New Jewish Settlers

Israeli construction workers on the site of a new settlement

A recent radio programme contained an interview with the leaders of a tiny group of Jewish settlers encroaching on new land in the occupied territories of Palestine. The interviewer was incredulous that at such a critical time, seemingly intelligent people should be inflaming the situation rather than trying to mollify it. There seemed no rational reason for such provocative behaviour.  The settlers themselves, suffering great hardships in establishing their new community, justified their behaviour through an appeal to religious authority. One could not help noticing that the undoubted hardships and danger only served to reinforce their sense of righteous conviction and, it has to be said, a somewhat smug 'holier than thou' attitide.

Freud would not have been surprised that even amongst the members of a single religion some might consider themselves more worthy than others. In his early paper on 'Mental Treatment' (1905) he considers the problem of miracle cures and the power ascribed to holy places. Eschewing the hypothesis of divine intervention, Freud assumes a mundane combination of mental forces and group influence. The latter, embodied in cultural tradition and holy books, is obviously of particular importance to Freud:

"The individual's pious belief is intensified by the enthusiasm of the crowd of people in whose midst he makes his way as a rule to the sacred locality. All the mental impulses of an individual can be enormously magnified by group influence such as this. In cases in which someone proceeds to the holy place by himself, the reputation of the place and the respect in which it is held act as substitutes for the influence of the group, so that in fact the power of the group is once more in operation."

However, another aspect of Freud's view might serve to explain the tone of righteous smugness which accompanied the self justification of this particular band of pioneers.

"And there is yet another way in which this influence makes itself felt. Since it is well known that divine mercy is always shown only to the few who seek it, each of these is eager to be amongst the chosen few; the ambition that lies hidden in everyone comes to the help of pious faith" Mental Treatment  (1905)

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