When the postmortem is conducted on the anti-Isreali demonstrations on American college campuses this spring, the findings are likely to include items like these: 1) The demonstrations were anticipated and scripted by Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah – entities whose stated goal is to abolish Israel.
I'm always wary when I'm in a group that's being divided, because it's a pretty good sign that we're about to be conquered -- or at least that the whole "divide --> conquer" MO is in play.
The state of the world is very concerning. The US military is being pushed out of Niger and Chad which are choosing to realign with Russia. Russia is occupying and/or battering most of Ukraine with arms from Iran and North Korea, whose leaders are quite dedicated to the destruction of certain other countries, and Russia has long been sending support to Syria (whose refugees the US abandoned under Trump), and now accepts support from China, which is hoping to take Taiwan... and of course last October Iran-supported Hamas carried out a vicious blood-letting in Israel just as Iran-supported Hezbollah lobbed missiles over the Lebanese border. Since then it's been something short of "Total War" but only just a little, with hundreds of missiles from Iran flying into Israel just two weeks ago. I'm trying to "big picture" it here, and this isn't even half of it.
All this military activity and coordination and alliances reminds me of histories of the World Wars I've read -- which are head-spinningly complicated, even with the benefit of a historian's efforts (and hindsight). Now WE are the one's in the "Fog." It has me very concerned that we're headed into the direction of something historic, in the bad way, something very very bad.
It's a time when the US should be united, for the benefit of ourselves and allies, but instead we're finding ourselves divided, and it is really and truly scary.
I have been avoiding this moment for a little while but the time has come. I have been following this substack because I loved reading the vibrant and well-researched local and familial histories, by a relative who is an excellent writer. But I have been increasingly shocked by the hateful and anti-journalistic coverage of the pushback against Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.
I would love to just quietly unsubscribe and avoid any feeling of conflict, but I know if there’s a chance that airing my feelings will help to build mutual understanding then it is worth it.
This post begins with the condescending assumption that anyone supporting the campus protests against universities subsidizing the state of Israel and its violence against Palestine must be ignorant, brainwashed, naive, a f influenced by propaganda of foreign governments. It then goes on to parrot dangerous and probably false talking points that are themselves ignorant, brainwashed, naive, and influenced by propaganda of foreign governments.
People like me, who feel obligated to speak out against the genocide, are well-informed and motivated by the desire to create a better world — tikkun olam. Just because the books we’ve read are not the ones you have does not make us less qualified to make conclusions about Israel. You don’t seem to have devoted any energy to investigating your own preconceptions about the motives and methods of the movement you are critiquing, and have consequently published a blog full of flimsy talking points that will be remembered alongside the pitiful critiques of movements like those for Civil Rights and against South African apartheid and the Vietnam War.
For example, quibbling over the definition of genocide is simply obtuse and crass when the consensus among scholars of genocide at large is that this event does qualify, and when even if it didn’t, we are arguing about how to label one of the world’s most powerful military forces indiscriminately slaughtering a captive population of mostly women and children. You ask what Israel should do about the October 7th attack, and I find that question spurious because the answers are plentiful, and start with “not this!” The first thing they could have done is prevent it in the first place, because we now know that they had reason to believe it was coming. Another thing they could have done was accept the offer in the following days to return all hostages from that day in exchange for avoiding an invasion. Beyond that there are many degrees of retaliation between “doing nothing” and “murdering millions of innocent people, including Israeli hostages, children, doctors, journalists, and aid workers, and demolishing infrastructure and cultural presence, while expressly stating the intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza in press statements and social media posts.”
I don’t expect everyone to agree with my political stance on Israel, but I would expect you to use common sense and critical thinking rather than defend genocide and cast aspersions on those of us trusting our eyes and hearts more than we trust proven liars like Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas is a hell of Israel’s own making, as they have funded and even armed the group for decades and quashed any attempts by Palestinians to organize an alternative. It is unacceptable to target civilians and use sexual violence as a tool of war, as Hamas did or may have done (as the accusations of sexual violence are provably overblown and possibly entirely fabricated), but those same arguments apply tenfold to Israel, which has routinely killed civilians and faced accusations of sexual abuse of political prisoners for decades. The hypocrisy is painfully blatant.
I truly do hate having to say all of this, it just felt wrong to walk away from this silently, for the same reason it feels wrong to silently watch Israel obliterate a population and claim that it advances the cause of Jewish safety. It’s one thing to differ on ideas of to what degree and in what capacity diasporic Jews are entitled to seek refuge in Palestine and eretz yisrael, or how best to ensure that Jews indigenous to Palestine are appropriately represented there, or what keeps the global Jewish community safe from the threat of antisemitism. It’s another to weaponize Jewish identity to silence anyone standing up for a population facing extermination, starvation, and erasure. I really hope you see that you are on the wrong side of history, and that you can believe in Palestinian rights without compromising your dedication to keeping your fellow Jews safe — gaining a solid historical background on doikayt and bundism is a good start toward understanding the praxis behind non-zionist Jewish empowerment. You don't have to choose between Jewish morals and Jewish safety. You can love being Jewish while also acknowledging and condemning genocide.
I don’t know if any of this will get through to anyone, or if I’m just shouting into the void, but at least I know I’ve said my piece. I hope it is understood that I say it with love and care.
Regardless of whose propaganda is closer to the truth, since war normally kills the truth....I wonder how you believe we can ever reach a two state solution? It seems painfully obvious that Netanyahu should be replaced with cooler heads, but who can lead the Palestinians?
Such is one of many questions I have, which I put forth in the interest of understanding and the ever elusive “peace and justice”.
If one would look at the definition of Semite: "a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs." This makes it difficult to say the word "Anti-Semitism" when you are talking about cultures that derive the title "Semite" from being of the same language group! You can't be against someone who is essentially the same as you are from the stand point of definition!
It is my understanding that most of the protests are about US weapons support for Israel - not at all the same as being 'anti-Israel'. And where is your proof that the demonstrations were scripted? I also believe that we should not assist Israel with wiping out the Palestinians and I have never, ever been contacted by any of those groups you mention. Violence is not conflict resolution!
There is no end to the propaganda that comes out of this unfortunate situation, and Israel is very good at it!.On the other hand, it is difficult to determine what the difference is between a "freedom fighter" and a "terrorist". It is obvious that it is a "winners world"; the winners set the agenda and justify what they did or did not do, right or wrong, that is the way it is! We have seen it with our own conduct in war and we will forever see it from here forward. This whole disussion gets started by student outrage over our support for Israel in what can hardly be justified as a fair fight! Certainly Hamas started this by its attack on Isrealis that certainly could be considered a terrorist attack, but this is also a reaction to what Israel has done over and over again in expanding its borders into Gaza: cutting down olive trees, and killing protestors without provication time and time again., and moving it's settlers into the frontier between adversaries. If you poke a rattlesnake enough times, you ought to know it will strike, that is a given! Killing the snake is likely the first response, but is that right? If you tormented the snake in the first place the reaction of the snake is simply to defend itself. The real question is the timing, all these smaller offenses that Isreali defense ministers and defenders of Israel over look, are like tiny cuts that get infected with hatred by thousands whose families suffered these little cuts needlessly. A families olive trees destroyed, a son or daughter killed for throwing rocks ( who are also someones niece, nephew, grandchild etc.). The rage to react becomes over powering. A little less of picking at each other and some sort of cooperation might have made understanding a little better, but as I said, the world is hell bent on "winners" and then we can cover up lots of mistakes that will continue to happen so long as this is the intent and not cooperating to find meaningful solutions.
Thanks for your thoughtful response, Amy.
Merriam Webster defines anti-Semitism as specifically and exclusively referencing Jews
I'm always wary when I'm in a group that's being divided, because it's a pretty good sign that we're about to be conquered -- or at least that the whole "divide --> conquer" MO is in play.
The state of the world is very concerning. The US military is being pushed out of Niger and Chad which are choosing to realign with Russia. Russia is occupying and/or battering most of Ukraine with arms from Iran and North Korea, whose leaders are quite dedicated to the destruction of certain other countries, and Russia has long been sending support to Syria (whose refugees the US abandoned under Trump), and now accepts support from China, which is hoping to take Taiwan... and of course last October Iran-supported Hamas carried out a vicious blood-letting in Israel just as Iran-supported Hezbollah lobbed missiles over the Lebanese border. Since then it's been something short of "Total War" but only just a little, with hundreds of missiles from Iran flying into Israel just two weeks ago. I'm trying to "big picture" it here, and this isn't even half of it.
All this military activity and coordination and alliances reminds me of histories of the World Wars I've read -- which are head-spinningly complicated, even with the benefit of a historian's efforts (and hindsight). Now WE are the one's in the "Fog." It has me very concerned that we're headed into the direction of something historic, in the bad way, something very very bad.
It's a time when the US should be united, for the benefit of ourselves and allies, but instead we're finding ourselves divided, and it is really and truly scary.
I have been avoiding this moment for a little while but the time has come. I have been following this substack because I loved reading the vibrant and well-researched local and familial histories, by a relative who is an excellent writer. But I have been increasingly shocked by the hateful and anti-journalistic coverage of the pushback against Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.
I would love to just quietly unsubscribe and avoid any feeling of conflict, but I know if there’s a chance that airing my feelings will help to build mutual understanding then it is worth it.
This post begins with the condescending assumption that anyone supporting the campus protests against universities subsidizing the state of Israel and its violence against Palestine must be ignorant, brainwashed, naive, a f influenced by propaganda of foreign governments. It then goes on to parrot dangerous and probably false talking points that are themselves ignorant, brainwashed, naive, and influenced by propaganda of foreign governments.
People like me, who feel obligated to speak out against the genocide, are well-informed and motivated by the desire to create a better world — tikkun olam. Just because the books we’ve read are not the ones you have does not make us less qualified to make conclusions about Israel. You don’t seem to have devoted any energy to investigating your own preconceptions about the motives and methods of the movement you are critiquing, and have consequently published a blog full of flimsy talking points that will be remembered alongside the pitiful critiques of movements like those for Civil Rights and against South African apartheid and the Vietnam War.
For example, quibbling over the definition of genocide is simply obtuse and crass when the consensus among scholars of genocide at large is that this event does qualify, and when even if it didn’t, we are arguing about how to label one of the world’s most powerful military forces indiscriminately slaughtering a captive population of mostly women and children. You ask what Israel should do about the October 7th attack, and I find that question spurious because the answers are plentiful, and start with “not this!” The first thing they could have done is prevent it in the first place, because we now know that they had reason to believe it was coming. Another thing they could have done was accept the offer in the following days to return all hostages from that day in exchange for avoiding an invasion. Beyond that there are many degrees of retaliation between “doing nothing” and “murdering millions of innocent people, including Israeli hostages, children, doctors, journalists, and aid workers, and demolishing infrastructure and cultural presence, while expressly stating the intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza in press statements and social media posts.”
I don’t expect everyone to agree with my political stance on Israel, but I would expect you to use common sense and critical thinking rather than defend genocide and cast aspersions on those of us trusting our eyes and hearts more than we trust proven liars like Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas is a hell of Israel’s own making, as they have funded and even armed the group for decades and quashed any attempts by Palestinians to organize an alternative. It is unacceptable to target civilians and use sexual violence as a tool of war, as Hamas did or may have done (as the accusations of sexual violence are provably overblown and possibly entirely fabricated), but those same arguments apply tenfold to Israel, which has routinely killed civilians and faced accusations of sexual abuse of political prisoners for decades. The hypocrisy is painfully blatant.
I truly do hate having to say all of this, it just felt wrong to walk away from this silently, for the same reason it feels wrong to silently watch Israel obliterate a population and claim that it advances the cause of Jewish safety. It’s one thing to differ on ideas of to what degree and in what capacity diasporic Jews are entitled to seek refuge in Palestine and eretz yisrael, or how best to ensure that Jews indigenous to Palestine are appropriately represented there, or what keeps the global Jewish community safe from the threat of antisemitism. It’s another to weaponize Jewish identity to silence anyone standing up for a population facing extermination, starvation, and erasure. I really hope you see that you are on the wrong side of history, and that you can believe in Palestinian rights without compromising your dedication to keeping your fellow Jews safe — gaining a solid historical background on doikayt and bundism is a good start toward understanding the praxis behind non-zionist Jewish empowerment. You don't have to choose between Jewish morals and Jewish safety. You can love being Jewish while also acknowledging and condemning genocide.
I don’t know if any of this will get through to anyone, or if I’m just shouting into the void, but at least I know I’ve said my piece. I hope it is understood that I say it with love and care.
Regardless of whose propaganda is closer to the truth, since war normally kills the truth....I wonder how you believe we can ever reach a two state solution? It seems painfully obvious that Netanyahu should be replaced with cooler heads, but who can lead the Palestinians?
Such is one of many questions I have, which I put forth in the interest of understanding and the ever elusive “peace and justice”.
If one would look at the definition of Semite: "a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs." This makes it difficult to say the word "Anti-Semitism" when you are talking about cultures that derive the title "Semite" from being of the same language group! You can't be against someone who is essentially the same as you are from the stand point of definition!
It is my understanding that most of the protests are about US weapons support for Israel - not at all the same as being 'anti-Israel'. And where is your proof that the demonstrations were scripted? I also believe that we should not assist Israel with wiping out the Palestinians and I have never, ever been contacted by any of those groups you mention. Violence is not conflict resolution!
Thank you for giving us the background and history which is so critical. May the protestors read all this as well!
There is no end to the propaganda that comes out of this unfortunate situation, and Israel is very good at it!.On the other hand, it is difficult to determine what the difference is between a "freedom fighter" and a "terrorist". It is obvious that it is a "winners world"; the winners set the agenda and justify what they did or did not do, right or wrong, that is the way it is! We have seen it with our own conduct in war and we will forever see it from here forward. This whole disussion gets started by student outrage over our support for Israel in what can hardly be justified as a fair fight! Certainly Hamas started this by its attack on Isrealis that certainly could be considered a terrorist attack, but this is also a reaction to what Israel has done over and over again in expanding its borders into Gaza: cutting down olive trees, and killing protestors without provication time and time again., and moving it's settlers into the frontier between adversaries. If you poke a rattlesnake enough times, you ought to know it will strike, that is a given! Killing the snake is likely the first response, but is that right? If you tormented the snake in the first place the reaction of the snake is simply to defend itself. The real question is the timing, all these smaller offenses that Isreali defense ministers and defenders of Israel over look, are like tiny cuts that get infected with hatred by thousands whose families suffered these little cuts needlessly. A families olive trees destroyed, a son or daughter killed for throwing rocks ( who are also someones niece, nephew, grandchild etc.). The rage to react becomes over powering. A little less of picking at each other and some sort of cooperation might have made understanding a little better, but as I said, the world is hell bent on "winners" and then we can cover up lots of mistakes that will continue to happen so long as this is the intent and not cooperating to find meaningful solutions.