Cause for concern

Roger Iredale revisits a prescient Quaker book

It may seem strange to review a slim paperback by a Quaker published forty-two years ago, but Herbert Dobbing, for nine years head of Brummana High School, was a far-sighted and reflective commentator, not only as a skilled summariser of the broader history of Palestine, but for his insights into the nature of conflict, deprivation, injustice, identity and political power.

In Cause for Concern: A Quaker’s view of the Palestine problem Herbert Dobbing, in a sequence of essays, ranges over the intricacies of the Balfour Declaration and the role of British governments, invasion, the United Nations, anti-Semitism, Zionism, Judaism, refugees, nationalism and Israel’s future.

It is about the future that he is so accurate. Dobbing predicts the incipient racial and political splits within Israel, the inherent contradictions of the Zionist philosophy, the dangers to the Zionist cause from demographic changes as Palestinian numbers grow – and the inevitability of irrevocable bitterness if justice is not seen to be done.

The book feels as if it stops, not in 1970 but in 2012, which is perhaps another way of saying that nothing has changed, unless for the worse. To Dobbing’s account of the violence perpetrated against Palestinians at the outset of the Israeli state, one can add the more recent horrors of Sabra and Chatila, Jenin, Ramallah, Gaza and the Lebanon. Dobbing would have recognised the ongoing sense of conquest that has continued, virtually unabated, since.

At the beginning, Dobbing poses the question, ‘when does a fait accompli become respectable?’ At what stage did we accept that nothing could be done to restore land to the native peoples of America or Australia? His verdict, repeatedly expressed, is that in today’s world no lasting peace can be built upon current oppression, injustice and misery. He predicts the need for greater democracy among Arab nations, and queries that if, in the twentieth century, it is a misfortune to be weak, ‘what of the moral obligation of the strong?’ This highly condensed work provides an invaluable, concise, reference book for any reader who values insights derived from a calm analysis based on deep personal experience.

Cause for Concern: A Quaker’s view of the Palestine problem, Herbert Dobbing, Institute for Palestine Studies, Beirut, 1970.

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Comments

Mr Qavi (Blackheath Meeting) and I both have some copies of this book. If you need one, you can contact us on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Jonathan Coulter, Bromley Meeting

By jonathancoulter on 15th February 2013 - 10:44

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