On Narratives, Part I

An unabashedly pro-Palestinian piece of propaganda published in Ha'Aretz (Hat Tip: Israellycool), gives me the opportunity to discuss a few of the many problems which "post-modernism" has inflicted on historical study, especially of the Arab-Israel conflict. Due to length, this posting will be split up into a number of parts, each dealing with a specific problem:

The first problem has to do with the prominence "narratives" are currently given in the study of history. A legitamite method in literature and anthropology, the idea that history itself is simply a group of "narratives", none better than the next, and that there are no bona fide "facts" (or at least very few "facts"), has been festering in this field for some time. So much so, that "collective memory" and "cultural images" are now more discussed and studied than what actually happenned, when and why. Perhaps the prime example of such warped thinking is Mark LeVine's study of Jaffa, which if the promo is any indication, is more concerned with how people perceived their cities than with how things actually were.

This is not to say that perceptions of events do not have a place in the study of history. History, after all, is the study of human actions and thoughts, and these can't be understood without knowledge of the cultural background, and, yes, the "narratives" or ideas that run through various socities. We are not simply a collection of fact-collecting robots, always working according to some non-human rules regardless of where we come from. We are creatures of our surroundings, whether we reject or embrace them.

As imortant as "narratives" might be, however, their value stops at the door of the establishment of the factual record. The essential, critical part of history which examines what happenned, when and why, has no place for "narratives" or "multiple truths" or "rashomons". The fact that Israelis and Palestinians perceive the actions of Officer Hinks differently does not mean both, or even either, perception is correct. Officer Hinks may be a murderer (for killing a family in cold blood) or a hero (for killing rioters) or neither, but he can not be both. As Yoav Gelber points out in his important essay on history - either 80 or 250 people were killed at Tantura - both numbers can not be correct. History only happenned one way, and as much as Prof. Bar-On and Dr. Masalha would like to have Israelis and Palestinians listen to "each other's narrative", in many cases one, or both of the narratives will be false.

If history, especially charged history like the Arab-Israel conflict, is to remain a legitamite discipline and not a laughing stock where charlatans and story-tellers can claim equal standing with actual historians, the border seperating fact from perception or "narrative" must be clearly maintained.

Tidbits

1. The JPost has a new section called Cafe Oleh, with all sorts of interesting stuff by and for new immigrants.
2. Shai has a long, excellent post on one of the greatest Israeli bands (and my personal favorite) - Kaveret.
3. The Head Heeb recently posted a thoughtful sketch of the behavior of "post-genocidal states", including Israel, of course.
4. Avi Shlaim's The Iron Wall has come out in Hebrew. IMHO, while it might have been a "contoversial" book had it come out (in Hebrew) in the '90s, I doubt anyone will take it seriously now (except for the usual Israel-hating folk, that is).
5. Speaking of "New Historians" (an overused and out-of-date term if there ever was one), I have yet to hear of a response by Benny Morris to Efraim Karsh's review of his book. Perhaps someone reading this knows of one?

Train Disaster

A horrible accident has occured in the south - part of a pasenger train derailed after crashing into a truck. The death toll now stands at 7 and rising. Let us hope and pray for the wounded in this disaster, and our condolences to the families of those who died. She'Lo Neida Od Tza'ar.

Research Suggestions

This post's subject:

The Haredi Community in Jerusalem During the War of Independence

Very little work scholarly work has been done on the Jewish civilian population's trials during this period, and even less on the Haredi community. With the exception of an article by Yuval Frankel in Ha'Tzionut, almost all discussion of the Haredi community in Jerusalem during 1948 tends to be superficial and biased.

Part of the problem is that documentation is hard to come by - if there are organized archives of the community and its institutions, they are hard to track down. Sub-questions could include: How many military-age Haredi Jews joined the Hagnah/Palmach/Etzel/Lehi? What was the attitude of the various parties and Rabannim to the problems that came up during the war? Is there responsa on the subject? What kind of relationship existed between the population and the military (Haganah, later IDF) and the civil (Va'ad HaKehilah, later Dov Yosef) authorities?

Good Luck.

AIWAC