A Moral Assessment of the Polish Israeli Declaration Following the 2018 Polish Anti-Defamation Law

Authors

  • Eyal Lewin Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science Ariel University, 40700 Israel
  • Orit Miller-Katav Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science Ariel University, 40700 Israel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2020.2.387.402

Keywords:

national narrative, victimhood, Polish Israeli relations, Holocaust remembrance

Abstract

Aim: This paper focuses on the question to what extent the Netanyahu-Morawiecki joint declaration of June 27, 2018 was indeed a moral one. Ignoring the realpolitik versus ideal politics discourse, our goal is to find out whether solely on an ethical level one can judge the moral qualities of the political concession.

Concept: To conduct an ethical judgement process, we took the following steps: (I) A review of the Israeli narrative. (II) A review of the Polish narrative. (III) An account of some moral shortcomings in both the Israeli as well as the Polish narratives. Eventually, these steps enabled us to reach a certain moral conclusion regarding the Polish Israeli declaration.   

Cognitive Value: We conclude that the Polish Israeli joint declaration was indeed a moderate compromise that could enable positive forces on both sides to strengthen their national narratives – not necessarily on account of each other. Furthermore, it could also serve as a mechanism that can elevate Holocaust research as well as universal understandings of lessons that can be learnt from the darkest age of human history.

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Author Biographies

Eyal Lewin, Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science Ariel University, 40700 Israel

Dr. Eyal Lewin

Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science

Ariel University

Eyal Lewin is Professor Assistant [Senior Lecturer] at Ariel University. Lewin is the author of academic papers and monographs and editor of books focusing on general socio-political phenomena such as patriotism, national resilience, national ethos, and Israel studies. Editor in Chief of the academic semi-annual National Resilience, Politics and Society.

Orit Miller-Katav, Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science Ariel University, 40700 Israel

Dr. Orit Miller-Katav

Department of Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science

Ariel University

Orit Miller-Katav from Ariel University is a researcher on the history of the Middle East. Her specializations are in Israel-Jordan relations, local negotiations, and the establishment of a military government in the West Bank.  Her postdoctoral research deals with Israeli-Jordanian relations in modern times.

Miller-Katav increased her areas of expertise through an international program for Holocaust Studies in Haifa University. She also writes an opinion column in Maariv newspaper where she mostly addresses political and social issues.

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Published

2020-09-11

How to Cite

Lewin, E. ., & Miller-Katav, O. (2020). A Moral Assessment of the Polish Israeli Declaration Following the 2018 Polish Anti-Defamation Law. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 11(2), 387–402. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2020.2.387.402

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2020): Journal of Education Culture and Society

Section

LOCAL CULTURES AND SOCIETIES

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CC-BY

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