This evening I was watching the 7th episode of the Netflix original show, Fauda. It is a depiction of the two-sided story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this episode, Steve, a member of the Israeli operative unit charged with rescuing one of their team members commits acts of torture to gain information from a Palestinian prisoner. Another member of the team, Nurit, asks him how he is able to commit the torture. He compares himself to an attack dog who is obeying orders without thinking and without concern for its own safety. Nurit asks Steve if he thinks about his wife and his son when he is performing torture. He explained that his training involved physical violence and taught him to not think about anything but the command he was given. He knew if he ever thought of his wife or son, he would freeze with fear.

In his training, Steve, whose birth name is Hertzel, is stripped of his own humanity as he is beaten night after night, taught to completely disconnect from his family connections, and given a different name that is void of any ethic or religious connections. He becomes un-human in order to ignore the humanity in his victims. Hertzel does indeed become an attack dog and his victims are simply targets to destroy.

When we divorce ourselves from our humanity, even the parts of our humanity we don’t like, we divorce ourselves from the humanity of others. When we cannot acknowledge the brokenness in ourselves, we cannot identify it in others. When we hide our own vulnerability, we will gloss over the vulnerability of others. When we deny the challenges we face as humans, we ignore the fact that others face challenges, as well. Staying connected to our own humanity builds empathy, compassion, and love for others. It empowers us to use our weaknesses as our strength in the world.