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Female Icons of the Zionist Movement: The Making of a National Heroine in Israel

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14690764.2010.546083

1743-9647

Judith Tydor Baumel‐Schwartz,

Middle East Politics and Society

Abstract The role of women in the Zionist heroic narrative has long been an issue of debate between those viewing them as equal partners in an emerging socialist state v.s others who equate them primarily with the task of national reproduction on the biological and cultural levels. This article claims that the ultimate template of a Zionist heroine must only include elements which are suitable for mythologizing and consequently for national reproductions. As women are conduits for national reproduction, the female heroic images that construct the basis for their national identity must be nationally and morally above all reproach. In order to investigate this claim the article analyzes the stories of four Zionist heroines, one sectoral, another local, a third grassroots and a fourth national, all of whom became part of the Zionist pantheon during different periods. By analyzing how their gendered images were presented to the public through the agents of national memory, and the amount of re‐writing that their personal histories necessitated, I will expand upon the gendered components of their heroic myths as presented in these frameworks, and the various implications of this gendering in view of their role of reproducers of the Zionist identity. Notes 1Haden V. White, Figural Realism: Studies in the Mimesis Effect (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), p. 33. 2See Zeev Sternhell, The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998). On the practical problems behind the declared socialist ethos of gendered equality in pre‐State Israel see Dafna N. Izraeli, 'The Women Workers' Movement: First Wave Feminism in Israel', in Deborah S. Bernstein (ed.) Pioneers and Homemakers: Jewish Women in Pre‐State Israel (Albany, NY: SUNY, 1992), pp. 183–210; Sylvie Fogiel‐Bijaoui, 'From Revolution to Motherhood: The Case of Women in the Kibbutz, 1910–1948', in ibid., pp. 211–234. 3Chava Ironi‐Avrahami, Almoniyot be‐haki: Sipuran shel haverot ha‐Haganah be‐Tel Aviv (The Unknown in Khaki: The Story of the Women Members of the Haganah in Tel Aviv) (Tel Aviv: Milo, 1989). To compare with the number of women in the Red Army during World War II see Kate Muir, Arms and the Woman (London: Sinclair‐Stevenson, 1992), pp. 69–73. 4Regarding the image of Israeli women soldiers in popular international culture, see Anne R. Bloom, 'Israel: The Longest War', in Nancy L. Goldman (ed.), Female Soldiers – Combatants or Noncombatants: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1982), 156. 5See, for example, Billie Melman, 'The Legend of Sarah', Journal of Israeli History, 21:1–2 (2002), pp. 55–92; Judith Tydor Baumel, 'Founding Myths and Heroic Icons: Reflections on the Funerals of Theodor Herzl and Hannah Szenes', Women's Studies International Forum, 25:6 (2002), pp. 679–695; Judith Tydor Baumel, 'Bridges Between Yesterday and Tomorrow: The Role of Diaspora Culture in the Stories of Fifth Aliyah Heroines' (Heb.), Cathedra, 144 (December 2004), pp. 121–148. 6Baruch Kimmerland, 'Patterns of Militarism in Israel', European Journal of Sociology, 34 (1994), 1pp. 96–223; Nira Yuval‐Davis and Floya Anthias, Woman–Nation–State (Houndmills: Macmillan, 1989); Tamar Mayer (ed.), Women and the Israeli Occupation: The Politics of Change (London: Routledge, 1994); Orna Sasson‐Levy, Identities In Uniform: Masculities and Femininities in the Israeli Military (Heb.) (Jerusalem: Magnes, 2006); Orna Sasson‐Levy, 'Gender Performance in a Changing Military: Women Soldiers in Masculine Roles', Israel Studies Forum, 17:1 (2001), pp. 7–22; Orna Sasson‐Levy, 'Gender Integration in Israeli Officer Training – degendering and regendering the military', Signs, 33:1 (2007), pp. 105–134; Edna Lomsky‐Feder and Eyal Ben‐Ari (eds), The Military and Militarism in Israeli Society (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1999); Eyal Ben‐Ari, Mastering Soldiers (New York: Berghan Books, 1998); Uri Ben‐Eliezer, The Making of Israeli Militarism (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1998). 7Nachman Ben‐Yehuda, The Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995); Yael Zerubavel, Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1995); Maoz Azaryahu, State Cults (Heb.) (Sde Boqer: Ben‐Gurion Research Institute, 1995); Judith Baumel‐Schwartz, Perfect Heroes: The World War II Parachutists from Palestine and the Making of Collective Israeli Memory (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010); Maoz Azaryahu, 'War Memorials and the Commemoration of the Israeli War of Independence', Studies in Zionism, 13:1 (1992), pp. 57–77; Ilana Shamir, Commemoration and Memory (Heb.) (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1997); Emanuel Sivan, The 1948 Generation: Myth, Profiles and Memory (Heb.) (Tel‐Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1991). 8Yuval‐Davis and Anthias, Woman–Nation–State, op. cit., 1989, introduction, p. 6. 9In many Third World countries – even those with no socialist equalizing tradition – women often joined the national struggle as a means of emancipating themselves from the double burden of their female and their colonial status. In Western countries as well, such as in Ireland during the 'troubles', boundaries between the public and private were blurred, similar to the situation in the Yishuv during the revolt against the British before the establishment of the State of Israel. This process enabled women to join the gendered discourse of war, which simultaneously strengthened their traditional tasks while causing an imbalance in the social stratification of society, thus destroying the stability of these same tasks. See Catherine Nash, 'Men Again: Irish Masculinity, Nature, and Nationhood in the Early Twentieth Century', Ecumene, 3:4 (1996), pp. 253–427; Lawrence Dowler, '"And They Think I'm Just a Nice Old Lady": Women and War in Belfast, Northern Ireland', Gender Place and Culture, 5:2 (1998), pp. 159–176. Gail Zwerman, 'Mothering on the Lam: Politics, Gender Fantasies and Maternal Thinking in Women Associated with Armed, Clandestine Organizations in the United States', Feminist Review, 47 (1994), pp. 33–56; Joy Elshtain, Women and War (New York: Basic Books, 1987); Alice McClintock, 'Family Feuds: Gender, Nationalism and the Family', Feminist Review, 44 (1993), pp. 61–80; Kumari Jayawardena, Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World (London: Zed Books, 1986); D. Kendiyoti, 'Identity and its Discontents: Women and the Nation', Millenium: Journal of International Studies, 20:3 (1991), 229–243. 10Consequently, by the mid‐1970s only 150 military classifications were open to women in the IDF as opposed to 571 which were available for women serving at that time in the American army. Today, some 500 military classifications are open to women in the IDF, of which 100 are reserved for officers; Nashim veSherut beTzahal: Metzi'ut, ratzon veHazon (Women and Israeli Army Service; Reality, Desire and Vision), proceedings of a symposium held on 21 February 1995 (Jerusalem, 1995). 11Yuval‐Davis and Anthias, Woman–Nation–State, op. cit., p. 7. 12Orna Sasson‐Levy, Identities in Uniform: Masculinities and Femininities in the Israeli Military (Jeruslaem: Magnes Press, 2006), p. 3; Netiva Ben‐Yehuda, 1948: Bein ha‐sfirot (1948: Between Calendars) (Jerusalem: Keter, 1981); idem, Kshe‐partzah ha‐medinah (When the State of Israel Broke Out) (Jerusalem: Keter, 1991); Tamar Avidar, Kshe‐ha‐kova hayah gerev (When the Sock Was a Hat) (Tel Aviv: Modan, 1988); Dafna Izraeli, 'Gendering Military Service in the Israeli Defense Forces', Israel Social Science Research, (2)1: pp. 129–167; Edna Levy, 'Heroes and Helpmates: Militarism, Gender and National Belonging in Israel', PhD dissertation, The University of California, 1998; Nira Yuval‐Davis, 'Front and Rear: The Sexual Division of Labor in Israeli Army', Feminist Studies, 11(3), pp. 649–675. 13See, for example, Carol Marvin and David W. Ingle, Blood Sacrifice and the Nation: Totem Rituals and the American Flag (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), who claim that violent blood sacrifice, or in modern terms, national violence, makes enduring groups cohere (see introduction, pp. 2–5). 14Clifford Geertz, Myth, Symbol and Culture (New York: Norton, 1971); Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero‐Worship, and the Heroic in History (New York: Chelsea House, 1983). 15Thomas Carlyle, ibid. 16See Tali Tadmor Shimoni, 'The Pantheon of National Hero Prototypes in Educational Texts: Understanding Curriculum as a Narrative of National Heroism', Jewish History, 17:3 (2003), pp. 309–332. My thanks to Dr Tali Tadmor Shimoni and Professor Eli Tzur for having helped me develop this typology. 17For a discussion of discourse among subgroups in the State of Israel see Judith Tydor Baumel‐Schwartz, Perfect Heroes, op. cit. 18NILI are the Hebrew initials of the words, Netzah Yisrael Lo Yishaker, 'The Eternity (G‐d) of Israel will not lie' (Samuel 15:29). 19Peretz Pascal, 'Sarah Aharonson', Do'ar HaYom, 27 (October 1920); Zipora Chon, 'A Hero of the New Zion', Jewish Tribune, 22 May 1922; Benjamin Yablons, 'New Palestine's Jean d'Arc', Jewish Daily Bulletin, 27 January 1925. 20Melman, 'The Legend of Sarah', op. cit., pp. 55–92. 21See 'Yom HaAliyah LeKever Sarah, 14.10.41' (Day of Pilgrimage to Sarah's Grave, 14 Octover 1941), Beit Aharonson Archives, Zichron Ya'akov, Sarah, Box 2. 22For example in 'A Tribute to Sarah Aaronson', Jewish Daily Bulletin, 27 January 1925. 23The only book to be written about the group was published in England in the late 1950s. Anita Engel, The Nili Spies (London: Hogarth, 1959). 24See Yehiam Weitz, The First Step To Power: The Herut Movement 1949–1955 (Heb.) (Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben‐Zvi and Mossad Herzl, 2007). 25Dvorah Omer, Sarah Giborat Nili (Sarah the Heroine of Nili) (Tel‐Aviv: Sherbrek, 1967). See a discussion of the Sherbrek publication house and its centrality in the youth culture of Israel of the late 1950s and onward in Judith Tydor Baumel, Giborim Lemofet (Perfect Heroes, Hebrew edition) (Sde Boqer: Machon Ben–Gurion, 2004), pp. 263–264. Author's telephone interview with Ze'ev Namir of the Sherbrek publishing house, 12 January 2000. 26Melman interview with Ze'ev Namir, 1 August 1999 quoted in Melman, 'The Legend of Sarah', op. cit., p. 92, n. 82. 27By 2000 there were Aharonson streets in Ramat Gan, Haifa, Herzlia, Hadera, Netanya, Beersheva, Petach Tikva, Kiriyat Ono, Ra'anana, Rishon Lezion and Bnai Brak, Tel‐Aviv. 28Maoz Azaryahu, 'German Reuinification and the Politics of Street Names: the Case of East Berlin', Political Geography, 16:6 (1997), pp. 479–493. See also Martin Jones, Rhys Jones and Michael Woods, An Introduction to Political Geography: Space, Place, and Politics (Henley‐on‐Thames: Routledge, 1982). 29 Sarah, directed by Orna Ben‐Dor, produced by Orna Landau. 30Billie Melman, 'From the Periphery to the Center of Yishuv History: Gender and Nationalism in Eretz Israel (1890–1920)' (Heb.), Zion, 62:3 (1997), pp. 243–279. 31Gitel Meizel, 'Hannah Szenes and Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya' (Heb.), Mishmar, 7 January 1947, p. 5. 32The book, later published in English as Hannah Szenes: her Life and Diary, was to be republished in 15 Hebrew editions over a period of over 50 years. Meeting of the Sdot Yam Secretariat regarding Hannah Szenes's commemoration, 29 September 1945, unnumbered file, Beit Hannah Archives, Kibbutz Sdot Yam; 'A Year Since Hannah Szenes' Death', Ha'aretz, 20 November 1945. Hannah Szenes: Diary, Poems, Testimony (Heb.), 15th edn, edited by Varda Bechor (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1994). Hannah Szenes: Her Life and Diary (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004). 33For a more detailed discussion of the process by which Szenes metamorphosed into a national heroine see my book Perfect Heroes, op. cit. 34Aviva Halamish, 'Illegal Immigration: Values, Myth, Reality' (Heb.), in Nurith Gertz (ed.) Nekudot Tatzpit: Culture and Society in Eretz Yisrael (Tel Aviv: The Open University, 1988), pp. 86–98. 35Even the counselors of Banki, the communist youth movement of Israel, described Szenes to their young charges as an 'anti‐fascist warrior'. General Movement of the Pioneering Hanoar Haoved in Eretz Yisrael, National Secretariat, Leadership Department, Material for group leaders of the Amelim and Hotrim groups, program for summer 1950, d‐43–12, Bibliographical Department at Yad Tabenkin, Ramat Efal; Interview of Yishai Shuster by Prof. Eli Tzur, Giv'at Haviva, 15 December 1998. 36Regarding the trial see Yechiam Weitz, The Man Who was Murdered Twice: The Life, Trial and Death of Israel Kasztner (Heb.) (Jerusalem: Keter, 1995). 37See Alice H. Eagly and Selwin W. Becker, 'The Heroism of Women and Men', American Psychologist, 59:3 (2004), pp. 163–178; Alice H. Eagly and Selwin W. Becker, 'Comparing the Heroism of Women and Men', American Psychologist, 60:4 (2005), pp. 343–344. 38For the story of Ben‐Ari see Judith Tydor Baumel, 'Bridges Between Yesterday and Tomorrow: The Role of Diaspora Culture in the Stories of Fifth Aliyah Heroines' (Heb.), Cathedra, 144 (December 2004), pp. 121–148. 39Author's interview with Elyakim Ben Ari, 14 November 2002. 40Avraham‐Elkanah Schwartzenstein, IDF memorial book http://www.izkor.gov.il/HalalKorot.aspx?id=44972. 41The others were Deborah Epstein and Shulamit Dorczin. See http://www.izkor.gov.il/HalalKorot.aspx?id=88902; http://www.izkor.gov.il/HalalKorot.aspx?id=7281. 42See Dina Porat, Past the Tangible: The Life of Abba Kovner (Tel‐Aviv: Am Oved, 2000). 43Avichai Beker, 'I Came to Ask Forgiveness' (Heb.), Ha'aretz, 23 April 2004. 44See Arye Hashavia, Hither To! The Story of the 53rd Battalion Givati Brigade 1948 (Heb.) (Tel‐Aviv: Ma'arachot, 2005). Regarding Mira Ben‐Ari's background and family see author's telephone interview with Esther Yonas, Mira Ben‐Ari's childhood friend and classmate, 10 December 2002. See also author's telephone interview with Shulamit Kaplan, 15 November 2002. Author's telephone interview with Nechama Bejure, Nitzanim kibbutz member, 3 November 2002. 45See for example, Dalia Karpel, 'A 23 and a 22 year old' (Heb.), Ha‐Ir, 1 June 1990, p. 17. 46Author's interview with Kuba Peled, kibbutz Nitzanim, 1 September 1999. 47After the war kibbutz Nitzanim was reestablished several kilometers inland and the original location first became the Nitzanim youth village, and later the Shikmim Field School. See Society for the Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites, Woman of Valor Center, Nitzanim, http://www.shimur.org/english/article.php?id=17 48Author's interview with Yair Farjun, Shikmim Field School at Nitzanim, 23 May 1996. 49Author's interview with Yitzhak Pundak, Kfar Yona, 9 May 1999. 50For the history of the Nitzanim memorial see Yitzhak Pundak document collection, unnumbered files, Givati center, metzudat Yoav. An example is H. Numan, secretary of the Ashkelon Coast Municipal Council to Eliakim Ben‐Ari, 9 June, 1996 regarding proposed costs of the memorial. 51See clipping collection kibbutz Nitzanim Archives. I wish to thank the late Kuba Peled for having placed this collection at my disposal. 52Yuval‐Davis and Anthias, Women–Nation–State, op. cit., p. 11. 53Kibbutz Beit Alfa virtual memorial page dedicated to Shoshana Har‐Zion, http://www.betalfa.org.il/inmemory/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143:2008-08-21-07-15-48&catid=11:2008-09-09-18-50-47&Itemid=11 (19 April 2010). 54These are detailed in his personal diary, published years later under the title: Meir Har‐Zion, Pirkei Yoman (Diary Chapters) (Heb.), edited by Naomi Frankel (Tel‐Aviv: Levin Epstein, 1969). At the time of writing, Meir Har‐Zion, mythological hero of the '101 unit' is still alive, although no longer well enough to be interviewed. 55Meir Har‐Zion, ibid. 56See, for example, 'In Memory of our Loved Ones: Shoshana Har Zion', kibbutz Beit Alfa, http://www.betalfa.org.il/inmemory/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143:2008-08-21-07-15-48&catid=11:2008-09-09-18-50-47&Itemid=11; Ariel Sharon and David Chanoff, Warrior: The Autobiography of Ariel Sharon (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001), pp. 110–111. 57Yuval‐Davis and Anthias, Woman–Nation–State, op. cit., pp. 6–7. 58See Nash, op. cit.; Dowler, op. cit.; Zwerman, op. cit. 59For more on this subject see chapter 4 of Perfect Heroes, op. cit.