Humiliation or Humility

Another Israeli Independence Day has come and gone, but not with the same gusto as usual, given the ongoing hostilities in Gaza. Indeed, after 77 years of independence, one can be forgiven for bringing up the perennially painful question: why has the Palestinian-Israeli conflict lasted so long?

There are many reasons put forth, most having some measure of relevance to the question. Here I wish to add one factor that is not much discussed: humiliation. Specifically, national humiliation – an important factor working on both sides of the conflict, albeit in different ways. Nevertheless, the time frame for each is very similar: centuries, perhaps even millennia!

The Moslem world was ahead of the pack during the mid-Middle Ages – leaders in science, mathematics, and philosophy, among other intellectual and artistic pursuits (e.g., poetry, architecture). Indeed, the origin of the terms “algorithm” and “algebra” come straight from one of the leading Moslem lights: the 9th century Persian scientist and polymath Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī invented the concept of algorithms, from which we get the Latin version of his name: “algorithmi”; as to algebra, that comes from his monumental math treatise titled Kitab al-Jabr.

As is well known, the Moslems also ruled over the largest empire during those centuries, with their military virtually unbeaten until the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. In short, truly a Golden Age of Moslem power and accomplishments. The Jews were usually not persecuted (certainly not as much as their counterparts in Europe) although they were treated as second-class citizens (dhimmi).

By the 19th and 20th centuries, the Western world had far outdistanced Moslem civilization, not only in the sciences but in political and military power. Perhaps even “worse” (from at least 1948 onwards), the previous dhimmi Jews had their own state and even managed to beat the armies of several Moslem countries.
For a culture that puts “honor” and “status” near the top of its values pyramid, this was – and continues to be – humiliation of the rankest order, nationally and personally. Without the elimination or at least amelioration of such humiliation, most Moslems will continue to view Jews and especially Israel in an extremely negative light. The peace treaty with Egypt is a case in point: only after Egypt’s early October (Yom Kippur) 1973 War success, and four years later Egyptian President Sadat being invited to the Knesset as an equal statesman, could Egypt (albeit, not all Egyptians) agree to peace with Israel.

Now let’s turn the mirror around to the Jewish State. It goes without saying that the Jewish People have suffered the most serious forms of humiliation for at least 2000 years (actually longer than that: Assyrian and Babylonian exiles etc.). This reached it nadir during the Holocaust, from whose ashes the Jewish State arose.

Is it any wonder, then, that Israelis have not only sworn “Never Again,” but carry out that oath through a mighty military and an extremely wary-of-the-enemy foreign policy? Indeed, this is not merely “in their heads.” Suffice it to mention Iranian mullahs, Hamas, Hezbollah et al, to see that the fear of future Jewish humiliation (and worse) at the hands of these Moslem enemies is very, very real. In short, “Never Again” refers not only to physical annihilation but also to psychological humiliation at the national level.

The irony is that deep feelings of humiliation undermine what should be an accompanying emotion: humility. After all, the Israelites were a local military power for some time, until… Ditto the Moslem world as noted above. In short, what goes up does not stay up forever. One could even make the argument – and here I know that many will disagree – that a measure of humility vis-à-vis one’s foes can go a long way to prevent (or at least delay) the way down. Imagine for a moment where Israel would have been in late 2023 through 2025 if it had to fight not only Hamas and Hezbollah, but Egypt as well!

This is not to say that every opponent – and certainly not every enemy – can be assuaged by some national humility on the part of their opponent. A lot depends on the nation’s emotional psyche. For example, it is not a coincidence that the Gulf States signed the Abraham Accords only after they restored a large part of their (self-perceived) honor by way of a succesfully modernizing economy. Saudi Arabia, too, has started on that road; coupled with its vast wealth, it no longer harbors feelings of national humiliation – and thus it too is willing to countenance some form of peace with the Jewish State coming to the table as equals.

What’s true for the Middle East is just as relevant elsewhere. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, what was once “great” Russia has suffered deeply from a humiliating feeling of inferiority – ergo, its ultimate attempts at politically controlling several neighbors (e.g., Georgia, Belarus) or outright conquering them (Ukraine). China, a truly great civilization for millennia, also suffered immense humiliation from the 19th century onwards (post-Opium War; Japanese invasion in the 20th century). The result can be seen today in its sabre-rattling regarding Taiwan and its economic imperialistic moves around the globe.

The bottom line: nations act like individual people. If treated with respect and a requisite amount of humility on the part of their perceived opponents, they might (true, not always) change their aggressive behavior. Again, there are always other factors at play, but we should never underestimate the deleterious consequences of humiliation in international politics. In that sense, the title of this essay is misleading: it’s not a matter of Humiliation “or” Humility, but rather Humility as an antidote to Humiliation.