Volume 4 No 1 - Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2012] ALMOST THERE 313
and little of the virulent antisemitic and not just anti-Israel sentiment prevalent
in too much of the Arab world. The specifics of his narration are far too
kind to Yassir Arafat and Arafat’s dismissal of the proposal offered in the
waning days of the Clinton administration. The launching of the second
Intifada did not sweeten the terms of the deal, but killed it. Palestinian history
will not be so kind to Arafat, whose reputation diminishes year by year.
And yet, there are two great advantages to Cohn-Sherbok’s decision to
present the history of the conflict as a series of actions and reactions: we
can perceive more easily the degree to which the violent actions of the
radicals—from Arab suicide bombers, Hamas, and Hizbollah to the settler
movement; Baruch Goldstein, the mass murderer in Hebron, and Yigal
Amir, the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin—drive the conflict and prevail in halting
the peace processes that might otherwise develop. Opportunities have
been lost by both sides; violence pays immediate dividends time and again.
The other advantage is the futility of the pretense of peace. As one
who has never favored Israel’s settlement policy, the central motif of the
right in Israel, nor the pretense that peace could be achieved “now,” the
rallying cry of the left, I have long felt that the more direct way to characterize
what is achievable is “divorce.” The parties must separate because
they cannot live together. As in divorce, both parties cannot live in the same
house and share the same bed. They negotiate not because they like each
other or trust each other but because the current path is intolerable. There
has to be some reasonable distribution of the resources so that each can
survive on their own, make a life alone and not together. And, perhaps,
ultimately hatred can diminish and a measure of cooperation can be
achieved.
I remain uncertain who Cohn-Sherbok has in mind when he wrote this
book. It will not satisfy scholars who look for more. Advocates on either
side who seek to arm themselves for intellectual combat will find it unfair
to their side, too balanced, too objective. It offers too little to be a primer
for the uninformed; maybe it is a refresher course for those with a passing
interest in this all-too-enduring conflict.
*Michael Berenbaum is a rabbi, scholar, and the author of several books, including
The World Must Know. He has served on the President’s Commission on the Holocaust
and directed the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Holocaust
Research Institute. Berenbaum has headed the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History
Foundation, and currently directs the Sigi Ziering Institute at the American
Jewish University (Los Angeles).