Patriotism: Insights from Israel By Eyal Lewin

Such is the treatment one was to expect once the charge of treason was made (Burleigh, 2000). However, numerous films starting from the early 1950s until the award-winning 2008 movie Operation Valkyrie by Bryan Singer,partially sponsored by German federal funds, have presented an altogether different standpoint. The new approach views Hitler, unsurprisingly, as the treacherous villain and von Stauffenberg as the true patriot in light of his last words, uttered seconds before he was shot: “Long live sacred Germany!” Patriotism, then, is a matter for interpretation; its objectives vary with historic circumstances and might adjust from time to time with the changes of perspectives.

This ambiguity of the term is reflected by the divergent means used to measure patriotism (Hurwitz & Peffley, 1999; Rother & Langner, 2004; Yesilernis & Sidanius, 2002). Bearing a large variety of meanings, patriotism means, at times, supporting the government, yet it can also mean opposing authorities (Horowitz, 1995). It could be the grounds for demanding unconditional obedience to the state, yet it can also form an expectation for civil criticism and might be even an objection to the law (Kelman & Hamilton, 1989; Kleingold, 2000; Nathanson, 1989; Schatz, Staub, & Lavine, 1999; Sullivan, Fried, & Dietz, 1992). For example, drawing upon the Israeli case study, objectors have always been thought of as a negative factor that threatened to tear society apart. Disobeying a law meant to mobilize social resources for the collective good is considered to be the opposite of being patriotic. If the ultimate image of the patriot is the soldier storming toward danger in order to save the nation from its enemies, then the draft objector is the exact negative of such an image. Objecting to the draft means harming the war effort. On one hand, the patriot is the nation’s saviour whereas the objector is conceived of as being practically the nation’s enemy (Epstein, 1999). On the other hand, researchers have pointed out that participating in warfare is only one form of sacrifice for one’s country and certainly not the only one. The militaristic patriot might not necessarily be the only patriot in town, as is reflected in some of the objectors’ testimonies (Lewin, 2006). The objectors certainly refuse to take the easy way out even when such a possibility is at hand. Such was the experience of Chaggay Mattar and