Summary
Writer described by David Lloyd as “the very voice of a liberal and idealistic Zionism”, quoted from Writing in the Dark: Essays on Literature and Politics (Picador, 2008) for the impossibility of true democracy under occupation, and for the moral unease of Albert Memmi’s ‘colonizer who refuses’ (Settler Colonialism and the State of Exception: The Example of Palestine/Israel, PDF p.12-13 / printed p.70-71).
Details
- Grossman in 2004, “even before the second invasion of Lebanon, even before Operation Cast Lead, and even before the laws against the commemoration of the Nakba or sanctioning those who advocate for boycott, divestment and sanctions”: ‘it is impossible for a state to maintain true democracy while simultaneously upholding a regime of occupation and oppression’ (PDF p.12 / printed p.70, citing ‘Contemplations on Peace’, p.115).
- The ‘colonizer who refuses’ consequence, as Grossman describes it: ‘the unease of a moral dilemma’ that arises when ‘somewhere deep inside, every person knows […] he is committing or colluding with an injustice’ (PDF p.13 / printed p.71, citing Writing in the Dark, p.103).
Related pages
Settler Colonialism and the State of Exception: The Example of Palestine/Israel, Albert Memmi, Siege Mentality