Ian Steven Lustick (born 1949) is an American political scientist and specialist on the modern history and politics of the Middle East. He currently holds the Bess W. Heyman Chair in the department of Political Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. [1]
Lustick was born in 1949 in Syracuse, New York. His father was a pediatrician. His grandfather, Alex Lustick, was a farmer. Eager to get out of the "rat race" of Syracuse metropolitan life, the family relocated to Watertown in the northern rural area of Jefferson County, New York. Lustick likened conditions there to those of a shtetl, and he was occasionally the object of anti-Semitic harassment, though the family had a strong sense of patriotic attachment to the country, typical of Jewish immigrants of European background.
After graduating from high school, he attended Brandeis University, arriving in 1967 just as a countercultural wave of student activism was sweeping through higher centres of learning. [2] He completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley in 1976. His dissertation was Arabs in the Jewish State: a study in the effective control of a minority population, later adapted into a book which was published in 1980.
Lustick spent 1979–1980 as an intelligence analyst, specializing in the problems of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the Department of State. Thereafter, in the summer of 1980, he returned to academia. [3]
He was appointed assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College in 1976, where he taught for 15 years. [4] He then joined the Political Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania, where he held the Richard L. Simon Term Professor in the Social Sciences. He then became Chair of the Department and was named the Bess W. Heyman Professor. [1] In 2021 he moved to Emeritus status, but continues to teach and conduct research at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is a founder and past president of the Association for Israel Studies and past president of the American Political Science Association-Politics and History Section. Lustick became more broadly known with the publication of his book Trapped in the War on Terror (2006) [5] in which he argues that the War on Terrorism is an irrational policy for fighting America's enemies. [lower-alpha 1] He argues that this policy was initially conceived of by a neo-conservative cabal [lower-alpha 2] at the Project for a New American Century who were determined to shift the direction of U.S. foreign policy towards unilateralism. [6] Given a number of political features unique to the US system, Lustick concluded, the War on Terror has ultimately turned into something beyond anyone's control. [lower-alpha 3]
He has engaged in research involving applications of evolutionary and complexity theory to the development of computer simulations using agent-based models for research and policy analysis. [7] Between 2010 and the present day, Lustick has returned to some prominence by writing articles that variously called for Israel to negotiate with Hamas over the future of the area and said that the only way to resolve the war between Israelis and Palestinians was to gradually democratize the "one-state reality" [8] which Israel's de facto annexation of the territories it occupied in 1967 has produced.
He is a member of the American Political Science Association, the Association for Israel Studies, the Middle East Studies Association, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
In a 1989 review of his early work the anti-Zionist rabbi Elmer Berger called Lustick a "first-class Zionist academic", and praised his "meticulous scholarship". [9]
In 1988 Lustick published his For the Land and the Lord a study of religious fundamentalism in Israel. [10] It appeared under the imprint of a series of monographs the Council of Foreign Relations considered a "responsible treatment(s) of a significant international topic worthy of presentation to the public." [11] In this work, according to Joel Brinkley, he suggested that, were it not for Israel's on-going conflict with its regional neighbours, Israel itself might find itself embroiled in a civil war between the opposing poles of secular forces and fundamentalist religious Zionists. [lower-alpha 4] [lower-alpha 5]
Elmer Berger wrote that he knew of "no better documented source in English for anyone interested in greater understanding of both the parties and the leading representatives of this phenomenon" (of Israeli religious fundamentalism). [lower-alpha 6] At the same time, he argued that Lustick shared shortcomings discernible in the works of Israel's revisionist New Historians in that the territorial expansionism and racial discrimination documented as recent Zionist trends by the 1980s wave of young Zionist scholars – Lustick charts these traits as bursting into the secular mainstream of Israeli society with the emergence of messianic movements like Gush Emunim in the 1970s – underplayed, minimized or whitewashed tendencies that were intrinsic to Zionism from its pristine beginnings. [12]
In 2019 he came out with a new book, Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality, which analyzes the origins and implications of the disappearance of the two-state solution.
George Washington University's Nathan Brown stated in his review that he found the book "accessible, forceful, and concise. Its tone will rub some readers the wrong way but strike others as admirably frank." [13]
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Zionist political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Zionists in support of establishing and maintaining a Jewish state in Palestine. These actions have been carried out by individuals, paramilitary groups, and the Israeli government, from the early 20th century to the present day, as part of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Lehi, often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang, was a Zionist paramilitary militant organization founded by Avraham ("Yair") Stern in Mandatory Palestine. Its avowed aim was to evict the British authorities from Palestine by use of violence, allowing unrestricted immigration of Jews and the formation of a Jewish state. It was initially called the National Military Organization in Israel, upon being founded in August 1940, but was renamed Lehi one month later. The group referred to its members as terrorists and admitted to having carried out acts of terrorism.
Zionism is an ethno-cultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century and aimed for the establishment of a Jewish state through the colonization of a land outside of Europe. It eventually focused on the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, a region corresponding to the Land of Israel in Judaism, and of central importance in Jewish history. Following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism became the ideology supporting the protection and development of Israel as a Jewish state, in particular, a state with a Jewish demographic majority, and has been described as Israel's national or state ideology.
Baruch Kopel Goldstein was an American-Israeli mass murderer, religious extremist, and physician who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an incident of Jewish terrorism. Goldstein was a supporter of the Kach, a religious Zionist party that the United States, the European Union and other countries designate as a terrorist organization.
Jewish fundamentalism refers to fundamentalism in the context of Judaism. The term fundamentalism was originally used in reference to Christian fundamentalism, a Protestant movement which emphasizes a belief in biblical literalism. Today, it is commonly used in reference to movements that oppose modernist, liberal, and ecumenical tendencies within societies as well as modernist, liberal and ecumenical tendencies within specific religions and it is often coupled with extremist ideologies and/or political movements. The use of this definition is important in a Jewish context because the two movements which are most commonly associated with Jewish fundamentalism, Religious Zionism and Haredi Judaism, stray far from biblical literalism due to the importance of the Oral Law within Judaism. In fact, Karaism, the Jewish movement which is well-known due to its emphasis on biblical literalism, is rarely considered fundamentalist.
Gush Emunim was an Israeli ultranationalist Orthodox Jewish right-wing fundamentalist activist movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights.
The one-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, according to which one state would be established between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Proponents of this solution advocate a single state encompassing the currently recognized state of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The term one-state reality describes the belief that the current situation in Israel/Palestine is de facto a single state. The one-state solution is sometimes also called a bi-national state, owing to the hope that the state would be a homeland for both Jews and Palestinians.
Zvi Yehuda Kook was an ultranationalist Orthodox rabbi. He was the son of Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. Both father and son are credited with developing Kookian Zionism, which became the dominant form of Religious Zionism. He was Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva.
Jewish extremist terrorism is terrorism, including religious terrorism, committed by extremists within Judaism.
The Jewish Underground, or in abbreviated form, simply makhteret, was a radical right-wing fundamentalist organization considered terrorist by Israel, formed by prominent members of the Israeli political movement Gush Emunim that existed from 1979 to 1984. Two issues catalyzed the establishment of the underground: One was the signing of the Camp David Accords, which led to the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979, and which the movement, opposed to the peace process, wished to block, viewing it as the first step in the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank. A second element was the settlement project, which, in bringing two distinct ethnic communities into closer proximity, led to an uptick in hostilities that brought about a growing emphasis on the existential threat in both communities. The Jewish Underground developed two operational objectives: One consisted of a plot to blow up the Dome of the Rock, while the other branch concentrated on both avenging acts of Palestinian violence against settlers and of establishing a punitive deterrence. Some understood the terrorist acts as a means of inducing Palestinians to flee their homeland, based on the 1948 and 1967 experience, and parallels are drawn to the Terror Against Terror movement, which had a similar aim. Robert Friedman stated that the Makhteret was "the most violent anti-Arab terrorist organization since the birth of Israel".
Haim Drukman was an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. The most senior spiritual leader of the Religious Zionist community at the time of his death, he served as rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivat Or Etzion, and head of the Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot.
Muslim supporters of Israel refers to both Muslims and cultural Muslims who support the right to self-determination of the Jewish people and the likewise existence of a Jewish homeland in the Southern Levant, traditionally known as the Land of Israel and corresponding to the modern polity known as the State of Israel. Muslim supporters of the Israeli state are widely considered to be a rare phenomenon in light of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the larger Arab–Israeli conflict. Within the Muslim world, the legitimacy of the State of Israel has been challenged since its inception, and support for Israel's right to exist is a minority orientation. Pro-Israel Muslims have faced opposition from both moderate Muslims and Islamists.
The notion of a "second Holocaust" or "Another Holocaust", also known in white supremacist parlance as Anudda Shoah, is an assertion that the Holocaust or a similar event is recurring or will recur. It is often used to discuss real or perceived threats to the State of Israel, the Jewish people, or the Jewish way of life.
Normative Judaism's views on warfare are defined by restraint that is neither guided by avidness for belligerence nor is it categorically pacifist. Traditionally, self-defense has been the underpinning principle for the sanctioned use of violence, with the maintenance of peace taking precedence over waging war. While the biblical narrative about the conquest of Canaan and the commands related to it have had a deep influence on Western culture, mainstream Jewish traditions throughout history have treated these texts as purely historical or highly conditioned, and in either case not relevant to contemporary life. However, some minor strains of radical Zionism promote aggressive war and justify them with biblical texts.
Herem or cherem, as used in the Tanakh, means something given over to the Lord, or under a ban, and sometimes refers to things or persons to be utterly destroyed. The term has been explained in different and sometimes conflicting ways by different scholars. It has been defined as "a mode of secluding, and rendering harmless, anything imperilling the religious life of the nation", or "the total destruction of the enemy and his goods at the conclusion of a campaign", or "uncompromising consecration of property and dedication of the property to God without possibility of recall or redemption". It is translated into Latin as devotio, a word used for human sacrifice, and into Greek as anathema, which was a sacrifice to the gods.
Judaism's doctrines and texts have sometimes been associated with violence or anti-violence. Laws requiring the eradication of evil, sometimes using violent means, exist in the Jewish tradition. However, Judaism also contains peaceful texts and doctrines. There is often a juxtaposition of Judaic law and theology to violence and nonviolence by groups and individuals. Attitudes and laws towards both peace and violence exist within the Jewish tradition. Throughout history, Judaism's religious texts or precepts have been used to promote as well as oppose violence.
Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany occur frequently in some veins of anti-Zionism in relation to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The legitimacy of these comparisons and their potential antisemitic nature is a matter of debate. Historically, figures like historian Arnold J. Toynbee have drawn parallels between Zionism and Nazism, a stance he maintained despite criticism. Scholar David Feldman suggests these comparisons are often rhetorical tools without specific antisemitic intent. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sees them as diminishing the Holocaust's significance.
Zionism has been described by some scholars as a form of settler colonialism in relation to the region of Palestine and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The term has gained significant traction among leftist groups and individuals engaged in campus activism.
"Death to Arabs" or "Death to the Arabs" is an anti-Arab slogan commonly used by Jewish extremists across Israel, the West Bank, and to a lesser extent, the Gaza Strip. Depending on the person's temperament, it may specifically be an expression of anti-Palestinianism or otherwise a broader expression anti-Arab sentiment, which includes non-Palestinian Arabs. It is widely condemned, with some observers asserting that it manifests genocidal intent.
Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality is a 2019 book by political scientist Ian S. Lustick, published by University of Pennsylvania Press about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Lustick formerly supported the two-state solution, but in the book he analyzes the reasons why, in his view, this solution has become unviable. He proposes working with the current one-state reality—in which a single state controls the entirety of Israel/Palestine—in order to achieve democratization and equal rights for all inhabitants. Many reviewers agreed with Lustick's diagnosis of the current situation as a one-state reality, but several questioned the likelihood of his proposed solution.
