Dr. Marc Ellis spoke at the Rothko Chapel this past week. Some in attendance were understandably steamed at his suggestion that fellow Jews follow his example and drop to their knees to ask for “revolutionary forgiveness” from the Arabs.

Though I found this man creepy at several levels (especially interpersonal - he screamed and waggled fingers in faces at the after-lecture reception), I did not get steamed. I recognized that Ellis suffers from a psychological disorder described by Harvard historian/psychiatrist Dr. Kenneth Levin in his brilliant book, “The Oslo Syndrome.” Levin explores how intelligent and sensitive Jews often rely on coping strategies that numb the emo-tional hurt caused by chronic anti-Jewish or anti-Israel sentiment, strategies that resemble those found among abused wives and children.

Both groups deal with chronic stress by submitting to the dominance of the overpowering oppressor. Both groups blame themselves for the abuse heaped upon them.

For abused wives and children, submission sometimes stops the beatings. For Jews prone to self-delusion, submission provides a respite (and in Ellis’ case, a pretty darn good salary) from the pain of continuous and unrelenting hatred, the only cost being the occasional public display of masochistic catharsis.

But, this was supposed to be the final column of a four-part series on the Peel Commission, and not a review of yet another outrageous lecture at the Rothko Chapel. Summarizing this monumental document has proven to be a daunting task. But, the Ellis lecture eased the way considerably. Why? Because I now fully appreciate the profound importance that this forgotten document can make on today’s debate.

In a world filled with the likes of Marc Ellis and worse, it is essential that well-balanced people learn their history, and the Peel Commission Report is pure history. It describes a pivotal moment in time when early Palestine was fading and violent warfare was beginning. It essentially is a 412-page “report card” on how Jews and Arabs behaved towards each other in the 20 years following the Balfour Declaration.

It is a crisp, high-resolution photograph of 1937 Palestine, taken through a British lens that – and this is important – empowers modern Jews to utterly discredit the rantings of curiosities like Ellis.

Anyone who takes the time to read Peel will understand just how unfounded most of today’s anti-Israel propaganda really is. To the Englishmen of the Commission, the early Zionists were far from the thugs of modern myth. To the contrary, they were portrayed as nonviolent, law-abiding, astoundingly well-educated, ethical and serious in their efforts to reach an accommodation with the Arabs. With a pioneer spirit, they bought land legally, cleared the swamps, reclaimed the desert and increased the quality of everyone’s life to the extent that the Arab population almost doubled in size within two decades.

These are Peel’s words – read them yourself. Enjoy a long-overdue sense of pride that, yes, the early Zionists were also the good guys.

To Peel, there were only two core problems and neither had anything to do with deficiencies in Jewish character: The Arabs desperately wanted their own independent state, and they didn’t want to share it with a growing number of Jews.

There are many lessons to learn from that report. Here are a few:

1) A Martian can drop down to Earth and faithfully record what is going on, and then disappear for 73 years. People will discount or ignore his observations for the reason that those observations do not recall history as they wish to remember it. Lord Peel was that Martian.

2) It took the British decades to establish a cogent foreign policy in Palestine, and less than 24 months to unwind it with the infamous 1939 White Paper. How did that happen? Bad timing: Neville Chamberlain, the political weakling of the 20th century, took office within weeks of the release of the report.

Instead of embracing partition as the identical solution that successfully cured the Greek/Turkish impasse, he instead chose to appease Arab extremists by abandoning the Jews.

Don’t be shocked: Chamberlain also tossed Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. He did both under the pressure of war. We too are now at war, and there are hints that decades of American foreign policy may be unraveling. Let’s hope that history does not repeat itself.

3) History needs to be learned before its lessons can be applied. Professors who read the “Cliff Notes” version of the Peel Report on some websites gain sound bytes, not wisdom. There are no shortcuts. The revisionist view of history whereby “Jews=oppressors” and “Arabs=victims” cannot stand the weight of historical detail, and that detail must be learned. Please rediscover the Peel Commission Report. They won’t.

Steve Tobias can be contacted at column@tobias.biz.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion