Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig: Humility as an Antidote to Humiliation
After 77 years of independence, Israel’s perennially painful question remains: why is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict still continuing?
There are several reasons bandied about (most partly correct). But I think that there’s an important factor not much discussed: humiliation. Actually, that’s national humiliation – an important element influencing both sides of the conflict, albeit in different ways. Nevertheless, the time frame for each is much the same: centuries, perhaps even millennia!
First, the “other side.” The Moslem world was the most advanced civilization on Earth during the mid-Middle Ages – leaders in science, mathematics, and philosophy, among other intellectual and artistic pursuits (e.g., poetry, architecture). For example, the origin of the terms “algorithm” and “algebra” are based on one of the Moslem civilization’s leading lights: the 9th century Persian scientist and polymath Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī invented the concept of algorithms, from which we get the Latin version of his name: “algorithmi”; as to algebra, that comes from his monumental math treatise titled Kitab al-Jabr.
The Moslems also ruled over the largest empire during those centuries, with their military virtually unbeaten until the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. Overall, truly a Golden Age of Moslem power and accomplishments. The Jews were usually not persecuted (certainly not as much as their counterparts in Europe) although they were treated as second-class citizens (dhimmi).
By the 19th and 20th centuries, the Western world had far outdistanced Moslem civilization, not only in science but in political and military power. Perhaps even “worse” (from at least 1948 onwards), the previous dhimmi Jews had their own state – even managing to beat the armies of several Moslem countries!
For a culture that puts “honor” and “status” as a dominant value, this was – and continues to be – humiliation of the rankest order, nationally and personally. Without the elimination or at least amelioration of such humiliation, most Moslems will continue to view Jews and especially Israel in an extremely negative light. The peace treaty with Egypt is a case in point: only after Egypt’s early 1973 Yom Kippur War success – and four years later, Egyptian President Sadat invited to the Knesset as an equal statesman – could Egypt (although not all Egyptians) agree to peace with Israel.
Turning the mirror around to the Jewish State, it’s clear that the Jewish People have suffered the most serious forms of humiliation for at least 2000 years (actually longer: Assyrian and Babylonian exiles etc.). The Holocaust was the nadir, from whose ashes arose the Jewish State like a phoenix.
Is it any wonder that Israelis have not only sworn “Never Again,” but carry out such an approach through a mighty military and an extremely wary-of-the-enemy foreign policy? Of course, this is not merely a figment of Israelis’ imagination: it’s enough to mention Iranian mullahs, Hamas, Hezbollah et al, to see that the fear of future Jewish humiliation (and worse) at the hands of these Moslem enemies is palpably real. In short, “Never Again” refers not only to physical annihilation but also to national, psychological humiliation.
The irony is that deep feelings of humiliation undermine what should be an accompanying emotion: humility. After all, the Israelites were a local military power for some time, until… Ditto the Moslem world as noted above. In short, what goes up doesn’t stay up forever. One could even argue that a measure of humility vis-à-vis one’s foes can go a long way to prevent (or at least delay) the way down. Imagine for a moment where Israel would have been in late 2023 through 2025 if it had to fight not only Hamas and Hezbollah, but Egypt as well!
This is not to say that every opponent – and certainly not every enemy – can be assuaged by a measure of national humility on the part of their opponent. A lot depends on the nation’s emotional psyche. For example, it is not a coincidence that the Gulf States signed the Abraham Accords only after they restored a large part of their (self-perceived) honor by way of a successfully modernizing economy. Saudi Arabia, too, has started on that road; coupled with its vast wealth, it no longer harbors feelings of national degradation – and thus coming to the table as equals it too is willing to countenance some form of peaceful coexistence with the Jewish State.
What’s true for the Middle East is just as relevant elsewhere. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, what was once “great” Russia has suffered deeply from humiliating inferiority – ergo, its ultimate attempts at politically controlling several neighbors (e.g., Georgia, Belarus) or outright conquering them (Ukraine). China, a truly great civilization for millennia, also suffered immense humiliation from the 19th century onwards (post-Opium War; Japanese conquest in the 20th century). The result can be seen today in its sabre-rattling regarding Taiwan and its economic imperialistic moves around the globe.
The bottom line: nations do act like individual people. If treated with respect and a requisite amount of humility on the part of their perceived opponents, they might (true, not always) change their aggressive behavior. Of course, there are always other factors at play, but we should never underestimate the negative consequences of humiliation in international politics. That’s the reason for the title of this essay: the choice is not Humiliation “or” Humility, but rather Humility as an antidote to Humiliation.
