THE HOLOCAUST IS OVER WE MUST RISE FROM ITS ASHES

never did—and never will do—to us what the Germans did.” Then he was silent for afew minutes before adding, “And, in your lifetime, you will witness peace betweenyou and them.”I am not sure that my son remembers the story, and I am certain that the highschoolstudent from Jerusalem would not at all be persuaded by my late father’sperspective. I live by the faith of my father, and believe that when we free the Arabsfrom the Nazi role we assigned to them, it will be much easier to speak with them andto solve both our existential problems—the national mindset that is required toremember the Shoah and the constant warmongering between the children of Israeland the children of Ishmael.Israeli leaders have never admitted to our responsibility for the Palestinian refugeeproblem. From a tactical point of view, no one wanted to open the Pandora’s box ofrefugee recognition and compensation too soon, so as to avoid giving the Arabsanything tangible in return for nothing. At the same time, Israeli officials did not wantto “lose points” in the muddy arena of international political wrestling. Another reasonthat lurked under a range of devious, tactical arguments: a heavy guilt complex. Wecould not admit to ourselves, much less publicly to the world, that “the WanderingJews,” a people of refugees, are the cause of the Palestinian refugee problem.In the same years and under the same conditions by which the Palestinian refugeeproblem was created, we solved the problem of our displaced Jewish refugees whoflocked to Israel from all corners of the world, including the Arab countries. ThePalestinians also could—if they only wanted, despite Israel’s guilt—solve theirrefugee problem on the outskirts of Damascus, in the camps in Jordan, and in thecities of Lebanon and Egypt. Unfortunately, the Arab leadership did nothing for theirdisplaced brethren, but they exploited the refugees’ misery to perpetuate the disputewith Israel. It is hard not to compare two societies of refugees that were created heresix decades ago from similar starting points. Israeli society absorbed all its refugees,not always perfectly from the perspective of those absorbed, but from theperspective of the outsider, the absorption went well. In the 1940s and 1950s, therewas no difference between one refugee and another, but there was the national will tomuster the resources and the willingness to help and to build. We have not seen suchmustering on the Arab and Palestinian side. Palestinian refugees remained boggeddown in camps, poverty, distress, and hatred. Israel has become an intriguing mosaicof cultures intermingling to produce a synthesis, while Palestinian refugees continue to