Martin Buber; an Existentialist Jewish that had a dream

Theologian, philosopher, and political radical, Martin Buber (1878–1965) was actively committed to a fundamental economic and political reconstruction of society as well as the pursuit of international peace. In his voluminous writings on Arab-Jewish relations in Palestine, Buber united his religious and philosophical teachings with his politics, which he felt were essential to a life of public dialogue and service to God.

He became a member of the group Ichud, which aimed at a bi-national state for palestinians and Jews in Palestine. Such a binational confederation was viewed by Buber as a more proper fulfillment of Zionism than a solely Jewish state. In 1946 he published his work Paths in Utopia, in which he detailed his communitarian socialist views and his theory of the "dialogical community" founded upon interpersonal "dialogical relationships".

Following the war for independence in 1948, Buber told Ben Gurion that he believed that one of the most important priorities of the new state of Israel should be to solve the refugee problem. Ben Gurion refused to listen. Throughout the remainder of his life, Buber worked to defend the civil rights of Israeli Arabs, and he urged Jews and Palestinians to engage in genuine dialogue. He continued to try to influence public policy in this arena until his death in 1965.

We christians, how far we are from this dream. We not only do not keep this dream alive but instead we support violence and war in the name of our prophesies interpretations.
Sometimes it is like if God that Martin Buber belived would notbe the same some christians belive today. His God was a God who loved men. His God was a God of justice. So who is the God Christians believe in today ?


A Land of two people
Collected in A Land of Two Peoples are the private and open letters, addresses, and essays in which Buber advocated binationalism as a solution to the conflict in the Middle East. A committed Zionist, Buber steadfastly articulated the moral necessity for reconciliation and accommodation between the Arabs and Jews.