Pat, I think you are certainly correct about many of these demonstrators and activists having no real skin in the game while encouraging endless conflict from the safety of Western campuses and cities.
But I also think something deeper and more troubling has happened psychologically and ideologically. A significant number of these activists genuinely believe Israel is a colonial, illegitimate state, and once they emotionally accept that framework, they begin rationalizing or excusing almost anything done in the name of “resistance.”
I honestly think many of them are useful idiots who know very little actual history. They do not seriously examine both sides, the repeated rejection of coexistence proposals, the Jewish historical connection to the land, the role of Islamist ideology, or the reality that Hamas openly seeks Israel’s destruction. They absorb emotionally powerful narratives and slogans and then build their entire moral worldview around them.
But I also agree with you that there are others who go further — people who have genuinely internalized sympathy for Hamas or for violent “resistance” because they now see Jews and Israel primarily through an oppressor-versus-oppressed framework where violence becomes morally justified.
And yes, as you point out, it is always much easier to romanticize endless struggle, martyrdom, and revolution when somebody else’s children are the ones dying in the conflict.
I love this post! I call the JVP, the JVW because they are the (fake in most cases) Jewish Voice for War. in arguments with ones I unfortunately know in real life, I often ask them what they think will happen if the whole world tells the Israelis that they must leave their country and everything they have built there behind and flee the Palestinians? (This is what from the river to the sea and Free Palestine mean.) Do they think they will just get on boats and planes and try to find countries that will take them as refugees? No, they will fight to the death for Israel. Millions will die. And if an invasion is hopeless,. rather than let the enemy subject them to torture deaths, as they do whenever they can take hostages, the Israelis may decide to use the nuclear weapons they have. One actually responded by telling me that in that case it still would be better than letting Israel continue to exist. I asked if she meant that the deaths of everyone in Israel and the neighboring countries from the blast and fallout would really be better than a negotiated peace. And she said, yes. Fine for her as she lives in the USA and would not be affected. This is what we are up against.
Yes, It's astonishing that these war mongering narcissists see their behavior as righteous. It reminds me of how I got into a verbal fight that almost turned violent one Christmas when I gave a teenage girl who was shivering and begging on the street enough money for a hotel room and another woman tried to grab the money away telling me that I was a bad person for giving to someone who was no doubt an addict and that the right thing to do would be to let the girl face the consequence of her behavior by letting her die of exposure on the street. (It was snowing and very cold and the girl had only a light jacket.) I said I'd knock some sense into her if she didn't let go of the $20 bill. She did and the girl ran off with the money saying, "God bless you!" The woman told me that God would curse me for this "evil" act. How could anyone think this way, I wondered. I no longer wonder, I see the same self-righteous hunger to see others suffer every day now.
In a lot of cases you can put "Palestinian" in the scoff quotes too, since that's an identity they adopted along with that flag, as a callback to the original indignity the Romans visited upon the Jews after Bar Kokhba (sp?). It's a provocation, like so many of their other strategies. But of course you can't tell the difference between someone being disrespectful and someone who's just ignorant of history.
It's a terrible tragedy of today that the "pro-palestinians" are so disproportionately loud and overwhelmingly platformed.
Brilliant piece. By your definition I too am - no quotes - pro-Palestinian. However Hamas and radicalized Palestinians have closed the Overton Window for Israelis to risk accepting a two-state solution. Palestinians and “pro-Palestinians” have a tremendous amount of de-radicalization work to do before that Overton Window can be reopened.
My fear is who are the real combatants: how fungible is Jihadism. The IRGC trained Hamas PIJ, DFLP and PFLP for maybe four years prior to Oct 7. Qatar and UAE funded them. Hopefully we’ll get regime change in Iran. But Qatar and UAE have monarchies none of which are opposed by any citizenry. The royal families will do as they please. They’ll use backdoors as necessary. They’ve already decided a real estate deal in Gaza is a good idea but that path offers not much to the Palestinians. Israel will have to deal with the Palestinians referred anger. What if the Peace Board decides to gentrify West Bank.
Just to add: Do Westerners ever wonder why the rest of the Arab countries haven't join Hamas in trying to "free palestine?" There is a reasonable answer. All of those countries know that Hamas is a proxy for Iran. The Saudis, UAE, Qatar, and the rest of the Arab world do not want the terrorism that Iran exports through Hamas, Hezbollah, et. al.
Palestine will never be free except as another state next to Israel.
There was never a sovereign Palestine and if ever Israel is destroyed, Palestine will be a weak dictatorship that will be promptly ransacked by the neighbors who will have lost their motive to support Palestine. And rightfully so, since they've been told for decades that their problems can wait until Palestine is free.
Nobody cares about Palestinians. Nobody. It's not even "Palestinian lives matter," they get less than even that.
All this movement has done is prove that raising awareness or whatever amounts to sweet FA at best.
“Pro-Palestinians (no scoff quotes) would be urging Palestinians to abandon violence, abandon the hope of eradicating Israel (and Jews) from the region, abandon the idea that ‘martyrdom’ in a fruitless cause is preferable to life in peaceful coexistence with Jews.”
Pat, I think you are certainly correct about many of these demonstrators and activists having no real skin in the game while encouraging endless conflict from the safety of Western campuses and cities.
But I also think something deeper and more troubling has happened psychologically and ideologically. A significant number of these activists genuinely believe Israel is a colonial, illegitimate state, and once they emotionally accept that framework, they begin rationalizing or excusing almost anything done in the name of “resistance.”
I honestly think many of them are useful idiots who know very little actual history. They do not seriously examine both sides, the repeated rejection of coexistence proposals, the Jewish historical connection to the land, the role of Islamist ideology, or the reality that Hamas openly seeks Israel’s destruction. They absorb emotionally powerful narratives and slogans and then build their entire moral worldview around them.
But I also agree with you that there are others who go further — people who have genuinely internalized sympathy for Hamas or for violent “resistance” because they now see Jews and Israel primarily through an oppressor-versus-oppressed framework where violence becomes morally justified.
And yes, as you point out, it is always much easier to romanticize endless struggle, martyrdom, and revolution when somebody else’s children are the ones dying in the conflict.
I would like to see "progressives'. simply referred to as regressives. It is what it really means now anyway.
I love this post! I call the JVP, the JVW because they are the (fake in most cases) Jewish Voice for War. in arguments with ones I unfortunately know in real life, I often ask them what they think will happen if the whole world tells the Israelis that they must leave their country and everything they have built there behind and flee the Palestinians? (This is what from the river to the sea and Free Palestine mean.) Do they think they will just get on boats and planes and try to find countries that will take them as refugees? No, they will fight to the death for Israel. Millions will die. And if an invasion is hopeless,. rather than let the enemy subject them to torture deaths, as they do whenever they can take hostages, the Israelis may decide to use the nuclear weapons they have. One actually responded by telling me that in that case it still would be better than letting Israel continue to exist. I asked if she meant that the deaths of everyone in Israel and the neighboring countries from the blast and fallout would really be better than a negotiated peace. And she said, yes. Fine for her as she lives in the USA and would not be affected. This is what we are up against.
Let millions die for her ideological purity, in other words ...
Yes, It's astonishing that these war mongering narcissists see their behavior as righteous. It reminds me of how I got into a verbal fight that almost turned violent one Christmas when I gave a teenage girl who was shivering and begging on the street enough money for a hotel room and another woman tried to grab the money away telling me that I was a bad person for giving to someone who was no doubt an addict and that the right thing to do would be to let the girl face the consequence of her behavior by letting her die of exposure on the street. (It was snowing and very cold and the girl had only a light jacket.) I said I'd knock some sense into her if she didn't let go of the $20 bill. She did and the girl ran off with the money saying, "God bless you!" The woman told me that God would curse me for this "evil" act. How could anyone think this way, I wondered. I no longer wonder, I see the same self-righteous hunger to see others suffer every day now.
In a lot of cases you can put "Palestinian" in the scoff quotes too, since that's an identity they adopted along with that flag, as a callback to the original indignity the Romans visited upon the Jews after Bar Kokhba (sp?). It's a provocation, like so many of their other strategies. But of course you can't tell the difference between someone being disrespectful and someone who's just ignorant of history.
It's a terrible tragedy of today that the "pro-palestinians" are so disproportionately loud and overwhelmingly platformed.
Brilliant piece. By your definition I too am - no quotes - pro-Palestinian. However Hamas and radicalized Palestinians have closed the Overton Window for Israelis to risk accepting a two-state solution. Palestinians and “pro-Palestinians” have a tremendous amount of de-radicalization work to do before that Overton Window can be reopened.
My fear is who are the real combatants: how fungible is Jihadism. The IRGC trained Hamas PIJ, DFLP and PFLP for maybe four years prior to Oct 7. Qatar and UAE funded them. Hopefully we’ll get regime change in Iran. But Qatar and UAE have monarchies none of which are opposed by any citizenry. The royal families will do as they please. They’ll use backdoors as necessary. They’ve already decided a real estate deal in Gaza is a good idea but that path offers not much to the Palestinians. Israel will have to deal with the Palestinians referred anger. What if the Peace Board decides to gentrify West Bank.
Just to add: Do Westerners ever wonder why the rest of the Arab countries haven't join Hamas in trying to "free palestine?" There is a reasonable answer. All of those countries know that Hamas is a proxy for Iran. The Saudis, UAE, Qatar, and the rest of the Arab world do not want the terrorism that Iran exports through Hamas, Hezbollah, et. al.
Palestine will never be free except as another state next to Israel.
There was never a sovereign Palestine and if ever Israel is destroyed, Palestine will be a weak dictatorship that will be promptly ransacked by the neighbors who will have lost their motive to support Palestine. And rightfully so, since they've been told for decades that their problems can wait until Palestine is free.
Nobody cares about Palestinians. Nobody. It's not even "Palestinian lives matter," they get less than even that.
All this movement has done is prove that raising awareness or whatever amounts to sweet FA at best.
“Pro-Palestinians (no scoff quotes) would be urging Palestinians to abandon violence, abandon the hope of eradicating Israel (and Jews) from the region, abandon the idea that ‘martyrdom’ in a fruitless cause is preferable to life in peaceful coexistence with Jews.”
Perfect! Thanks for this.
Excellent analysis. Ever try getting your op ed pieces into the NYT? Did you have a chance to chat with Vret Stephen's at the conference?
Bret Stephen
Explaining won't help. The Palestine movement is a genocide fan club.
Well said and agreed. 👏👏👏