Modern Maccabees: Israel’s Enduring Battle for Independence

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© Robert Hirsch 2024
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VASA Journal on Images and Culture (VJIC),
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This essay examines the role of photo-based imagery in the post-Holocaust world of Jewish self-determination that led to the restoration of Israel as a Jewish homeland. The images taken by Israelis and press photographers during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, also known as the War of Independence by Israelis, offer their portrayal of the nascent state of Israel. These photographs capture the complexities and emotions of a nation in the throes of both celebration and conflict. They serve as historical documents and as powerful symbols of national identity and propaganda. It is important to note that, as these events unfolded, the Holocaust was still fresh in the minds of Jews, as the Nuremberg trials (1945-1949) continued. The defendants in this series of 13 trials included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers, along with German industrialists, doctors, and lawyers who were charged with crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. Due to the number of countries and people affected, the following select examples represent uncountable events, locations, and people.

Senator, we have a secret weapon
in our battle against the Arabs…
Senator, we have nowhere else to go!

Golda Meir, then prime minister of Israel addressing then senator Joe Biden in 1973.1

The context was the Yom Kippur War, begun on October 6, 1973, when the Arab coalition, led by Egypt and Syria, jointly launched a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. It ended on October 25, 1973, with an Israeli victory and the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt.

11.00 © Arnold Newman. David Ben-Gurion, 1967. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN.

Israel’s War of Independence

The history of the Jewish people is one of beauty and horror, hope and disappointment, but their resilience lies in their 3000-year-old foundational belief that their god is in the desert.

On May 14, 1948, the day the British Mandate over Palestine expired, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation that night with USSR following three days later. The declaration included the following:

WE APPEAL – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.

WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.2

11.01 Rudi Weissenstein. David Ben-Gurion publicly pronouncing the Declaration of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography Department, Government Press Office, Jerusalem, Israel.

Israel’s socialist government rejected the simple organization of tribalism and extended an invitation for the Arabs to join in finding the possibility of common dignity. It is was a clear statement that one’s outward identity is not a repository for one’s specific character or values. What immediately transpired was neighboring Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia launched a coordinated war to destroy the new state.

11.02 Unknown photographer. Devorah Drechler, circa 1920. N/S. Gelatin silver print. National Library of Israel.

This was not surprising as on-going conflicts between Arabs and Jews spilled out in the open after the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War 1. The battle of Tel Hai (March 1, 1920), a Jewish settlement in northern Palestine, exemplifies the early Zionist-Arab conflicts. It was attacked by local Arabs, resulting in the death of its defenders, underscoring the growing tensions between Jews and Arabs in Palestine.

The image on the left: Devorah Drechler (1896-1920) fought for the rights of women to be a member of the Hashomer (The Guard), a Jewish defense organization, and died fighting in the battle of Tel Hai.

In 1936, the Arabs began a three-year rebellion against the British occupation of Palestine and the expanding Jewish presence in the area, provoking violent clashes among the three sides. It was the first Arab revolt, and it would ultimately succeed in driving out the British. However, the Jews remained. Tragically, the turbulence of 1936 foretold the future of the Middle East up until now.3

11.03 Unknown photographer. Arab rebels from the Haifa area near Jenin posing with their commander, Abd al-Qadir Yusuf Abd al-Hadi. One rebel is carrying an Arab Palestinian flag emblazoned with a crescent and cross, 1937. N/S. Gelatin silver print.

The collapse of European colonialism following World War II led the British to begin fashioning mandates and commissions for its colonies’ independence. A partition proposal for Palestine was the first two-state plan. Then, as now, it satisfied no one. On the brink of World War II, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement,4 which supported appeasing the Arabs to protect British oil interests, and worked to choke off Jewish immigration to Palestine with the British White Paper of 1939. This took place as Hitler was persecuting and preparing to murder European Jews, thus cutting off their closest sanctuary.

11.04 Unknown photographer. British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and German chancellor Adolf Hitler greet each other at the Munich conference, 1938. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.

Muhammed Amin al-Husseini, the leader of the Palestine national movement, was an outspoken antisemite who aided the 1941 pro-Nazi revolt in Baghdad. When it collapsed, he fled to Berlin, where he spent the rest of the war years enjoying a handsome salary for his work as a Nazi propagandist and a recruiter of Balkan Muslims for the SS. Thus, Palestine’s Arabs supported the destruction of European Jewry by coercing the British into denying European Jews fleeing the Holocaust entry to Palestine. Additionally, Husseini urged Arabs to fight the British and “kill the Jews.”5 in his Berlin radio broadcasts.

Unlike other European colonialists who settled colonies to enrich their motherlands and maintain a connection to their home countries, Jews who went to Palestine were not only escaping persecution but were returning to their ancestorial land and had no alliance to the land from which they were escaping.

11.05 Unknown photographer. ‘Save our children and our parents from Germany!’ proclaim placards carried by men in Jerusalem demonstrating against severe British immigration limits, January 16, 1939. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. Associated Press.

The 1948 war involved battles on multiple fronts, including in Jerusalem, the Negev desert, Galilee, and along Israel’s borders with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Both sides experienced significant casualties, and there were occurrences of atrocities and displacement of civilian populations.

11.06 Frank Scherschel. Hagana volunteers evacuating a man wounded in Egypt’s bombardment of Tel Aviv, May 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. National Photo Collection, Israel.

Israeli forces fought fiercely to maintain control of Jerusalem, eventually capturing the western part of the city. However, the eastern part, including the Old City and its holy sites, fell under Jordanian control.

11.07 Unknown photographer. The Old City’s Jewish Quarter in ruins, May 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Library of Israel’s Photography Collections, Jerusalem, Israel.

Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Israel not only repelled the invading forces, it even expanded its territory beyond the boundaries proposed by the UN partition plan. The war ended in 1949 with a series of armistice agreements between Israel and the warring Arabs. More than 6,000 Israeli Jews, including 4,000 soldiers and 2,000 civilians, were killed and 15,000 wounded. More than 10,000 Arab soldiers and civilians were killed. These casualty rates were the equivalent of about 1% of each population.

 

11.08 Unknown photographer. A female officer of the Haganah gives a demonstration in the handling of a Sten gun during the War of Independence, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. Hagana Museum, Tel Aviv.

The war had far-reaching consequences, shaping the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East as Israel emerged as a sovereign state. The decision by the Arab states not to accept partition in 1947 and to instead launch a war, resulted in the loss of land and the voluntary and forced flight of 750,000 Palestinian Arabs.6 Also of note is that in 1948 there were 800,000 to 1 million Jews living in Arab countries. Now there are fewer than 5,000. Presently, there are some 2,080,000 Arabs in Israel, making up about 21% of the population. About 554,000 non-Jewish and non-Arab people make up around another 6% of Israel’s demographics.

11.09 Unknown photographer. Palestinian refugees fleeing their homes near Haifa, June 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print.

11.10 Unknown photographer. Jewish residents of Jerusalem fleeing during the battle for the Old City through the Zion Gate, May 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print.

Israel’s victory in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War can be attributed to a combination of factors, including their ability to mobilize (based on long-standing organization), unity and determination, unified leadership, international support, military effectiveness and resourcefulness, along with Arab disunity, rivalries, and conflicting agendas. Critically, the Arabs never made any plans to establish a Palestinian state. Rather, each Arab country planned to annex whatever land they could grab as war bounty.8

 

 

 

 

11.11 Unknown photographer. A Haganah unit defends its base in Safad during Israel’s War of Independence (pictured in the front is Shmuel Shalkovsky), 1948. N/S. Gelatin silver print.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Sam Schalkowsky.

Image left Caption: Izhak Izraelovich was a Holocaust survivor from Kalish, Poland. Mordechai was a soldier in Red army from Sanok, Poland. They were badly wounded in the battle of Nebi-Yoosha (April 20, 1948) and could not be evacuated. Philo-Shraga Friedman, their nineteen year old platoon commander, remained with them and protected them in a rocky ravine.

When he ran out of ammunition he shot the two wounded soldiers and himself so that they would not be taken by advancing Arab rioters .7 For the Jews the war was about re-constituting Israel by returning, rebuilding, and restoring their ancient homeland. This gave them the collective responsibility to be outwardly oriented towards something larger than oneself, instilling a deep, unison sense of belonging and community.

The Photographs

Rather than discuss the various battles, this essay will concentrate on the photographs made by the Jews that help tell the post-Holocaust narrative of the 1948 war and why these photographs are “special” in terms of the insights they offer and what makes them different from other war photographs made in this time period.

11.12 Unknown photographer. A Haganah unit defends its base in Safad during Israel’s War of Independence (pictured in the front is Shmuel Shalkovsky), 1948. N/S. Gelatin silver print. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Sam Schalkowsky.

11.13 Otte Wallish. A Nation Reborn on its Ancestral Soil, circa 1940s. 21.7 x 33.25 inches. Color off-set. Jewish National Fund, NY.

11.14 Hugo Mendelson. Israeli Soldiers of the Negev Battalion, Battle for Beersheba, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Library of Israel’s Photography Collections.

Overall, photographs from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War provide a visual record of the complexities and consequences of this clash, offering valuable material for historians, scholars, and the general public to study. Such a photographic legacy helps shape the collective memory of the war and its aftermath, influencing how future generations understand, remember, and interpret this crucial period. They serve as reminders of the harsh, ongoing physical and psychological impact of the conflict on individuals, communities, and nations in the region.

The photographs made during this period depict five key overviews. First, the photographs realistically capture the human toll of the war, depicting civilians, displaced families, refugees, wounded soldiers, and POWs. Such images can evoke empathy and highlight the suffering endured on all sides of the conflict. Second, the photographs reveal military strategies and tactics employed by both sides, such as fortifications, battlefield conditions, and troop movements. They offer visual evidence of the challenges faced by commanders and soldiers during the conflict. Third, images of destroyed buildings, ruined landscapes, and abandoned villages portray the physical devastation caused by the war. They also depict the forced displacement of all populations, as people flee their homes searching for safety. Fourth, the photographs capture “decisive” moments in the political and social dynamics of the time, including diplomatic negotiations, protests, and acts of resistance. Their instantaneousness provides a visual portrayal of the complex relationships between various groups involved in the conflict. Fifth, such photographs can reinforce or challenge national narratives and historical explanations of the war. Different perspectives emerge depending on who took the photograph, where it was made, why it was made, what was the subject matter, how was it circulated, and, finally, how it has been interpreted over time.

This last piece is crucial as it reminds us that the past is always with us, yet it is subject to on-going critical reinterpretation. This vital for the Jews who had been doomed by powerful governmental and religious institutions that denied them autonomy and protection. Instead of being fated to an adverse outcome, the state of Israel was the way forward for the Jewish people, who had just seen their former world go up the chimney, to create a positive future in which they would make the desert bloom.

11.15 Hugo H. Mendelsohn. Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda Street in the aftermath of an Arab multiple truck bombing, February 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem, Israel.

What Makes these Photographs Special?

One of the most striking aspects of Israeli photographs from 1948, both by amateurs and professionals, is their emphasis on the creation and establishment of the State of Israel. These images intentionally communicate the pride of a people achieving statehood after millennia of diaspora and persecution. Scenes of celebrations and the first official acts of the new government provide a distinct record of a nation being born. The imagery often includes the Israeli flag, newly founded institutions, and major political figures, symbolizing the legitimacy of a state achieved in combat.

11.16 Unknown photographer. Great Britain handing the port of Haifa to the Israel Defense Forces, with a formation of naval officers raising the flags of Israel and the Israeli navy for the first time in the port. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion is seen at left, with his wife Paula, June 30, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. Kedem Auction House, Jerusalem, Israel. Note: The white outlining on the three central figures was done to produce visual separation when the image was reproduced in ink.

As a group, the photographs from this period were largely made with simple hand-held cameras. The portability hand-held cameras offered was not only essential to the making of these photographs, but their flexibility also serves as a metaphor of Jewish resilience as their survival before the rebirth of Israel depended on their ability to pick up and go at a moment’s notice. The majority of the images were made using black-and-white film with an average ASA/ISO range of 10 to 50. Compared with contemporary film stock, film from this period was less sensitive to light and therefore was not ideal for sharply capturing subjects in motion. Additionally, they had a larger and more noticeable grain pattern and a more limited dynamic range that was not as capable of capturing highlight and shadow detail.

The photographs were often made by active participants as personal mementos without thought of their historical importance nor their reach beyond friends and family. In such cases these photographs provided a meaningful connection between the maker and the viewer. Furthermore, they served as symbols of solidarity by visualizing their group’s communal social character that bonded them.

Unlike today’s torrent of dematerialized social media images that are quickly forgotten, these photographs were not made in abundance and they were intended to be saved as both a personal and public archive. In the past, such eyewitness accounts had been discounted by historians as being unreliable. Now such chronicles have been recognized as adding a missing personal dimension to the events as they unfolded in real time. Also, photography’s built in nature as a time machine allows those in the future to recontextualize their meaning as certain moments of consciousness only become evident with the passage of time.

11.17 Unknown photographer. A female volunteer guarding against Arab attacks at a settlement in memory of Buchenwald, circa 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. ACME Photo/Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Image Left Caption: The crop marks indicate how ACME Photo planned to publish the photograph.

These ordinary photographs are more enlightening than they appear at first glance. A deeper inspection discloses their direct, realistic simplicity, without artistic or exotic pretense, which gives them a “as they are/this is how it is” authority. They are art without the Arte. This no nonsense aesthetic reports on what is right in front of the camera. These images do not talk down to their viewers nor assume prior knowledge, but rather communicate in ordinary language their viewers can understand. They were rarely utilized for world-wide transmission, but for a smaller, local audience consisting of those who could personally relate to the subjects in the photographs and understand the circumstances/context of their making in terms of fighting for a better future.

11.18 Unknown photographer. Members of Kibbutz Givat Brenner work in the fields, (Ludwig Mayer is pictured on the left), circa 1948 – 1950. N/S. Gelatin silver print. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Mordechay Frost.

From an ontological perspective, the aesthetic and technical characteristics of these photographs are not particularly eye catching. Predominantly in black-and-white, their documentary style captures spontaneous moments, imparting a raw and realistic portrayal of the war. While their unassuming quality catches the urgency and significance of the circumstances, and their original physical snapshot size encourages an intimate viewing experience, especially when compared with the spectacle of today’s huge prints that are specifically made to be bought and displayed in a museum or a corporate board office. The originals were not usually enlarged and even when they were, the print was rarely larger than 8 x 10 inches.

In terms of composition, the images tend to place their principle subject in the center of the frame. Most of these images are part of a larger linear narrative that contain a straight-forward beginning, middle, and end, following the path of how knowledge is customarily built, transmitted, and comprehended. Many of the images were not made by professionals, but by people working outside their regular disciplines, which can produce unexpected outcomes. Such amateur photographs often capture not only the intended subject but unintended information, the value of which only becomes apparent later. This makes a case that the worth of an image is not dependent solely on artistry and technical excellen

11.19 Unknown photographer. Jordanian artillery shells Jerusalem, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi Photo Archives, Jerusalem, Israel.

Psychologically, they present a transformed Jewish persona—one who learned a hard lesson that it is bad to be a lamb. They aspired to invent a new identity that differed from the traditional one, a Jew who would know the premodern Jewish past while, as captured by Roman Vishniac (see essay # 3), striding forward toward the desired future. This New Jew sought to be autonomous and rational, embracing Zionism as a political solution, not a messianic hope, to reverse the cruel indignities they suffered during the Diaspora and fulfill one of the Torah’s important obligations: saving lives. This New Muscular Jew,9 a term coined by Max Nordau at the Second Zionist Congress in 1898, refers to the cultivation of mental and physical strengths, agility and discipline, which would be necessary for the national revival of the Jewish people. The promotion of muscular, athletic Jews serves as a counterpoint to antisemitic propaganda that depicted Jews as a weak, cosmically evil intellectuals who paid scant attention to their bodies. This entailed breaking-out-of-the-ghetto mentality: New Jews embraced the Hebrew concept of Hadar, a combination of dignity, honor, and self-respect, which meant they would no longer be silent, but proudly fight back against humiliation and annihilation.

11.20 Unknown maker. 162 Participants of the First Zionist Congress (Theodor Herzl is pictured in the center), 1898. Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Basel.

 

11.21 Unknown photographer. The women’s gymnastics team of the Basel Jewish Sports Association, circa 1920s. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Basel.

Image left Caption: Although Muscular Judaism was practiced mainly by male Jews, Jewish women participated as well, especially in activities such as gymnastics. More at Jews and Sport Before the Holocaust: A Visual Retrospective, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel. www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/sport/gymnastics.asp

These new Maccabees 10 became part of a ragtag army who were adaptable, inventive, resourceful and not doctrinaire. They became the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), determined to fight to reclaim their ancient homeland because the world has made it clear that they had no other place to go. Due to these circumstances, Israeli photographers emphasized their military achievements and civilian contributions. The photographs document crucial battles, strategic maneuvers, and the flexibility and staunchness of the IDF. They convey the tactical aspects of war and the human dimension—soldiers preparing for combat, instances of camaraderie, and the grave realities of casualties. Along with these military scenes, there are photographs of civilian volunteers engaged in war efforts, such as providing medical care and supporting logistical operations, underscoring the collective spirit and interconnectedness of the Israelis. Additionally, such photographs underscore the terrible toll war takes on everyone involved.

11.22 Unknown photographer. Group portrait of a Palmach unit in Israel, May 1948.
Pictured squatting on the far right is Daniel Barnea (formerly Werner Heilbronne).
Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. Courtesy of Daniel (Heilbronner) Barnea.

Politically, the photographs of Israeli victories were used as propaganda to boost morale and garner international support. They highlighted the bravery and determination of the Israeli people. The strategic use of symbolic imagery such as the Star of David, new settlements, and scenes of rebuilding, reinforced the narrative of a legitimate and resilient nation. Such photographs played a crucial role in shaping both a national identity and international perceptions of Israel.

Despite the harsh realities of war, the overall tone of the photographs is optimist. There are images of refugees arriving, new communities being established, and daily life continuing amidst the turmoil, reflecting a forward-looking perspective. They advance a tangible sense of determination and perseverance within periods of hardship and triumph.

Reflecting the values of the secular and democratic kibbutz movement, women began to ascend towards gender equality with men. Prior to 1948, women played a vital role in the underground struggle for independence, participating in signals and combat roles. The Israel Defense Forces’ Women’s Corps (“CHEN”—Hel Nashim) was founded on May 16, 1948, initially as a separate women’s battalion. However, within a year, the Women’s Corps was restructured and servicewomen were integrated throughout various units so that they could be active partners in the defense of their people, adding further dynamism to the culture. Direct, unvarnished photographs of these women depict the purpose-driven roles they performed. Such pictures are goal-orientated, not religious, and reflect the Jewish ideal of making Israel a better place than they found it and no longer being dependent on the whims of others.

11.23 Unknown photographer. A unit of Israeli women soldiers marching in the Yom Hamedina parade in Tel Aviv’s Allenby Street, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography Department, Government Press Office, Jerusalem, Israel.

Professional Photographers

As mentioned in the last essay (#10), professional photographers like Robert Capa (Endre Erno Friedmann), a Jewish refugee from Hungary’s rampant antisemitism, made trips to Israel from 1948-1950—a characteristic wandering Jew of the Diaspora. As reflected in his work covering the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Capa was a passionately political photojournalist. One can sense his intimate emotional involvement with Israel in hundreds of his dynamic and lyrical photographs that actively convey his sense that “Everywhere, the land is alive.” 11 This body of work was first published in Report on Israel (1950) by Irwin Shaw and Robert Capa.

11.24 Robert Capa. Child at Sha’ar Ha’aliya transit camp for new immigrants, near Haifa, Israel, 1950. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. © Magnum Photos.

Community professional makers, such as Zoltan (Zvi) Kluger (1896-1977), became known for documenting the development of Israel from the 1930s through the 1960s, providing invaluable visual documentation of Israel’s formative years. Kluger was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli press photographer who, in 1934, joined Nachman Shifrin and became a partner and chief photographer for East Photography Society for the Press (ESP) in Tel Aviv. ESP was established to support photographers and journalists to document the evolving landscape of Israel and the Middle East. EPS went on to become a foundation of Israel’s visual historical record by preserving the region’s photographic heritage.

Kluger extensively photographed the kibbutz movement and agricultural development, highlighting the pioneering spirit and communal living that were central to early Israeli society. A versatile photographer, Kluger was often able to often impart a forthright quality to his illustrative portrait work, giving a sense that the moment revealed the essence of what was happening. His tightly posed black-and-white compositions made good use of contrast, which could impart an enduring archetypical sense to his portrait work.

11.25 Zoltan Kluger. Haganah dispatch rider, Droroa Harehuveni, on her motorcycle, March 17, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography Department, Government Press Office, Jerusalem, Israel.

Shimon Rudolf (Rudi) Weissenstein (1910 – 1992) was an independent press photographer who studied photography in Vienna before immigrating to Palestine in 1934. He became known for his extensive photographic documentation of the everyday life of Jewish immigrants starting in 1936, and in 1940 opened a photography store in Tel Aviv with his wife Miriam. His historically significant archive of about one million negatives, offers a diverse visual narrative of Israel’s people, landscape, and pivotal cultural moments. The archive is managed by The PhotoHouse (www.thephotohouse.co.il/).

Whether made by amateurs or professionals, what these photographs share is classic storytelling of the people of that era.

11.26 Rudi Weissenstein. Building a state together, Magdiel, 1946. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The PhotoHouse, Tel Aviv.

Above Image Caption: Founded in 1924, the Magdiel was a moshava agricultural community (land and property are privately owned) that established a home and school for children who survived the Shoah.

Commonalities: Jews and Black People (People of Color)

Jews and Blacks have faced historical and ongoing challenges related to blatant discrimination, overt prejudice, and deformed stereotypes. Both groups have experienced systemic racism, economic disparities, and educational and social exclusion. For millennia, many Europeans portrayed Jews as evil, cabalistic, money-grubbing fraudsters and tricksters. They were belittled as laughable, revolting parasites who spoke with heavily accented and incorrect speech. Europeans would often call for Jews to go back where they came from: Palestine. The establishment of modern Israel meant Jews no longer had to be outsiders in a stranger’s land. Israel allowed Jews to be at home where they could be themselves and dispense with imposed identities.

Parallels can be made with the dehumanizing imagery that circulated about Black communities. 12 Antebellum beliefs characterized Black people as an ignorant group with frog-like eyes, giant lips, and buck teeth who required the white man’s oversight. To fight against such anti-Black caricatures in the public arena, Black abolitionist orator Frederick Douglass (1818—1895) recognized that photography could provide individuals with the ability to shape how they were perceived instead of having to accept an imposed identity. Douglass went on to become the most photographed American man of the nineteenth century. His self-created identity was widely reprinted in newspapers and promotional material as part of his lecture tours. 13 Numerous, stylish portraits of Douglass as a well-dressed, distinguished man provided a roadmap for representing Black dignity and freedom for other minorities to follow.

11.27 Unknown photographer. Frederick Douglass, 1856. 3 7/16 × 2 5/8 inches. Quarter-plate ambrotype. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

Slavery as an apparatus to assert authoritarian control is another connection between Blacks and Jews. Every year Jews gather to celebrate the Passover Seder that recounts the time they were slaves in Egypt. In America’s southern regions, plantation owners, like Egyptian pharaohs, became wealthy and powerful owing to Black slave labor. Additionally, since medieval ages, European laws controlled what Jews were permitted to do within mainline cultural, economic, political, and social environments. Such laws forbid Jews from owning land and joining guilds, restricted areas in which they could live, and required the wearing of badges that identified them as Jews. These laws later became models for the Jim Crow Laws, a pejorative term for Black people, which were used to enforce racial segregation in America’s southern states.

 

11.28 Marty Lederhandler. A protest picket line organized by the New York branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, parades in front of the Stork Club in New York, October 22, 1951. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. Associated Press.

Image right Caption: Bessie Buchanan, Laura Z. Hobson, and Walter White are pictured. Hobson is best known for her book Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), about antisemitism in America, which became a movie starring Gregory Peck. Her father was the editor of the Forverts (Forward) and her mother wrote for Der Yidisher Tog. See: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hobson-laura

Forced labor was mandatory in SS camps like Dachau, where prisoners built and maintained their own prisons. Hard and pointless toil was used to punish and torment prisoners. Inmates were forced to carryout grueling tasks in brickworks and quarries like Mauthausen. In collaboration with German industries, such as Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory in Kraków, the SS set up hundreds of satellite camps where innumerable prisoners were purposely worked and starved to death.

11.29 Unknown SS photographer. Prisoners transporting stones on the Stairs of Death, Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria, circa 1942-1944. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. German Federal Archive, Koblenz.

Image Left Caption:
The Todesstiege (Stairs of Death) at the Mauthausen concentration camp quarry near Linz in Upper Austria. Stone carriers were forced to carry heavy rocks up the stairs. In their wickedly malnourished condition, few prisoners survived this back-breaking labor. See: https://www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en/History/The-Mauthausen-Concentration-Camp-19381945

The existence of Auschwitz can be understood as a diabolical embodiment of slavery that stretches back to the Middle Passage, to the enforced servitude in ancient Greece and Rome and beyond. 14 Under the taunting SS slogan (Arbeit macht frei/Work sets you free) at the gate of Auschwitz, the desired outcome of SS slave labor was not material goods, but the suffering and death of prisoners. As Rod Serling wrote in The Twilight Zone Deaths-Head Revisited (episode 74/1961)

All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes -all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment when some men decided to turn the earth into a graveyard; into it, they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all, their conscience. And the moment we forget this, we cease to be haunted by its remembrance. Then we become the gravediggers.

11.30 Robert Hirsch. Arbeit macht frei/Work sets you free, Auschwitz, Poland, 2024. Variable dimensions. Digital file.

The photographs from this period reflect the positive determination of Zionists who not only wanted to give Jews a state of their own, but also recapture the self-agency and dignity that had been stolen from them while in exile. One slogan sums up this assertiveness: Jews go to Palestine “to build, and to be built.” This attitude was a repudiation of how Jewish life in Europe had become a hopeless, massive graveyard with no future. To counter the historic inventory of derogatory imagery, Jewish photographers began to create images of attractive and physically fit Jews in Palestine, laboring to construct a new world. The simplicity of most of these photographs was not to make something simple. It was to remove toxic distortions to reveal an innovative peoplehood. They reminded Jews of their history of being unwelcome strangers, but in Israel they were finally free to be Jews.

11.31 Zoltan Kluger. A woman electrician works as a linesman during the War of Independence, September 9, 1948. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography Department, Government Press Office, Jerusalem, Israel.

No More Black Milk

The Zionist goal of Jews having the right to live in a state in their historic homeland emerged as the response to such forementioned chronic and violent antisemitism. Israel would be the sanctuary where Jews would no longer have to drink the Black Milk of despair and death that poet Paul Celan described in Todesfuge/Death Fugue
(circa 1945). 15

Black milk of mornings we drink you at night
we drink you at midday death is a Master from Deutschland
we drink you at dusk in mornings we drink and drink
death is a Master from Deutschland his eye is blue
his lead bullets strike you his aim is true…

11.32 Zoltan Kluger. Jewish children rescued from Auschwitz arriving in Haifa, 1945. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography Department, Government Press Office, Jerusalem, Israel.

In Israel, Jews could make their own representations that showcased a sense of self, homeland, and peoplehood, which had been previously denied. Their photographs rise from the ashes of the Shoah to tell optimistic stories without pretentiousness. Ultimately, such photographs are statements about revitalizing the heart of the lost Jewish civilization by exercising control over space and time to achieve a shared vison that incorporated their recovered 3000-year-old history into nationhood. 16

 

 

 

Afterword

The Jewish people have a history of being under siege for the crime of peoplehood. Zionism, the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland of Israel, declares that Jews would no longer bend to the unacceptable reality of antisemitism. Loathing of Jews is often fueled by religious hatred, as the Jewish people’s refusal to abandon their heritage and conform to dominant creeds challenges the authority and control of other religions. 17 This religious component can be found in Christianity, Islam, Nazism, and Communism. Jews remember the Holocaust, the pogroms, The Inquisition, the massacres of Jews that accompanied the Crusades, the expulsions from England, Spain, and Portugal, the Prophet Muhammed’s butchering of the Jews in Medina, and the Roman banishment. As Bob Dylan sang in 1964: “We don’t count the dead when God is on our side.”

Anti-Zionism is the latest form of antisemitism, as demonstrated by Hamas’s barbaric attacks of October 7, 2023, which have been declared war crimes. 18 This frenzied attack is reminiscent of the Einsatzgrupen, mobile para-military units of the Third Reich that notoriously rounded up and slaughtered Jews, Polish clergy, and Romani people. Neo-Nazi Hamas has publicly stated it intends to fight a perpetual war until they destroy Israel and kill the infidel Jews wherever they find them. In other words, The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem, redux. The overarching goal of Hamas, a proxy of imperialistic Iran, is to establish an international caliphate (a caste system) under which Jews must be eliminated, converted, or become dhimmi (second-class citizens), and after they are finished with the Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims will be next. How are Jewish people supposed to deal with such irrational bigotry, wed with detestable conspiracy theories, from a group whose publicly-stated goal is to hunt and murder Jews? They cannot. It is a problem for Islam and its supporters to solve.

The fight for Israel’s existence has never been about land or water, but a modern program in which hateful neighbors say, “No Jews Here” and violently attack them in an attempt to drive them away. This form of loathing has morphed into labeling Israel and Zionism as an oppressive, white-settler, colonialist state even though half of Israel’s population originates from North Africa and/or the Mideast. 19 In any other similar situation, such defamatory statements about Zionism would be called out as ethnic bigotry parading under the guise of social justice. If it is nothing else, Israel is the most successful decolonization project of all time in terms of an indigenous return and the absorption of refugees. As The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel makes clear, Zionists never had the goal of eliminating the Arab population living in the region, making Israel the solution not the problem.

AW 11.1 Unknown photographer. Lt. Yehonatan Skariszewski (rear, second from left) and his IDF reserve unit inside the Gaza Strip, 2024. Variable dimensions. Digital file. Jewish News Syndicate

Image above Caption: Lt. (res.) Skariszewski raced south to the rave party near Kibbutz Re’im, confronted Hamas terrorists, and guided more than 100 attendees to safety. Looking this photograph, how many white colonialists can you identify?

Wars are fought to be won, not “managed,” with the winner achieving its goals and dictating terms to the defeated. 20 The Israel-Hamas war is not a regional war between Jews against Muslims. Rather it reveals a clash of free civilizations with the misogynistic, homophobic, totalitarian regimes of Iran and all its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, the militias in Iraq and Syria, along with Russia, China, and North Korea that vigorously want to destroy the ideals of Western Enlightenment 21 and impose their social vision by force. Leaving the grievance- and resentment-driven Hamas death cult in control of Gaza not only means it will inevitably start another war, just as it has five times before, it would also vindicate their ghastly strategy of hostage-taking and using civilians as human shields, something Hezbollah will likely duplicate in its next full-scale war with Israel.

AW 11.2 Michael Dickson. Bring Them Home Now, October 15, 2023. Digital file. X.

Image Above Caption: Everything is now upside down right. Evil is good. Rape is resistance. Lies and false narratives are “my truth.” Israel is the bad guy and Iran are the good guys. Hamas and even bin Laden are modern-day heroes. Gen Z (the Z stands for Ztupid!) thinks it’s cool to side with barbaric terrorists and scream about a fabricated, blood libelous genocide while calling for an actual one. Elon Gold, “Seinfeld is Crying,” Jewish Journal, June 11, 2024, https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/372266/seinfeld-is-crying/

Historic hostilities have taught the Jews the necessity of having their own military to defend their very survival since Iran/Hamas considers the very existence of Israel to be intolerable. This drive to destroy Israel, a sliver of land amongst the fifty plus Muslim majority countries, has destroyed the Israeli peace movement. Saying YES to the existence of Israel as a Jewish state would liberate the Palestinians from their genocidal rejectionism, enabling them to form a civil government or constitution under which their economic and political society could flourish. For starters, the international community should pressure all Palestinian leaders to eliminate state-sanction racism and incitement against Jews, plus jihadi content from their educational curricula and official news outlets, stop glorifying violence and financial payments to terrorists, and demand Arab countries end their discrimination against Palestinians and allow them to become full citizens, which is responsible for the on-going refugee crisis. 22

Israel is the only place that Jews are not subjected to the tyranny of the majority. However, the intense increase of world-wide Jew hatred raises the specter that the future of the Jews is not assured anywhere, not even in Israel. Regardless of Israel’s problems, its founding principles of democracy, freedom, free expression, pluralism, merit, individuality, and economic opportunity have made it a dynamic and innovative country. If new Palestinian leadership would set aside their hateful, war-driven ideologies and acknowledge Israeli’s legitimacy as a Jewish state then Israel’s peace movement could be revived. The likelihood of this happening is slim as Gazans elected Hamas as their king and divine sovereigns rule with absolute authority, providing the foundation to dominate everything
including truth. 23

Having refused multiple opportunities to abandon the path of violence, Gazans continue down the road of suffering, destruction, and death. Hamas’s reactionary, nihilistic dogmas has turned Gaza into a concentration camp ruled by absolute terror. Hamas’s soul stealing “official” truths denies and/or suppresses reality, making Truth, human dignity and personal choice irrelevant. The cry of “Free Palestine” is a cruel example of George Orwell’s 1984 Double Speak (War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength), constructed lies that simultaneously hold two contradictory points of view that cancel each other out, turning Lies into Truth. This indoctrination and historical revisionism allows joyless Hamas to maintain power by misrepresenting reality, preventing dissent, and demanding submission. In such a closed totalitarian state, punishment can be inflected on anyone for any reason as there is no such thing as human rights in a lawless society that places certain groups of people outside the protection of the law, totally crushing individual choice. Perversely, the more fanatical Hamas makes Gazans suffer, the greater their international appeal. This is exacerbated when Western countries see foreign countries as mirrors of their own and project their cultural wars and racial conflicts onto Israel (Israel is not Ferguson Missouri and Hamas is not George Floyd). Yet, as long as Hamas rules, the people of Gaza will remain in darkness and not experience justice or liberty.

Article 8 of Hamas’s Covenant states: “Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.” To make matters even worse, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has turned himself into a spiritual figure, attempting to manufacture a myth around himself as chosen by God to fight for Jerusalem on behalf of the Muslims. As a result, Hamas’s leadership has stopped thinking logically and has shifted to thinking religiously. When you believe you have been chosen by an omnipotent God to carry out your mission, you believe everything is possible. With such mythological thinking, all human life becomes expendable. In this case Jews are guilty of crimes against God and must suffer the maximum penalty of outright extermination. Sinwar makes this mission clear: ‘We Support The Eradication Of Israel Through Armed Jihad And Struggle.’ Thus, Sinwar’s stated goal is a regional religious war that will “change the shape of the Planet Earth and scorch the earth…” 23 This makes the October 7 massacre a good thing.

AW11.3 Mahmud Hams. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar holds the son of an Al-Qassam Brigades terrorist who was killed in recent fighting with Israel, during a rally in Gaza City, May 24, 2021. Variable dimensions. Digital file. AFP via Getty Images.

Such fascist dogma is a prime example of Hannah Arendt’s concept of radical evil whereby Sinwar and his followers set out to destroy “spontaneity” as they seek total domination over people to make them less than human and therefore “superfluous” as human beings. 24 Under such dark and joyless conditions anything is possible, including mass murder.

In the aftermath of the grotesque October 7th bloodbath, Jewish communities looked to their allies, colleagues, and friends for support. Although many stood in solidarity, an unsettling number were silent. This absence of common cause, from those who claimed to champion human rights and social justice, was a frightful revelation of where allegiances truly lay. This betrayal was a bleak reminder that when the going gets tough, the Jews are abandoned and left to their own devices to survive. This lack of backing and outward hostility that fueled a tsunami of violent actions against Jews, making it abundantly clear that future of world Jewry is bound up with the fate of Israel.

AW 11.4 Unknown photographers. Photomontage of six Israeli hostages murdered by Hamas, September 1, 2024. Variable dimensions. Digital files. The Hostages Families Forum via AP.Screenshot

Above Image Caption: The bodies of six hostages abducted alive by Hamas on October 7 were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah overnight, shortly after they were murdered by Hamas terrorists. The hostages were, from top left, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi; from bottom left, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat.

Imagine walking down the street of a large American city where one might encounter a person wearing a T-shirt proclaiming: “I’m an authentic Irishman,” or another stating: “I am 100% Italian,” but how often do you see a T-shirt that reads: “I’m proud to be Jewish?” Until that happens Jews are alone together with their belief in joyous Light instead of grisly Hate.

Never Again is NOW!

We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot
forgive them for forcing us to kill their children.
We will only have peace with the
Arabs when they love their children more
than they hate us. 25

… Golda Meir

AW 11.5 Teddy Brauner. Golda Meir with the children of Kibbutz Shefaim, July 1950. Variable dimensions. Gelatin silver print. The National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography Department, Government Press Office, Jerusalem, Israel.

Research assistance and project management by Ruby Merritt.

Special thanks to Lisa Murray-Roselli for her expert editing and editorial suggestions.

Endnotes

[1] The context was the Yom Kippur War, begun on October 6, 1973, when the Arab coalition, led by Egypt and Syria, jointly launched a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. It ended on October 25, 1973, with an Israeli victory and the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt.

[2] See: “The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel, https://www.gov.il/en/pages/declaration-of-establishment-state-of-israel

[3] See: Oren Kessler, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023.

[4] The Munich Agreement of September 29–30, 1938, signed by Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy, forced Czechoslovakia surrender its border regions and defenses (the Sudeten region) to Nazi Germany in exchange for a pledge of peace.

[5] Benny Morris, “The NYT Misrepresents the History of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict,” Quillette, February 27, 2024, https://quillette.com/2024/02/27/the-nyt-misrepresents-the-history-of-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/

[6] The Arab armies encouraged many Arabs to leave Israel on their own, telling them they could return shortly after the Arab armies made quick work of the Israeli forces. Today there are about 5.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, making the charge of genocide ridiculous.

[7] Details at: Fallen Heroes, Afikim Foundation, New York, NY, https://honorisraelsfallen.com/fallen/friedman-philo-shraga-yedidya

[8] For a detailed history of the war see: Benny Morris, 1948: The First Arab-Israeli War, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008. For a concise overview see: Efraim Karsh, The Arab-Israeli Conflict – The Palestine War 1948, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002.

[9] Muscular Judaism (German: Muskeljudentum) is a term coined by Max Nordau in a speech he gave at the Second Zionist Congress in Basel on August 28, 1898. In his speech, Nordau put forward the necessity of conceiving the New Jew (and rejecting the Old Jew), who has the mental and physical vigor to realize the goals of Zionism. Nordau regarded Muscular Judaism as a way to overcome Judennot (Jewish distress/aka The Jewish Question) that referred to the debate that dealt with the civil, legal, national, and political status of Jews as a minority within European society during the slow process of Jewish emancipation starting with the French Revolution in 1791.

[10] The Maccabees were Jewish fighters who led the revolt against the Syrian Greek ruling class, which had suppressed Jewish religion in order to spread their Hellenistic idolatrous beliefs. Despite being outnumbered and out-equipped, their military victories led to the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the celebration of Hanukkah. In modern times, the Maccabees became symbols of Jewish resistance to their non-Jewish oppressors and in the Israeli war of independence they became a symbol of Jewish strength.

[11] See: Stuart Schoffman, “Robert Capa’s Road to Jerusalem,” Jewish Review of Books, Winter, 2016, https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1969/robert-capas-road-to-jerusalem/?login=1714175705

[12] The background on Britain’s and Egypt’s war (1881-1899) on The Mhadi: Muhammad Ahma, and General Charles Gordon’s presence at Khartoum was to protect the Suez Canal and to end Islamic Slavery. Gordon tried to negotiate with Osman Dinga (the mastermind behind the slave trade) to no avail as much of the Mhadi’s support was from tribal slavers. Note: the Arab name for Blacks is Abid, which means servants or slaves and is why many African Americans have derivatives from Arabic names.

[13] Douglass gave four lectures about photography: “The Age of Pictures,” “Lecture on Pictures,” “Pictures and Progress,” and “Life Pictures.”

[14] See: Richard l. Rubenstein, The Cunning of History: The Holocaust and the American Future, New York, Harper Collins, 2009.

[15] See: Paul Celan, “Death Fugue,” translated by Pierre Joris, Academy of American Poets, https://poets.org/poem/death-fugue

[16] One can experience this history at such places as Tower of David Museum and City of David in Jerusalem as well as numerous other sites throughout Israel

[17] Steve Bannon, an evangelist of the Christian nationalists, summed it up: “What I say is that not just the future of Israel but the future of American Jews, not just safety but their ability to thrive and prosper as they have in this country, is conditional upon one thing, and that’s a hard weld with Christian nationalism.” See: David Brooks, “My Unsettling Interview With Steve Bannon,” The New York Times, July 1, 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/opinion/steve-bannon-trump.html

[18] The crimes include “deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects; willful killing of persons in custody; cruel and other inhumane treatment; sexual and gender-based violence; hostage taking; mutilation and despoiling (robbing) of bodies; use of human shields; and pillage and looting,” according to Human Rights Watch, which has been a severe critic of Israel. See: The Times of Israel Staff and Agencies, “Human Rights Watch details hundreds of war crimes by Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7,” July 17, 2024, www.timesofisrael.com/human-rights-watch-details-hundreds-of-war-crimes-by-hamas-led-terrorists-on-oct-7/

[19] Adam Kirsch, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2024.

[20] The U.S. essentially won all of its wars through 1945, and it lost all of its wars afterward, in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. These failures were results of the strategy that the U.S. and its allies would “manage” the situation rather than win. Iran, China, and Russia do not take this tactic. They do what is necessary to achieve their goals.

[21] Shaul Bartal, “The Iran-Israel War and the Clash of Civilizations,” Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2024, www.meforum.org/65947/iran-israel-war-clash-of-civilizations?goal=0_086cfd423c-ff64fbc492-34443477

[22] See: Leonid Shkolnik, “The Palestinian Problem,” Truth of the Mideast, June 21, 2024, https://truthofthemiddleeast.com/the-palestinian-problem/ Also note that Under the Law of Return, Jews can make Aliyah, immigrate to Israel and become Israeli citizens.

[23] The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) staff, “Hamas Leader In Gaza Yahya Sinwar,…” August 8, 2024, www.memri.org/reports/hamas-leader-gaza-yahya-sinwar-israels-most-wanted-%E2%80%93-his-own-words-we-support-eradication

[24] Outstanding analysis of totalitarian political movements of the first half of the twentieth century see: Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, New York: Schocken Books, 1951. Check index to find numerous mentions of superfluity/superfluous.

[25] Judd Yadid, “Israel’s Iron Lady unfiltered: 17 Golda Meir quotes on her 117th birthday,” Haaretz, May 3, 2015, www.haaretz.com/2015-05-03/ty-article/.premium/17-golda-meir-quotes-on-her-117th-birthday/0000017f-db2a-d3a5-af7f-fbaef8be0000