Shepherds and their flocks were scattered on the rocky hillsides, among the woods of low terebinth and the stretches of wild rose, (…)
Source: Yizhar, S. “The Prisoner.” In: Modern Hebrew Literature. Edited by Robert Alter and translated by V.C. Rycus. Behrman House, 1975.
Part of the short story is available at pp. 294-312 in [🔗].
The complete short story is available at [🔗].
current affairs
The New York Times article “Israeli veterans’ criticism of West Bank occupation incites criticism” discusses the mixed reception In Israel of Breaking the Silence, an organisation which interviews Israelis who served in the IDF (Israeli military) in the West Bank. There is also a YouTube site of Breaking the Silence.
links
questions
1. The soldiers round up and brutally interrogate an Arab shepherd, ostensibly for intelligence gathering purposes. But it seems quite clear that this shepherd knows nothing. Why do they continue with their abusive treatment?
2. Suppose that they did have reason to believe that he knew something of value—say about the village harboring Egyptian fighters. Would it then be permissible to interrogate him in an abusive manner? Would it be permissible to torture him? Is it permissible to torture a terrorist who knows the code that can disable a ticking time bomb? Would this be a similar situation?
3. How do you assess the inner dialogue of the narrator in the last pages? Does he have doubts about what the right thing to do is for him? Or is it clear to him that the right thing to do is to set the prisoner free—yet he cannot bring himself to do it and he is just rationalizing his lack of courage?
4. The narrator tells himself that he is just a messenger and does not have the power to free the prisoner. The concluding paragraph states that there is a “gnawing sadness … of shameful impotence.” This story was written in 1948. Adolf Eichmann would argue many years later in 1961 that he was “just following orders” to exculpate his involvement in the Holocaust. Could this ever be a reasonable defense? Would it be a reasonable defense for our narrator?
5. What is your assessment of Breaking the Silence? Does the organization provide a moral conscience for the Israeli army? Or, should the Israeli government silence them and should the IDF insist on dealing with reported abuses internally?