An American Jew reflects on the Middle East

[Semicolon]

As a Jew living in America, the past week has changed me forever

Growing up outside of Atlanta, I learned to crawl with Bob Dylan’s “Only A Pawn In Their Game” as my soundtrack, anti-war posters hanging on the walls, beckoning me and my raw knees forward. I was weaned with the voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. reverberating downthe narrow halls of my parents’ apartment, formed my first words as though delivering a soliloquy on equality.

In first grade, I asked the teacher if the ‘Indians’ still celebrated Thanksgiving. When she asked why I wanted to know, I responded, “Because the people they ate with took their land,” something I’d learned from an honest mother. During a Little League game, my father intervened when coaches tried to initiate a prayer circle, wanting us to give thanks in Jesus’ name. He fiercely believed in the separation of church and, well, everything.

As an American Jew, I was mostly instilled with progressive values as a child. Rather, I was instilled with progressive, American values – particularly those which aligned with liberal, Jewish ones. A love of social justice, human rights, equality. A disdain for racism, fundamentalism, colonialism. Sure, I attended Hebrew school, but my scripture was more the Bill of Rights than the Torah, and my anthems came from hip-hop and rock, not the Book of Psalms (תהילים).

Despite this, my early love for progressivism was accompanied by a love for the State of Israel. As a short, Jewish kid who wanted to be an NBA star, I was naturally inclined to root for the underdog. And at synagogue, we were taught that Jews were the ultimate underdogs, miraculously surviving the Holocaust and a history of oppression to create a contemporary “light unto the nations” which fought with dogged determination against evil and had a cool flag. And I was taught that I was vulnerable, that there were people who wanted me dead, and that Israel was a safe haven, a beacon, a garden to which I could always escape.

Palestinians, accordingly, were portrayed as just one in a series of people who have risen up throughout history to destroy us, being painted as a caricature of evil. As a boy, I nodded and understood. Israel was not just good, it was necessary.

One Sunday morning, my parents dropped me off at our local, liberal synagogue for what was billed as the youth group’s pancake breakfast. Once inside, we were surprisingly herded into a multi-purpose room and sharply ordered to sit against the walls by masked men carrying plastic assault rifles. Stale bread was thrown on the linoleum floor toward me and my friends, perplexed and unsure what the hell this was all about, but smart enough to know it was not actually a dangerous situation. Younger children started crying.

This is what the enemy is like, some teachers told us when it was over.

I nodded. We were the good ones.

–§–

As an adult, I’ve moved away from such naiveté while holding on to both my ancient alien and progressive leanings, despite the growing struggle for coexistence between the two. And it’s not as though I’m mildly informed about the region or mildly invested in Israel and my Jewishness. The opposite, in fact, is the case. I’m a Jewish studies teacher at a day school, yeshiva-educated with a master’s degree from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I’ve authored a memoir about my experience with terror and reconciliation, and write extensively about the region, often critiquing Israel from a progressive perspective while maintaining my desire for a two-state solution to the conflict.

As an adult, I’ve learned about the cleansing of Arab villages which took place from 1947-1949 to make way for the Jewish state. I’ve learned about the ongoing settlement enterprise, the appropriation and bifurcation of Palestinian lands. I’ve learned the horrors of Israel’s decades-old occupation of the West Bank, about the suppression of basic human rights and the atrocities committed. I’ve studied Israel’s use of indefinite detentions, home demolitions, restrictions on goods and movement, and the violence visited upon those being occupied.

I’ve learned that – and this is just one example of many – a Palestinian child has tragically been killed every three days for the past 14 years. That bears repeating, since such deaths are rarely, if ever, given any attention in America: Palestinian parents have had to bury a child every three days for the past 14 years.

Knowing all this, I’ve still held fast to my ‘progressive Zionism,’ hoping Israel could become that beacon of liberalism I was presented as a child, a beacon which never truly existed in the first place, despite the country’s socialist roots. Why have I done so? For two reasons: 1) deep down, I still believe in the promise of Israel, and 2) I can’t shake the notion that a Jewish state is absolutely necessary for our security.

Over the last decade, I’ve formed alliances with progressive Americans and the Israeli left, working in my own, small ways to try and move Israel away from those illegal, geopolitical policies causing so much suffering for Palestinians and undermining Israel’s ability to not just thrive, but survive. All the while, I’ve watched the anti-war movement in Israel weaken, watched racism flourish and religious fundamentalism grow, watched Israel’s government build settlements at a record pace and make clear it has little interest in peace.

These realities have forced me to consider the incongruity between my American-borne progressivism and my Zionism. They have forced me to admit, like Peter Beinart, that in order to continue supporting Israel as a Jewish state, with everything it continues to do, I must compromise my progressivism.

However, the mind-numbingly horrific events of the past week have forced me, for the first time, to wonder whether such compromising can be sustained.

–§–

What has happened? This: on June 12, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped while hitchhiking in the West Bank by Palestinians belonging to a rogue branch of Hamas. I, along with friends and loved ones, worried they would become three more Jewish victims (added to the 1,100 killed since 2001) in an unending conflict, and watched closely as the Israeli military began combing the West Bank for them. Only, it soon became clear that soldiers weren’t looking for them so much as collectively punishing Palestinians for the crime of a few people. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu falsely blamed the kidnapping on Hamas – a move likely aimed at derailing the PA-Hamas unity government – and vowed they would “pay a heavy price.” But it was Palestinian civilians who paid a heavy price as for weeks soldiers raided over 1,600 sites in the West Bank, indefinitely detained hundreds, and killed five Palestinians.

Israel placed a gag order on details surrounding the teens’ abduction, and reports surfaced that Israeli officials knew the boys were dead, but wanted to justify ongoing military operations under the hope of bringing the boys back. (Alas, it seems such reports may have been accurate.)

And then, on June 30, the tragic news suddenly came: the three teens had been found dead. And just as suddenly, calls for blood and vengeance echoed from Israel, starting with Netanyahu, who turned a Chaim Bialik poem on its head by using it to call for blood:

In turn, calls for blood and revenge began echoing throughout Israel and on social media, with a Facebook page dedicated to such calls quickly receiving 35,000 likes. It featured soldiers posing with weapons, asking for permission to kill, along with countless Israelis calling for revenge:

On the left, Israelis hold a sign that reads,"Hating Arabs isn't racism, it's values! #IsraelDemandsRevenge," while on the right, a soldier post a picture with the caption, "Let us simply spray (them with bullets)."

After the funeral for the three slain Israeli teens on July 1, angry mobs of hundreds began roaming the streets of Jerusalem chanting “Death to Arabs,” attacking Palestinians and promising bloodby nightfall.

Chemi Shalev of Haaretz, witnessing the genocidal chants from Israelis and reading reports of Israeli police saving Palestinian citizens from the mobs, wrote the following:

Make no mistake: the gangs of Jewish ruffians man-hunting for Arabs are no aberration. Theirs was not a one-time outpouring of uncontrollable rage following the discovery of the bodies of the three kidnapped students. Their inflamed hatred does not exist in a vacuum: it is an ongoing presence, growing by the day, encompassing ever larger segments of Israeli society, nurtured in a public environment of resentment, insularity and victimhood, fostered and fed by politicians and pundits.

By nightfall, with the ink of Shalev’s pen barely dried, horrific news came that a Palestinian teen from East Jerusalem had been abducted and killed by Israeli settlers in an act of revenge, with reports revealing the unspeakable: he was likely burned alive.

Since that night on July 1, parts of Israel have been burning, and clashes between Palestinians and police in Shuafat, the East Jerusalem neighborhood where the killed teenager lived, have been particularly intense. The police have beenunrelenting, raining rubber bullets and tear gas down upon a grieving neighborhood. And the scenes have been difficult to watch.

Perhaps the scene that has put me over the edge is one that should hit close to home: an American teenager from Tampa visiting Israel, who happens to be a cousin of the slain Palestinian teen, was almost beaten to death by police, ostensibly for throwing rocks, and remains in Israeli detention.

Mother of the American teen beaten told ABC, "He wasn't recognizable."

I have no words.

–§–

There are parts of me right now that feel defeated. Yes, there have been calls for peace and the denouncing of extremism in Israel, but such calls feel as though they have been drowned out by those still craving revenge. And as Shalev notes, this isn’t an isolated incident – this is the result of a real shift in Israeli society concurrent with the ongoing occupation.

The past week’s events have shaken me to my core, and have forced me to look long and hard at my personal politics. For if this were any country but Israel, my progressive values would not allow me to support, much less love, such an enterprise. Yet the reality is this: I do.

I’m not ready to abandon the dream of a Jewish state that lives up to its democratic promises, and continue to hold tenuously onto the idea of two states for two peoples. However, I have begun, for the first time, to consider what a single, bi-national state might look like, to consider that it might finally end this madness.

And here’s the irony: Israel’s extreme-right leaders, embracing various one-state solutions, have forced me to do so. Hell, Israel just elected as its President a one-state proponent. How can I not consider what that might look like?

As it happens, during all of this, I’ve just finished Ali Abunimah’s The Battle for Justice in Palestine, which makes an impassioned case for a democratic, bi-national state as the only way to end this conflict.

The progressive American in me agreed with much of his arguments. The ancient alien in me was scared by its premise.

The humanist in me just wants all of this to end. Wants all of the suffering and pain on both sides to end.

If not now, when?

Source

[Dexter Morgan]

Both sides LOVE being victims.

[Semicolon]

Both sides LOVE being victims.

No one likes being the aggressor. They've been bitterly fighting over a country the size of New Jersey for decades.

I think it's extreme to round up children at a pancake breakfast and point (fake) guns at them.

[sg1008]

I think it's extreme to round up children at a pancake breakfast and point (fake) guns at them.

It's brainwashing.

[ZEGH8578]

Dexter, this is not a "aw, both sides are to blame!" situation.

Those situations are applied when children fight, and parents can't be bothered to investigate. This is real life, real lives. There are clear aggressors, clear victims, and clear culpables. It will likely end in the annihilation of any "formal" Palestinian area within the claimed borders of Israel.

There are other certainties here as well, for example, the Golan Heights Israel illegally occupies from Syria will also never be returned, and eventually be annexed into Israel cus, hey, why not.

If there was even a modicum of goodwill from Israel, there would be no Golan occupation, and ALL illegal settlements in the West Bank would be dismantled and turned to dust. The settlers would be fined, imprisoned, either way, removed from the area, and treated like the criminal fanatics that they are.
But they are not - they are not even encouraged to behave - the opposite is happening: The settlers are encouraged to keep invading Palestinian West bank - purely for religious reasons "God gave us this land!" and as soon as there is trouble with the locals (arabs) Palestinian Security forces can go fuck themselves (they have next to no offensive powers)* while the IDF will immediately defend the settlers.

There is no shared culpability here. Israel is THE aggressor, and everyone except America is noticing. Foxnews!

*In case this confuses those who refuse to do research: West Bank and Gaza are defended by two different organizations. In the West Bank the Palestinian Security forces try their best to cooperate with Israel, rendering them practically powerless. In Gaza, it's another story.

[sg1008]

US and Canada have too many ancient aliens in politics.

But the people notice...well...the smart people.

If Israel had its way it would annex all of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Israel has a military, navy, and airforce...also chemical and nuclear weapons, and a wall. Palestinians cannot even have a formal militia. Instead they have Hamas (which isn't even centrally controlled as their are "rogue" bands of them), tunnels, and rockets. They are literally fighting to not fall into the sea. Meanwhile Israel bombs not only civilians, but hospitals, non-israeli controlled water pumps, and schools. They completely strip Palestinians of self-sufficiency.

Palestinians defend themselves and their homes which have always been there. Israel builds brand new settlements which they then fill with naive jewish folk from around the world, then they bomb more palestinians villages in the name of "defense", then annex more land, build more settlements, populate those settlements, then "defend" themselves again, as the cycle continues.

[ZEGH8578]

If Israel "had their way" - image google "Greater Israel"

The conspiracy-nut in me can even see the rise of "ISIS" as beneficial to "Greater Israel", since it seeks to dismantle both Syria and Iraq as sovereign states, "softening up" the whole region.

However, this is obviously speculation, and I've learned not to run with such... but the latest development in Syria and Iraq is worrying.

Also, as cynical as it may sound, I believe that "bad blood" is policy. To bomb, in order to ensure hostility in return. They know that this kind over over the top harassment will only earn them another decade of terrorism, which will give them further rights-to-defend - in an over the top manner.

[sg1008]

If Israel "had their way" - image google "Greater Israel"

The conspiracy-nut in me can even see the rise of "ISIS" as beneficial to "Greater Israel", since it seeks to dismantle both Syria and Iraq as sovereign states, "softening up" the whole region.

However, this is obviously speculation, and I've learned not to run with such... but the latest development in Syria and Iraq is worrying.

I wouldn't be surprised. I have heard many ancient aliens say (without contest) that Arabs belong in the arabian peninsula. That's like saying all Latinos belong in the Spanish peninsula.

[ZEGH8578]

If Israel "had their way" - image google "Greater Israel"

The conspiracy-nut in me can even see the rise of "ISIS" as beneficial to "Greater Israel", since it seeks to dismantle both Syria and Iraq as sovereign states, "softening up" the whole region.

However, this is obviously speculation, and I've learned not to run with such... but the latest development in Syria and Iraq is worrying.

I wouldn't be surprised. I have heard many ancient aliens say (without contest) that Arabs belong in the arabian peninsula. That's like saying all Latinos belong in the Spanish peninsula.

Typical fascist reasoning, to carve out a piece of humanity, assign them a color, hairstyle, language, and place to belong. Whoever does not comform must be removed, in whatever way.
Gray-zones do not exist to these people.
Neither does normal hobbies, it seems...

[sg1008]

If Israel "had their way" - image google "Greater Israel"

The conspiracy-nut in me can even see the rise of "ISIS" as beneficial to "Greater Israel", since it seeks to dismantle both Syria and Iraq as sovereign states, "softening up" the whole region.

However, this is obviously speculation, and I've learned not to run with such... but the latest development in Syria and Iraq is worrying.

I wouldn't be surprised. I have heard many ancient aliens say (without contest) that Arabs belong in the arabian peninsula. That's like saying all Latinos belong in the Spanish peninsula.

Typical fascist reasoning, to carve out a piece of humanity, assign them a color, hairstyle, language, and place to belong. Whoever does not comform must be removed, in whatever way.
Gray-zones do not exist to these people.
Neither does normal hobbies, it seems...

smh. I never realised how truly fascist ancient aliens were until I tried to reason with a bunch of them. It is like Israel concentrates all the ignorant brainwashed ancient aliens into one area, and gets rid of any diplomatic leaning jews, as well as arab and palestinian jews. That state is manufactured and groomed in a science fiction worthy manner. I don't know what ulterior motives exist, but I do know it is a volatile experiment that will end terribly for everyone. The US and Canada were a natural consequence of uninhibited greed. While Israel is a fabricated scenario, funded by god-knows-what-evil....

If they succeed, the UN (at least from the 1950's, with Aryan-proud doctrine fresh in their minds) will plan on divvying up the world in similar ways...designating certain lands for certain ethnicities, and annexing other lands for other ethnicities. This is the thought behind Israel's creation and I know for a fact that ancient aliens are seeking to spread their doctrine among various ethnic groups claiming that they too can have their own homeland, free of colonialism, if they support Israel. It's like a fcking Orwellian cult.

[ZEGH8578]

Sheesh, just now I failed in holding my tongue in some comment section, I just can't believe those fuckers keep using the "anti-semite" angle.

Newsflash: Polish non-jews suffered _horribly_ during WW2. Russia was bombed to fuck and shit. Norwegians were executed and tortured. Jews were not the only goddamn ones to suffer, why will they never get that through their goddamn heads?

They REALLY believe shouting "anti-semite" will gain them sympathy? It enrages people! Because it's like saying "fuck your grandpa who died for his country, he didn't even exist, you know what - YOU are a German nazi! Feel bad!"
and they GENUINELY think that everyone else will go "Oh, wow, I thought I had a grandpa, but he has now vanished from existence! Ich bin ein German! :0"

[sg1008]

Sheesh, just now I failed in holding my tongue in some comment section, I just can't believe those fuckers keep using the "anti-semite" angle.

Newsflash: Polish non-jews suffered _horribly_ during WW2. Russia was bombed to fuck and shit. Norwegians were executed and tortured. Jews were not the only goddamn ones to suffer, why will they never get that through their goddamn heads?

They REALLY believe shouting "anti-semite" will gain them sympathy? It enrages people! Because it's like saying "fuck your grandpa who died for his country, he didn't even exist, you know what - YOU are a German nazi! Feel bad!"
and they GENUINELY think that everyone else will go "Oh, wow, I thought I had a grandpa, but he has now vanished from existence! Ich bin ein German! :0"

Don't they know arabs are semitic?

[ZEGH8578]

Sheesh, just now I failed in holding my tongue in some comment section, I just can't believe those fuckers keep using the "anti-semite" angle.

Newsflash: Polish non-jews suffered _horribly_ during WW2. Russia was bombed to fuck and shit. Norwegians were executed and tortured. Jews were not the only goddamn ones to suffer, why will they never get that through their goddamn heads?

They REALLY believe shouting "anti-semite" will gain them sympathy? It enrages people! Because it's like saying "fuck your grandpa who died for his country, he didn't even exist, you know what - YOU are a German nazi! Feel bad!"
and they GENUINELY think that everyone else will go "Oh, wow, I thought I had a grandpa, but he has now vanished from existence! Ich bin ein German! :0"

Don't they know arabs are semitic?

semantics

anti-semantics! D:

:v

[DirtDawg]

Both sides LOVE being victims.

No one likes being the aggressor. They've been bitterly fighting over a country the size of New Jersey for decades.

I think it's extreme to round up children at a pancake breakfast and point (fake) guns at them.

Decades?

Seriously?

[sg1008]

semantics

anti-semantics! D:

:v