Thank you for writing these newsletters! We need allies who will stand up for us and talk to non-Jews in a way they might hear (since they're clearly not listening to us).
Pat, very much enjoy your posts. Thank you for your moral clarity and intellectual honesty. I think there is one important reason why antisemitism is conflated with anti-Zionism and anti-Israel sentiment. And that is because there is only one Jewish state in the world. There are so many different Arab states? Nobody calls for their abolition. Nobody calls for dissolution of UK or France when complaining about their colonial past? Noone called for elimination of Germany after either of the two World Wars. Yet, the pro-"Palestinian" movememnt repeatedly calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.
Now, why do I out "Palestinian" in quote marks. This is simply because this is where the intellectual dishonesty begins. The term does not describe people's, it describes the place and everyone who lived and lives there. It is a Roman term given to Judea as a punishment against a Jewish revolt (roughly half of millennia before Abu Bakr started the conquest of what today is Israel). So Palestinians are the Jews, Arabs (Muslim and Christian) and everyone else who lived then and lives now on that land. So when they chant "Free Palestine", I say free it indeed - free it from the terror and murders of Hamas and Hezbollah, and from the corruption of PA.
This argument also works in reverse however. Should the world have ignored the suffering of Israelis on Oct 7 because there was worse suffering in the world in, say, Ukraine?
As a rhetorical point: Loss of Israeli lives due to Palestinian terrorism is a drop in the bucket compared to conflicts elsewhere. Why should Israel, we could ask, get billions in foreign aid for their self-defense and limitless political capital spent by leadership of global powers when victims of political violence elsewhere get little to none? I don’t remember any American aircraft carrier groups being sent or US presidents paying wartime visits to support people suffering in Sudan or Congo.
For many reasons, the Israel/Palestine conflict has emotional resonance and generates sympathy and interest more than any other conflict on earth for decades. You might consider that, at least for many decent observers, having sympathy and compassion for the suffering children of Gaza over the last year comes from the same moral reflex of having had sympathy and compassion for that of Israelis on Oct. 7. It’s the same set of moral muscles and heart-strings that generates an impulse to demand our leaders do something to alleviate it in both cases.
And just as it was shocking to witness the callous and shallow dismissal and indifference—glee, even— to that suffering of Israeli Jews on Oct 7 from western campus protestors, it is shocking to observe a similar callousness and indifference about Gaza’s suffering from the western pro-Israel chorus who argue there is something wrong with us—bigoted even!—for paying any attention to it. Though the styles are different, in substance they are two-sides of the same coin in my view.
Israel Is an ALLY and has shared endless information and technology with has enriched our country. Plus, no one on the pro Israel side doesn’t recognize and feel pan by the suffering in Gaza, sadly so many peace activists were murdered by Hamas. The two sides are not comparable in any way
Well said!
The Jewish people have been hated for 3,000 years. The Palestinian cause is just the latest excuse for antisemitism to again be in vogue.
Actually longer. They were enslaved to build the pyramids 4,500 years ago. History repeats itself.
Who attacked who? 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Thank you for writing these newsletters! We need allies who will stand up for us and talk to non-Jews in a way they might hear (since they're clearly not listening to us).
Pat, very much enjoy your posts. Thank you for your moral clarity and intellectual honesty. I think there is one important reason why antisemitism is conflated with anti-Zionism and anti-Israel sentiment. And that is because there is only one Jewish state in the world. There are so many different Arab states? Nobody calls for their abolition. Nobody calls for dissolution of UK or France when complaining about their colonial past? Noone called for elimination of Germany after either of the two World Wars. Yet, the pro-"Palestinian" movememnt repeatedly calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.
Now, why do I out "Palestinian" in quote marks. This is simply because this is where the intellectual dishonesty begins. The term does not describe people's, it describes the place and everyone who lived and lives there. It is a Roman term given to Judea as a punishment against a Jewish revolt (roughly half of millennia before Abu Bakr started the conquest of what today is Israel). So Palestinians are the Jews, Arabs (Muslim and Christian) and everyone else who lived then and lives now on that land. So when they chant "Free Palestine", I say free it indeed - free it from the terror and murders of Hamas and Hezbollah, and from the corruption of PA.
This argument also works in reverse however. Should the world have ignored the suffering of Israelis on Oct 7 because there was worse suffering in the world in, say, Ukraine?
As a rhetorical point: Loss of Israeli lives due to Palestinian terrorism is a drop in the bucket compared to conflicts elsewhere. Why should Israel, we could ask, get billions in foreign aid for their self-defense and limitless political capital spent by leadership of global powers when victims of political violence elsewhere get little to none? I don’t remember any American aircraft carrier groups being sent or US presidents paying wartime visits to support people suffering in Sudan or Congo.
For many reasons, the Israel/Palestine conflict has emotional resonance and generates sympathy and interest more than any other conflict on earth for decades. You might consider that, at least for many decent observers, having sympathy and compassion for the suffering children of Gaza over the last year comes from the same moral reflex of having had sympathy and compassion for that of Israelis on Oct. 7. It’s the same set of moral muscles and heart-strings that generates an impulse to demand our leaders do something to alleviate it in both cases.
And just as it was shocking to witness the callous and shallow dismissal and indifference—glee, even— to that suffering of Israeli Jews on Oct 7 from western campus protestors, it is shocking to observe a similar callousness and indifference about Gaza’s suffering from the western pro-Israel chorus who argue there is something wrong with us—bigoted even!—for paying any attention to it. Though the styles are different, in substance they are two-sides of the same coin in my view.
Israel Is an ALLY and has shared endless information and technology with has enriched our country. Plus, no one on the pro Israel side doesn’t recognize and feel pan by the suffering in Gaza, sadly so many peace activists were murdered by Hamas. The two sides are not comparable in any way
I find your analyses so useful. Thanks for your clarity and courage.....
Love everything you write. Thank you.
This post nailed it.