Violence and the Hebrew language: Jewish nationalism and the university

The national language and the nation-state are typically presented as interwoven. Possession of a singular language comprises one of a people’s legitimate grounds for demanding a sovereign state, while the state itself fosters that language through its education system and other means. But the national language and the nation-state do not always work in concert; they can also represent conflicting meanings and ideologies of national life. Zionism is a revealing case in this context; the Hebrew language, at least as understood among cultural Zionists, was associated with ideas that are humanistic, moral, universalistic and anti-violence–ideas that conflicted with the values and practices typically accompanying the formation and furtherance of a nation-state. This divergence of paths was reflected at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in its pre-state period and has yielded a lasting effect on the role that universities play in Israeli political life and in civic education.