Struggling With Our Demons

Our memory plays tricks on us. We remember what we want to remember. We remember what makes us feel good. It makes me feel good to remember only the great times from my summers at Jewish camp — the canoe trips, the sports, the laughter, the music. That time a fellow camper made fun of my immigrant English? That’s a memory I’d rather suppress.

Our selective memories rise to the occasion when it comes to anniversaries. If you’re at a party honoring a long marriage, who wants to rain on the parade by recalling moments when the couple almost divorced? Who needs dark memories when we’re celebrating the glorious passage of time?

Countries are no different. This year, Israel turned 70. All year long, it’s been one celebration after another — and why not? The rebirth of the Jewish state after a 1,900-year journey in exile qualifies as a bona fide miracle. All celebrations are justified.

And yet, in the midst of the euphoria, there’s also shame. We tend to forget that something extraordinarily dark happened in 1948, just as Israel was fighting its War of Independence. This has become known as the Altalena Affair, named after the armed Jewish ship that was bombed by the newly minted Israel Defense Forces.

In the spirit of seeking truth and facing up to our demons, we decided to make this 70th anniversary of the Altalena Affair the subject of our cover story this week by political editor Shmuel Rosner. He writes:

How could this happen? How could such division plague the country in the midst of an epic war? How could an Israeli prime minister order the bombing of a Jewish ship?

“On June 21-22, 1948, Israel got as close as it ever did to having a civil war. Patriotic Jews fired on other patriotic Jews. Battle-ready Jews bombed battle-ready Jews. The enemy was attacking and trying to destroy a very young country. But for two days, its defenders were busy fighting and killing one another.”

How could this happen? How could such division plague the country in the midst of an epic war? How could an Israeli prime minister order the bombing of a Jewish ship? As you’ll see in our story, it was a perfect storm of circumstances that led to an emotional escalation that reached a tragic breaking point.

If it were a novel, Altalena would be a relentless thriller full of intrigue. But it’s not. It’s real life. It’s a cautionary tale of what can happen when our passions get the better of us.

Rosner calls it a “defining moment in Israel’s history.” I call it a reminder that we’re always vulnerable to our darkest demons, even when the moment calls for our highest selves.

One of the benefits of success is that we can afford to look back on our failures and study them. The failures no longer threaten us. We overcame them. Israel overcame the horror of Altalena and won the war. It prevailed.

That’s why I don’t feel guilty raining on Israel’s 70th anniversary parade. Israel is strong enough to look back and reflect on the hard lessons of Altalena.

One of the benefits of success is that we can afford to look back on our failures and study them. The failures no longer threaten us.

My friend Noam Weissman, who’s an educator at Jerusalem U, has his own take on Altalena: It is Menachem Begin’s decision not to “shoot back” that is his defining moment. As he writes as part of our cover story: 

“Menachem Begin made a startling decision: ‘Do not shoot back!’ he told his men. That Begin chose to sublimate himself and his organization to the will of the newly founded state is perhaps one of the defining moments in modern Israeli history and broader Jewish history, and he deserves credit for transcending his own beliefs in the service of a cause bigger than himself.”

Whichever way you look at it, Altalena is worth struggling with, however painful the memory. But Rosner reminds us that memory can also go too far; that certain elements of Israeli society use the Altalena as justification for keeping destructive political fights alive. “In these people’s eyes,” he writes, “Israel seems like ocean and all its disliked institutions — the media, the courts, the nongovernmental organizations, the opposition, the critics, the leftists, you name it — seem like sinkable ships.”

The murder of Yitchak Rabin was a ship that sank, a moment of national shiva that was even darker than Altalena.

Maybe that’s the best reason to remember Altalena in the midst of all the celebrations — to remind us how much better it feels to party than to grieve.

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North Koreans Also Have Human Rights

For almost three decades, U.S. administrations have tiptoed around the egregious human rights violations perpetrated by the Kim regimes in North Korea. But U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo already has changed the equation, by succeeding in securing the release of American detainees Kim Dong-chul, Kim (Tony) Sang-duk, and Kim Hak-song. A reminder to us and the world that the United States still has the clout to move the needle on human rights.

On the eve of the Singapore summit on denuclearization, we urge President Donald Trump to put the release of Japanese, other foreign and South Korean abductees, the reunion of separated Korean families, and the complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement of the North Korean political prison camps, as the bill the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea must foot to become a normal and responsible member of the international community.

Three generations of the Kim family regime have continued to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at the expense of the human security of North Koreans, and to egregiously violate the human rights of its citizens. In order to tackle North Korean threats, the Trump administration has applied three of the four fundamental elements of national power (diplomatic, information, military, economic power — DIME): economic power through the strengthening of the international sanctions regime; military power through the deployment of assets to the region and the reaffirming of U.S. commitment to our Korean and Japanese allies; and diplomatic power, employing for the first time summit diplomacy, made possible by the maximum economic and military pressure and the resuscitation of inter-Korean dialogue, starting with the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Kim Jong-un wants security guarantees, but history has taught time and again that liberal democracies shouldn’t try to guarantee the survival of a regime that runs political prison camps and commits crimes against humanity. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his key advisers represent a generation of progressive intellectuals who helped democratize their nation. Their lasting legacy however, will be ultimately defined by their stance on North Korean human rights. Will they appease tyranny and lead the Republic of Korea (South Korea) down the path of catastrophic compromise? Or will they become the heroes who brought freedom and human rights to both Koreas, thus decisively opening the path of unification under a truly democratic and prosperous Republic of Korea?

Time will tell. But early signs are not encouraging. The recent ban on leaflet balloon launches and loudspeaker broadcasting into North Korea is one reason for concern. North Korean escapees in South Korea give voice to silenced millions. At this critical crossroads in history, the South Korean administration must protect these heroes and ensure their voices are heard, not muffled.

All this puts the spotlight on the United States’ summit diplomacy. Will it be a historic achievement for President Trump or just another déjà vu North Korean scam?

Under any conceivable outcome, in order to achieve ultimate peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia — a fundamental U.S. security interest — the nature of the Kim regime and its horrific human rights abuses must remain in focus.

Human rights cannot be treated as a sidebar issue, possibly sacrificed for a wink and a nod and photo-op with Kim. Human rights must not be abandoned to appease the Kim regime.

Human rights cannot be postponed until an ever-elusive future scenario in which the Kim regime miraculously agrees to protect the rights of its citizens. Despots do not give away human rights out of the goodness of their hearts. Human rights always are achieved and protected through struggle.

Can the U.S. remove a nuclear threat and guarantee human rights and dignity simultaneously?

President Trump, please take note: America already did it and with a much more dangerous foe. During the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan and then-Secretary of State George Shultz used the issue of freedom for Soviet Jewry as the litmus test for Soviet intentions on nuclear disarmament. Eventually, human rights prevailed and the communist system dissolved without a shot being fired.

The U.S. should counter Kim’s cycle of “charm offensives” not through appeasement but through verifiable changes in North Korea. It is important to witness the blowing up of one nuclear test site. Of equal importance will be the dismantling of Kim’s gulag. When that occurs — and only then — can the world be assured that the two estranged Koreas are on the path to a peaceful reunification and a hopeful future for all.

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Rabbi Abraham Cooper is associate dean and director of the Global Social Action Agenda of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Greg Scarlatoiu is executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK).

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