Zeev Sternhell
Encyclopedia
Zeev Sternhell is an Israel
i historian and one of the world's leading experts on Fascism
. Sternhell headed the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
and writes for Haaretz
newspaper.
, Poland
to an affluent secular Jewish family with Zionist
tendencies. His grandfather and father were textile merchants. When Russia
occupied eastern Poland, Russian troops took over part of his home. His father died of natural causes. A few months after Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the family was sent to the ghetto. His mother and older sister, Ada, were killed by the Nazis when he was seven years old. An uncle who had a permit to work outside the ghetto smuggled him to Lwow. The uncle found a Polish officer who was willing to help them. Supplied with false Aryan
papers, Sternhell lived with his(?) aunt, uncle and cousin as a Polish Catholic. After the war, he was baptized, taking the Polish name Zbigniew Orolski. He became an altar boy in the Cathedral of Kraków
. In 1946, at the age of 11, Sternhell was taken to France
on a Red Cross children's train, where he lived with an aunt. He learned French and was accepted to a school in Avignon
despite stiff competition.
In the winter of 1951, at the age of 16, Sternhell immigrated to Israel
under the auspices of Youth Aliyah
, and was sent to Magdiel
youth village
. In the 1950s, Sternhell served as a platoon
commander in the Golani
infantry brigade, including the Sinai war
. He fought as a reservist in the Six-Day War
, the Yom Kippur War
and the Lebanon War
.
In 1957-1960, he studied history and political science
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
, graduating with a BA cum laude
. In 1969, he was awarded a Ph.D. from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
for his thesis on The Social and Political Ideas of Maurice Barrès
.
Sternhell lives in Jerusalem with his wife Ziva, an art historian. They have two daughters.
Chair of Political Science at the Hebrew University and became a member of the Editorial Board of History and Memory. In 1991, the French government awarded him the title of "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" for his outstanding contribution to French culture. In 1996, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Political Ideologies.
, for Political Science
. Although the award was contested in court in light of his controversial statements (see "Controversies" below), the court decided not to intervene.
to revolutionary
far-left French
movements, adding a branch, called the 'revolutionary right', to the three traditional right-wing families cited by René Rémond
– (legitimism
, orleanism
and bonapartism
). The main influences, according to Sternhell were:
His research has sparked criticism, in particular from French scholars who argue that the Vichy regime
(1940–1944) was of a more traditional conservative
persuasion, although belonging to the far-right, than it was counter-revolutionary, counter-revolutionary ideas being a main characteristic of fascism. René Rémond
has questioned Sternhell's attribution of 'boulangisme' to the revolutionary right-wing movements. Some scholars say that Sternhell's thesis may shed important light on intellectual influences of fascism, but fascism in itself was not born of a sole ideology
and its sociological make-up and popularity among the working classes must also be taken into account.
Stanley G. Payne
, for example, remarks in A History of Fascism that "Zeev Sternhell has conclusively demonstrated that nearly all the ideas found in fascism first appeared in France". But Fascism itself developed as a political movement in Italy, from where it exercised a prolonged influence on Nazism
.
Sternhell's identification of Spiritualism with Fascism has also given rise to debate, in particular his claim that Emmanuel Mounier
's personalism
movement "shared ideas and political reflexes with Fascism". Sternhell has argued that Mounier's "revolt against individualism
and materialism
" would have led him to share the ideology of Fascism.
, in 1983, after Sternhell published his work Ni Droite, ni gauche (Neither Right nor Left). Jouvenel sued Sternhell on nine counts, and Sternhell was subsequently convicted for defamation. In his book, Sternhell accused Jouvenel of having had Fascist sympathies. Convicted on two counts, Sternhell did not however need to retract his remarks from the book.
In a 2001 Hebrew op-ed piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Sternhell wrote
He similarly wrote in Davar in 1988 that "only those prepared to demolish Ofra with tanks would be able to stop the fascist erosion which threatens the Israeli Democracy".
Sternhell is a long-time supporter of the Israeli peace camp and writes critically in the Israeli press about the Israeli occupation and policy toward the Palestinians.
In The Founding Myths of Israel
(published in Hebrew in 1995) Sternhell says the main moral justification the Zionists gave for the founding of Israel in 1948 was the Jews' historical right to the land. In the epilogue, he writes:
Sternhell argues that after the Six-Day war
in 1967, the threat to the Jews had disappeared, which changed the moral basis for retaining conquests:
Sternhell sees Jewish settlement on the West Bank as a wish of religious Zionism and part of labour Zionism, that the more moderate part of labour Zionism was unable to withstand because this wish was in line with deep Zionist convictions. He sees settlement on the West Bank as a danger to "Israel's ability to develop as a free and open society", because it puts nationalistic aims over social and liberal aims.
He says something fundamental changed with the Oslo agreements
: "In the history of Zionism the Oslo agreements constitute a turning point, a true revolution. For the first time in its history, the Jewish national movement recognized the equal rights of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence." He ends the epilogue with: "The only uncertain factor today is the moral and political price Israeli society will have to pay to overcome the resistance that the hard core of the settlers is bound to show to any just and reasonable solution."
in political science in February 2008. His political views provoked a stormy reaction amongst supporters of the settlers' movement. Supporters of Sternhell have said he was repeatedly threatened with violence for his views. His opponents tend to claim that Sternhell's writings support terrorism and promote state violence against Jewish settlers in the West Bank
.
attack at his home, and was lightly hurt. Jerusalem police, who found fliers offering more than 1 million shekel
s (approximately $300,000) to anyone who kills members of Peace Now at the scene, suspected that he was attacked by right-wing settler extremists for his views. From his hospital bed, Sternhell said that "the very occurrence of the incident goes to illustrate the fragility of Israeli democracy, and the urgent need to defend it with determination and resolve". "On the personal level," he continued, "if the intent was to terrorize, it has to be very clear that I am not easily intimidated; but the perpetrators tried to hurt not only me, but each and every one of my family members who could have opened the door, and for that there is no absolution and no forgiveness."
After his release from hospital, he said he will continue to voice his opinions. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
condemned the attack, saying "The assault on Professor Sternhell is an assault on values of peace and brotherhood that served as an inspiration to Israel's founding fathers". When the investigation was launched, right wing settlers groups made claims that the bombing had been carried out by agents provocateurs.
In October 2009, Israel police arrested Yaakov “Jack” Teitel
, a Florida-born religious Jew, for the attack on Zeev Stenhell. Teitel (aged 36), a father of four, lived in Israel for several months in 1997 and subsequently emigrated to Israel in 2000. He was arrested after handing out posters in an ultra-orthodox Jerusalem neighbourhood praising a shooting at a Tel Aviv gay club. Israel police revealed that Teitel, who apparently acted alone, also admitted a string of other terrorist attacks and attempted attacks, including murdering a Palestinian taxi driver and a West Bank shepherd in 1997 and an attack on the home of a Messianic Jew
in Ariel
in 2008.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i historian and one of the world's leading experts on Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
. Sternhell headed the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
and writes for Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
newspaper.
Biography
Zeev Sternhell was born in PrzemyślPrzemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
to an affluent secular Jewish family with Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
tendencies. His grandfather and father were textile merchants. When Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
occupied eastern Poland, Russian troops took over part of his home. His father died of natural causes. A few months after Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the family was sent to the ghetto. His mother and older sister, Ada, were killed by the Nazis when he was seven years old. An uncle who had a permit to work outside the ghetto smuggled him to Lwow. The uncle found a Polish officer who was willing to help them. Supplied with false Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
papers, Sternhell lived with his(?) aunt, uncle and cousin as a Polish Catholic. After the war, he was baptized, taking the Polish name Zbigniew Orolski. He became an altar boy in the Cathedral of Kraków
Wawel Cathedral
The Wawel Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanisław and Vaclav, is a church located on Wawel Hill in Kraków–Poland's national sanctuary. It has a 1,000-year history and was the traditional coronation site of Polish monarchs. It is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Kraków...
. In 1946, at the age of 11, Sternhell was taken to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on a Red Cross children's train, where he lived with an aunt. He learned French and was accepted to a school in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
despite stiff competition.
In the winter of 1951, at the age of 16, Sternhell immigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
under the auspices of Youth Aliyah
Youth Aliyah
Szold was initially skeptical about the merits of Freier's proposal, as she believed that Germany offered better educational opportunities for Jewish children than Palestine. However, Hitler's rise to power convinced her otherwise. The Nuremberg Laws were enacted in 1935 and on 31 March 1936 German...
, and was sent to Magdiel
Magdiel
Magdiel is a Youth Aliyah boarding school in Hod Hasharon, Israel. It was established as a home and school for children who survived the Holocaust...
youth village
Youth village
A youth village is a boarding school model first developed in Mandate Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis...
. In the 1950s, Sternhell served as a platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
commander in the Golani
Golani
Golani may refer to:*Golani Brigade, an Israeli infantry brigade*Golani Family, an Indian royal family*Golani Junction, a location in Israel*Rivka Golani , an Israeli viola player* Golani, anti-communist protestors, from the Romanian Golaniad...
infantry brigade, including the Sinai war
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
. He fought as a reservist in the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
and the Lebanon War
Lebanon War
The term Lebanon War can refer to any of the following wars, fought in Lebanon:*Lebanese Civil War *Hundred Days' War 1978 *1982 Lebanon War...
.
In 1957-1960, he studied history and political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
, graduating with a BA cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
. In 1969, he was awarded a Ph.D. from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
for his thesis on The Social and Political Ideas of Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès was a French novelist, journalist, and socialist politician and agitator known for his nationalist and antisemitic views....
.
Sternhell lives in Jerusalem with his wife Ziva, an art historian. They have two daughters.
Academic career
In 1976, Sternhell became co-editor of The Jerusalem Quarterly, remaining an active contributor until 1990. In 1981, he became a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1989, he was elected to the Léon BlumLéon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
Chair of Political Science at the Hebrew University and became a member of the Editorial Board of History and Memory. In 1991, the French government awarded him the title of "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" for his outstanding contribution to French culture. In 1996, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Political Ideologies.
Awards
In 2008, Sternhell was awarded the Israel PrizeIsrael Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
, for Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. Although the award was contested in court in light of his controversial statements (see "Controversies" below), the court decided not to intervene.
Research
Zeev Sternhell traces the roots of FascismFascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
to revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
far-left French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
movements, adding a branch, called the 'revolutionary right', to the three traditional right-wing families cited by René Rémond
René Rémond
-Biography:Born in Lons-le-Saunier, Rémond was the Secretary General of Jeunesses étudiantes Catholiques and a member of the International YCS Center of Documentation and Information in Paris, presently the International Secretariat of International Young Catholic Students The author of books on...
– (legitimism
Legitimists
Legitimists are royalists in France who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession of the descendants of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of the July Monarchy of 1830–1848, whose kings were members of the junior...
, orleanism
Orléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
and bonapartism
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
). The main influences, according to Sternhell were:
- Boulangisme, a populistPopulismPopulism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
far-right movement led by Georges BoulangerGeorges BoulangerGeorges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger was a French general and reactionary politician. At the apogee of his popularity in January 1889 many republicans including Georges Clemenceau feared the threat of a coup d'état by Boulanger and the establishment of a dictatorship.- Early life and career :Born...
who almost succeeded in his attempt at a coup d'état in 1889; - Revolutionary syndicalismAnarcho-syndicalismAnarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
, pointing out how some ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
anarcho-syndicalists, influenced by George Sorel's thought, embraced fascism in its early stages; - Cercle ProudhonCercle ProudhonThe Cercle Proudhon was a political group founded in France on December 16, 1911 by George Valois and Édouard Berth. It was to include such people as French writer Pierre Drieu La Rochelle.-History:...
's intellectual influence and the synthesis it would have provoked (the activities of Georges ValoisGeorges ValoisGeorges Valois was a French journalist and politician.-Life and career:Born in a working-class and peasant family, Georges Valois went to Singapore at the age of 17, returning to Paris in 1898. In his early years he was an Anarcho-syndicalist...
and Edouard BerthÉdouard BerthÉdouard Berth was a major theorist of French syndicalism. Berth tried to unify the metaphysics of Marx and Bergson through his articulation of revolutionary self-organization of the proletariat....
).
His research has sparked criticism, in particular from French scholars who argue that the Vichy regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
(1940–1944) was of a more traditional conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
persuasion, although belonging to the far-right, than it was counter-revolutionary, counter-revolutionary ideas being a main characteristic of fascism. René Rémond
René Rémond
-Biography:Born in Lons-le-Saunier, Rémond was the Secretary General of Jeunesses étudiantes Catholiques and a member of the International YCS Center of Documentation and Information in Paris, presently the International Secretariat of International Young Catholic Students The author of books on...
has questioned Sternhell's attribution of 'boulangisme' to the revolutionary right-wing movements. Some scholars say that Sternhell's thesis may shed important light on intellectual influences of fascism, but fascism in itself was not born of a sole ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
and its sociological make-up and popularity among the working classes must also be taken into account.
Stanley G. Payne
Stanley G. Payne
Stanley George Payne is a historian of modern Spain and European Fascism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Department of History. Payne is one of the most famous modern theorists of fascism...
, for example, remarks in A History of Fascism that "Zeev Sternhell has conclusively demonstrated that nearly all the ideas found in fascism first appeared in France". But Fascism itself developed as a political movement in Italy, from where it exercised a prolonged influence on Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
Sternhell's identification of Spiritualism with Fascism has also given rise to debate, in particular his claim that Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher.Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French Personalist movement, and founder and director of Esprit, the magazine which was the organ of the movement. Mounier, who was the child of peasants, was a brilliant scholar at the Sorbonne...
's personalism
Personalism
Personalism is a philosophical school of thought searching to describe the uniqueness of a human person in the world of nature, specifically in relation to animals...
movement "shared ideas and political reflexes with Fascism". Sternhell has argued that Mounier's "revolt against individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
and materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
" would have led him to share the ideology of Fascism.
Controversies
Sternhell was taken to court by Bertrand de JouvenelBertrand de Jouvenel
Bertrand de Jouvenel des Ursins, usually known only as Bertrand de Jouvenel was a French philosopher, political economist, and futurist.-Life:...
, in 1983, after Sternhell published his work Ni Droite, ni gauche (Neither Right nor Left). Jouvenel sued Sternhell on nine counts, and Sternhell was subsequently convicted for defamation. In his book, Sternhell accused Jouvenel of having had Fascist sympathies. Convicted on two counts, Sternhell did not however need to retract his remarks from the book.
In a 2001 Hebrew op-ed piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Sternhell wrote
- "Many in Israel, perhaps even the majority of the voters, do not doubt the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. The Palestinians would be wise to concentrate their struggle against the settlements, avoid harming women and children and strictly refrain from firing on Gilo, Nahal Oz or Sderot; it would also be smart to stop planting bombs to the west of the Green Line. By adopting such an approach, the Palestinians would be sketching the profile of a solution that is the only inevitable one: The amended Green Line will be an international border and territory will be handed over to compensate the Palestinians for land that has already been or will be annexed to Israel."
He similarly wrote in Davar in 1988 that "only those prepared to demolish Ofra with tanks would be able to stop the fascist erosion which threatens the Israeli Democracy".
Political views
Regarding Zionism, Sternhell said in an interview with Haaretz:
I am not only a Zionist, I am a super-Zionist. For me, Zionism was and remains the right of the Jews to control their fate and their future. I consider the right of human beings to be their own masters a natural right. A right of which the Jews were deprived by history and which Zionism restored to them. That is its deep meaning. And as such, it is indeed a tremendous revolution that touches the lives of each of us. I felt that revolution when I immigrated to Israel alone at the age of 16. Only then, when I disembarked at Haifa from the ship Artza, did I stop being an object of others' action and became a subject. Only then did I become a person who is in control of himself and not dependent on others.
Sternhell is a long-time supporter of the Israeli peace camp and writes critically in the Israeli press about the Israeli occupation and policy toward the Palestinians.
In The Founding Myths of Israel
The Founding Myths of Israel
The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State is a book by Zeev Sternhell. It was published in Hebrew in 1995, in French in 1996 and in English in 1998. The stated purpose of the book is an analysis of the ideology and actions of labor Zionism in the...
(published in Hebrew in 1995) Sternhell says the main moral justification the Zionists gave for the founding of Israel in 1948 was the Jews' historical right to the land. In the epilogue, he writes:
In fact, from the beginning, a sense of urgency gave the first Zionists the profound conviction that the task of reconquering the country had a solid moral basis. The argument of the Jews' historical right to the land was merely a matter of politics and propaganda. In view of the catastrophic situation of the Jews at the beginning of the century, the use of this argument was justified in every way, and it is all the more legitimate because of the threat of death hanging over the Jews. Historical rights were invoked to serve the need of finding a refuge.
Sternhell argues that after the Six-Day war
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
in 1967, the threat to the Jews had disappeared, which changed the moral basis for retaining conquests:
No leader was capable of saying that the conquest of the West Bank lacked the moral basis of the first half of the twentieth century, namely the circumstances of distress on which Israel was founded. A much-persecuted people needed and deserved not only a shelter, but also a state of its own. [...] Whereas the conquests of 1949 were an essential condition for the founding of Israel, the attempt to retain the conquests of 1967 had a strong flavor of imperial expansion.
Sternhell sees Jewish settlement on the West Bank as a wish of religious Zionism and part of labour Zionism, that the more moderate part of labour Zionism was unable to withstand because this wish was in line with deep Zionist convictions. He sees settlement on the West Bank as a danger to "Israel's ability to develop as a free and open society", because it puts nationalistic aims over social and liberal aims.
He says something fundamental changed with the Oslo agreements
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
: "In the history of Zionism the Oslo agreements constitute a turning point, a true revolution. For the first time in its history, the Jewish national movement recognized the equal rights of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence." He ends the epilogue with: "The only uncertain factor today is the moral and political price Israeli society will have to pay to overcome the resistance that the hard core of the settlers is bound to show to any just and reasonable solution."
Controversy with settler movement
Sternhell won the Israel PrizeIsrael Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
in political science in February 2008. His political views provoked a stormy reaction amongst supporters of the settlers' movement. Supporters of Sternhell have said he was repeatedly threatened with violence for his views. His opponents tend to claim that Sternhell's writings support terrorism and promote state violence against Jewish settlers in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
.
Attack
On September 25, 2008, Sternhell was the victim of a pipe bombPipe bomb
A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device, a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion, and the fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially...
attack at his home, and was lightly hurt. Jerusalem police, who found fliers offering more than 1 million shekel
Shekel
Shekel , is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. The first usage is from Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley...
s (approximately $300,000) to anyone who kills members of Peace Now at the scene, suspected that he was attacked by right-wing settler extremists for his views. From his hospital bed, Sternhell said that "the very occurrence of the incident goes to illustrate the fragility of Israeli democracy, and the urgent need to defend it with determination and resolve". "On the personal level," he continued, "if the intent was to terrorize, it has to be very clear that I am not easily intimidated; but the perpetrators tried to hurt not only me, but each and every one of my family members who could have opened the door, and for that there is no absolution and no forgiveness."
After his release from hospital, he said he will continue to voice his opinions. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
condemned the attack, saying "The assault on Professor Sternhell is an assault on values of peace and brotherhood that served as an inspiration to Israel's founding fathers". When the investigation was launched, right wing settlers groups made claims that the bombing had been carried out by agents provocateurs.
In October 2009, Israel police arrested Yaakov “Jack” Teitel
Yaakov Teitel
Yaakov "Jack" Teitel is an American-Israeli Orthodox Jew arrested in October 2009 for his alleged connection to various acts of domestic terror. Teitel moved to Israel in 2000, and has been living since then in the West-Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel.Teitel lived in Israel for several months in...
, a Florida-born religious Jew, for the attack on Zeev Stenhell. Teitel (aged 36), a father of four, lived in Israel for several months in 1997 and subsequently emigrated to Israel in 2000. He was arrested after handing out posters in an ultra-orthodox Jerusalem neighbourhood praising a shooting at a Tel Aviv gay club. Israel police revealed that Teitel, who apparently acted alone, also admitted a string of other terrorist attacks and attempted attacks, including murdering a Palestinian taxi driver and a West Bank shepherd in 1997 and an attack on the home of a Messianic Jew
Messianic Judaism
Messianic Judaism is a syncretic religious movement that arose in the 1960s and 70s. It blends evangelical Christian theology with elements of Jewish terminology and ritual....
in Ariel
Ariel (city)
Ariel is an Israeli settlement and a city in the West Bank. Ariel was established in 1978. Its population at the end of 2009 was 17,600, including 7,000 immigrants who came to Israel after 1990. It is the fourth largest Jewish settlement city in the West Bank., after Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit,...
in 2008.
Published work
- "Fascist Ideology", Fascism, A Reader's Guide, Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography, edited by Walter LaqueurWalter LaqueurWalter Zeev Laqueur is an American historian and political commentator. He was born in Breslau, Germany , to a Jewish family. In 1938, Laqueur left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust...
, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1976. pp 315–376. - Ni droite ni gauche. L'idéologie fasciste en France, Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1983; transl. Neither Right nor Left: Fascist Ideology in France, Princeton Univ. Press, 1995 (ISBN 0-691-00629-6)
- The Birth of Fascist Ideology, with Mario Sznajder and Maia Asheri, published by Princeton University Press, 1989, 1994 (ISBN 0-691-03289-0) (ISBN 0-691-04486-4)
- The Founding Myths of IsraelThe Founding Myths of IsraelThe Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State is a book by Zeev Sternhell. It was published in Hebrew in 1995, in French in 1996 and in English in 1998. The stated purpose of the book is an analysis of the ideology and actions of labor Zionism in the...
: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State Princeton Univ. Press, 1999 (ISBN 0-691-00967-8; e-book ISBN 1-4008-0770-0) (abstract) - Maurice Barrès et le nationalisme français ("Maurice Barrès and French nationalism") – Bruxelles : Editions Complexe, 1985; originally published by A. Colin, 1972.
- La droite révolutionnaire, 1885-1914. Les origines françaises du fascisme, Paris: Seuil, 1978 and Paris: Gallimard, « Folio Histoire », 1998.
- "Paul Déroulède and the origins of modern French nationalism," Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 6, no. 4, 1971, pp. 46–70.
- "The Roots of Popular Anti-Semitism in the Third Republic", in Frances Malino and Bernard Wasserstein, eds. The Jews in Modern France, Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 1985.
- "The political culture of nationalism", in Robert Tombs, ed. Nationhood and Nationalism in France, from Boulanger to the Great War, 1889-1918, London: Harper Collins, 1991.
- Les anti-Lumières: Une tradition du XVIIe siècle à la guerre froide, Paris: Fayard, 2006 and Paris: Gallimard, « Folio Histoire » (édition revue et augmentée), 2010 ; transl.: The Anti-Enlightenment Tradition, Yale University Press, 2009 (ISBN13 9780300135541; ISBN10: 0300135548)
External links
- "The Anatomy of Fascism", article by Zeev Sternhell, New York Review of Books, May 12, 2005
- Interview (in french)
- "Fascism: A Reader's Guide", paper by Zeev Sternhell*"Zionism's secular revolution" article by Zeev Sternhell in Le Monde diplomatiqueLe Monde diplomatiqueLe Monde diplomatique is a monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first created mainly for a diplomatic audience as its name implies...
(English edition) - Select material from Zeev Sternhell – english
- "New History, Old Ideas" by Edward SaidEdward SaidEdward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
on Sternhell, in Al-AhramAl-AhramAl-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
Weekly On-line 21–27 May 1998 Issue No.378 - "The War of the Israeli Historians" by Avi ShlaimAvi ShlaimAvi Shlaim FBA is a British/Israeli historian. He is a professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and a fellow of the British Academy.Shlaim is especially well known as a historian of the Arab-Israeli conflict...
, in Miftah, 18 March 2004 - Short extracts
- a review of Sternhell's book "The Anti-Enlightenment Tradition" (Yale, 2010)