparative religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is an Israeli Jew who has studied Jewish-Catholic relations for many years. Through this work, he has had the opportunity to engage with many thoughtful Christians, including David Neuhaus, S.J., whom he considers a personal and even close friend.

Father Neuhaus is an astute political observer and a man committed to peace. Born into a Jewish family in South Africa, he became an Israeli citizen at the age of 17 and has lived most of his life in Israel. After obtaining his Ph.D. in political science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he decided to become a Catholic and entered the Society of Jesus in 1992.

Gerard O’Connell, on January 05, 2024, posed this question to Father Neuhaus.

As the Israeli forces bomb Gaza and destroy homes, they are at the same time carrying out raids on towns and refugee camps in the West Bank and have killed more than 300 Palestinians and arrested almost 5,000. Furthermore, many Arab Israeli citizens of the State of Israel feel seriously intimidated. What does this strategy of collective punishment mean? How do you read it? (O'Connell & Wooden, 2024)

Father Neuhaus responded.

The Netanyahu government is even more opposed than its predecessors to compromise with the Palestinians. Even before Oct. 7, clashes between Palestinians and the army and/or bands of settler vigilantes in the West Bank had reached unprecedented proportions. The war in Gaza provides a smokescreen for military incursions and vigilante activities seeking to impose full Israeli control on the West Bank. While international attention is focused on Gaza, the Israeli government is determined to make the West Bank Israeli territory through land confiscation, expulsions of the population and the policing of Palestinian civil life, hand-in-hand with strengthening the Jewish presence there and enthusiastically arming them. (O'Connell & Wooden, 2024)

Dr. Karma Ben Johanan begins his article in harmony with some of the comments of Father Neuhaus, particularly his critical stance toward the Israeli government.

The unease I felt while reading the interview had nothing to do with the legitimacy of criticizing Israel, a right that Father Neuhaus justly exercises. I share much of Father Neuhaus’s critical stance toward the Israeli government. Like most Israelis, especially after Oct. 7, I feel that the current Israeli government does not represent me, and I feel a responsibility to limit its authority both domestically and on the battlefield. This aim is shared by many institutions in Israel, from the Supreme Court to the police to the heads of the Israeli army. (Johanan & Davenport, 2024)

The two articles diverge on many other aspects of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The aspirations for peace expressed by both articles would be facilitated in a political environment where Benjamin Netanyahu was no longer the Prime Minister of Israel.

References

Johanan, B., & Davenport, J. (2024, January 18). There is a right and wrong way for Catholics to criticize Israel. America Magazine. Retrieved January 23, 2024, from https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2024/01/18/israel-gaza-war-neuhaus-246974? 

O'Connell, G., & Wooden, C. (2024, January 5). An Israeli Jesuit priest on the war in Gaza, Jewish-Catholic relations and the future of the two-state solution. America Magazine. Retrieved January 23, 2024, from https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2024/01/05/israel-gaza-war-jesuit-neuhaus-246822 

Serious critique includes alternatives

Brendan Steven, reporting for theHub, comments that on its most fractious and divided days, the Conservative Party seems more united by a shared rejection of the Liberal Party than any other core principle. One of the dangers of being the opposition is to always be seen as opposing.

Pope Francis is hugged by a boy at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021. Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo.

 

Steven offers the techniques of Pope Francis as a useful example from whom the Conservative might take some lessons.

Catholics love “both/and” truths—seemingly contradictory concepts that are co-relational complements. In this spirit, opposition is bereft without proposition. Pope Francis finds much to condemn in the world these days, often deriding what he calls throwaway culture—an attitude that everything is disposable, from material goods to human life. But his criticism is married to vision. He offers concrete alternatives reflecting his own proposal. He refuses to disconnect the environmental crisis from the human crisis. He welcomes refugees, encourages economic development—saying that we must “prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone”—all while advancing the goal of ecological sustainability.1

Back in the 80’s I participated as an instructor in a program, the Christopher Leadership Course, to build confidence and community through the practice of effective public speaking. The evaluation of the efforts of the learning community was based on a model of Praise, Evaluation, and Praise. Every effort to practice public speaking received an evaluation that first recognized progress in the development of the speaker’s ability, second, it pointed out one aspect for the speaker to work on to improve speaking skill, and third concluded with another affirmation of the speaker’s presentation. Can you imagine politicians, in the House of Commons, using such a format during Question Period? Maybe a small change would involve the opposition party's “critic” being renamed as the opposition “alternative advisor” or “amendment advisor”. This might encourage the seemingly forgotten role of “critique” to propose positive actions rather than only cite the negative aspects of the proposals at hand??

 

References

1(2022, February 15). Brendan Steven: What the Conservative Party can learn from Pope .... Retrieved February 17, 2022, from https://thehub.ca/2022-02-15/what-the-conservative-party-can-learn-from-pope-francis/