Ari Shavit on Shekhem(?)

Ari Shavit adapted a chapter from his forthcoming book in the October 21, 2013 edition of The New Yorker (subscription required). The piece dealt with the displacement/expulsion of thousands of Arab residents of Lydda in July, 1948. As I wait for the book to be released, I am wondering what would have happened if an ancient Shavit assessed the story of Shimon, Levi, and Shekhem. Food for thought, or a bridge to far?

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Shekhem is the black box of Abraham-ism. The truth is that Abraham-ism could not bear the Canaanite city of Shekhem. From the very beginning, there was a substantial contradiction between Abraham-ism and Shekhem. If Abraham-ism was to exist, Shekhem could not exist. If Shekhem was to exist, Abraham-ism could not exist. When Jacob arrived following his encounter with Esau, he should have seen that if a Hebrew state was to exist in Canaan, a Canaanite Shekhem could not exist at its center. He should have known that Shekhem was an obstacle blocking the road to a Hebrew state, and one day Abraham-ism would have to remove it.

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Do I wash my hands of Abraham-ism? Do I turn my back on the Hebrew national movement that carried out the destruction of Shekhem? No. Like Shimon, I am faced with something to immense to deal with. Like Levi, I see a reality I cannot contain. When one opens the black box, one understands that, whereas the massacre of the city could have been triggered by a misunderstanding brought about by a tragic chain of accidental events, the conquest of Shekhem and the annihilation of Shekhem’s population were no accident. Those events were a crucial phase of the Zionist revolution, and they laid the foundation for the Jewish state. Shekhem is an integral and essential part of the story. And, when I try to be honest about it, I see that the choice is stark: either reject Abraham-ism because of Shekhem or accept Abraham-ism along with Shekhem.

One thing is clear to me. Shimon and Levi were right to be angry with the critics of later years who condemned what they did in Shekhem but enjoyed the fruits of their deed. I will not damn the brothers. On the contrary. If need be, I’ll stand by the damned, because I know that if not for them, the State of Israel would not have been born. If not for them, I would not have been born. They did the filthy work that enables my people, my nation, my daughter, my sons, and me to live.

But, looking straight ahead at Shekhem, I wonder if peace is possible. Our side is clear: we had to come into Shekhem and we had to take Shekhem. There is no other home for us, and there was no other way. But the Shekhemites’ side is equally clear: they cannot forget Shekhem, and they cannot forgive us for Shekhem.