A stolen Holocaust and its aftermath: from serving on the front lines to criticizing the Israeli State
Noam Chayut. The Girl Who Stole My Holocaust. Translated by Tal Haran, London, Verso, 4 June 2013.
In the Girl Who Stole My Holocaust, Noam Chayut talks about his complicit role as a civilian and as a member of the IDF in covert acts of brutality, especially during his service in Operation Defensive Shield. However, a fleeting and minuscule interaction with a Palestinian child made him realize he could break away from his Holocaust.
Chayut adopted a Holocaust, which was not his own. In his youth, he was a trumpet player during Holocaust memorial days and he went to Aushciwtz annually for his school trips which he describes as ‘national grooming’. As his family who was persecuted during the Holocaust. His feelings of sorrow, anger and solitude changed when he went as he encountered his sense of belonging, self-love and pride to fight for his Holocaust.
Chayut harboured his Holocaust and a need to bring pride to his family when he was conscripted into the IDF. He mentioned that Israeli soldiers were trained to be automatons as agents of the most moral army in the world. He served in Operation Defense Shield. This was a response by Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel. It was one of the most brutal crimes committed by the Israeli army. The operation ended up being a failure as it did not stop Arafat nor did it ‘curb terrorism’. During this mission, Palestinians’ homes were invaded to get a ‘good night’s sleep’ and a ‘field anatomy lesson’ of a dead Palestinian was done in the middle of the street.
While his doubts about serving began to simmer when he did PR rep in the United States, his interaction with a young Palestinian girl was the catalyst for his epiphany. His kind smile was reciprocated with a look of fear that could never escape his mind. At this moment, he realised that he embodied absolute evil and at this fleeting moment, his Holocaust was stolen from him. He was stripped of his pride and belonging in his family and society.
Since he felt that he was tied to his role as an agent of empire, he decided to resign from the army and decided to cut ties with his family. He travelled across the peripheries and saw diasporas who never had a Holocaust like he had. Chayut decided to take political action by creating Breaking the Silence, a collective where former Israeli soldiers use the power of storytelling and the practice of witnessing. Here, soldiers are anonymous and are inhibited from telling their stories.
Chayut bravely calls out the historic victimhood that Israel uses to justify the occupation which leaves us to ask: do two wrongs make a right? The realities on the ground and the perspectives of soldiers like Chayut change and humanise the narrative surrounding the conflict. Despite Chayut not writing about how his reflective process evolves as well as his disorganised writing style, I still implore you to read about his journey from an agent of imperialism to a man at the cusp of breaking away from his Holocaust.
This essay was for an assignment for a Year 3 module, Politics of the Middle East which was convened by Dr Julia Roknifard. Reference is listed above
