I am not a Jew, but I am so moved with this piece. I support Izrael, because I know it stands for civilized and free, democratic world. The world would not be a better place without it. You are not alone in this. And I really wish all those mistaken, manipulated western progressive fools would read this with open minds and understand.
Word. Having grown up in the Middle East, it annoys me to no end to hear the progressives talk about this issue. They have no fucking clue and when you press them they just double down lol
Well said! It’s truly baffling that so many otherwise rigorous thinkers cannot see that all this tragedy and horror has been deliberately engineered by Hamas and that civilians in Gaza are ensnared in the grip of a nihilistic terror regime.
What a great piece, compassionate and forceful. Unfortunately, the Progressives don't care about any of it, but the Israelis do, and that's what we should always keep in mind. What you said about BDS is so true, but those who support it are too ignorant to even think about the short term repercussions for the Palestinians. Thank you for such a powerful essay.
REMEMBER THE 38 WORDS: The Jews are the indigenous inhabitants of Israel, ethnically cleansed by the colonial powers of Imperial Rome and Imperial Arabia. They have their country back, Baruch Hashem, and never again will they be driven off their ancestral land.
I liked especially the part about the use of less precise weapons as a result of western withdrawal of munitions. Perhaps Israel should have used them from the very beginning. I wait every day to hear the advance on Rafah has begun. Biggest mistake is to accept that there are innocent Palestinians. Once you realize there are none, the highway to Gaza, Yale and Columbia, is open...
I'm not naive about the fact that a very considerable number of Palestinians support Hamas -- or that it's even fair to say the vast majority of Gazans and West Bank residents do. However, it's certainly not true that there are no innocent Palestinians. Every young child, for instance, is innocent by definition, even if they've been indoctrinated to hate us. And even if they're nowhere near the majority, some Palestinians undeniably do want peace with Israel. I know many of them.
I do not know of one Palestinian who wants peace with Israel and recognizes the Jewish sovereign right to Israel. Whereas I can think of a whole raft of notable and not so notable Israelis who went on the record for a two-state solution. As for Palestinian children, they are sewing suicide belts at summer camp at age five and practising with wooden guns at age eight and carrying weapons at age ten. And since their parents elected Hamas, supported Hamas - remember all those funeral crowds chanting death to Israel - and happily sacrificed their children to killing Jews, I think it is fair to say there are no incident civilians. And if there are children you want to save you would have to remove them from their parents, for which you would get well-deserved flak. The concern with innocent civilians is a smokescreen to prevent Israel form cleaning up Gaza. Let those innocent civilians who want peace with Israel dump Hamas, return the hostages, and sue for peace with enough authority to command the loyalty of the Palestinians. I don't see that happening until Israel takes over and gets serious.
As an American conservative, I can say that a general antipathy towards Israel’s apartheid colonialist enterprise, aka Zionism, is one of the few sentiments I share with the progressive left. The true depths of depravity to which Israel has sunk in the course of this quest to liberate its hostages and punish Hammas will never be forgotten, nor unsullied by Israel’s masterful mechanisms of propaganda in the western world. The truth is seeping out, and sooner or later, despite all Israel’s attempts to distort the narrative, the West will recognize them for their war crimes.
Collective punishment of a civilian population is, by definition, a war crime. The ICJ has already expressed its intention to issue international arrest warrants for criminals on both sides of this conflict.
Once again, I love this article so much. A comment: "You cannot expiate your Western guilt by trying to force Jews to take it on for you, to atone for you and suffer for you and die for you." What's with this Western guilt idea? I look very white, 99% Eastern European Jew, family in the U.S. three generations. I DO NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT BEING WHITE, BEING WESTERN OR AMERICAN!!! (And this is said by a person who has been quick to decry the British Empire -- and the ensuing American empire -- and the chaos they/we have created in the world, lasting to this day). You know what? Western values are at stake; Israel is just the first stop. 1. History has been awful to lots of people -- there have been empires and colonizers all over the world from time immemorial: the Chinese, the Arabs, the Persians, the Turks, the Russians, the Mongols, i.e., not just in the West. 2. Over time, Western values have evolved, first into the Enlightenment, and eventually into more advanced, truly democratic expressions. We are on a roll. 3. Is the West perfect? Of course not. But would I rather live in China, North Korea, Russia, Turkey, or any Muslim country on earth, or any African country? Absolutely not. 4. Plenty of white people in the West have gotten the short end of the stick for centuries (I generally think it's not geography or even race that confers privilege and power. It tends to be class). 5. In general, we're dealt a hand, some better than others. Make the best you can with what you've got and do NOT waste time and energy either on bemoaning your victimhood or your guilt. How juvenile.
This is an exceptional piece. Thank you.
So deeply appreciated. My substack is free, please check it out! ❤️
https://neveralone.substack.com/
I am not a Jew, but I am so moved with this piece. I support Izrael, because I know it stands for civilized and free, democratic world. The world would not be a better place without it. You are not alone in this. And I really wish all those mistaken, manipulated western progressive fools would read this with open minds and understand.
Let's end the pretense that these marxists and antisemites care about "palestinians".
Word. Having grown up in the Middle East, it annoys me to no end to hear the progressives talk about this issue. They have no fucking clue and when you press them they just double down lol
Wow! Powerful piece. Thanks for speaking up. It does my heart good!
I'm so glad! Thank you so much. My substack is free:
https://neveralone.substack.com/
Well said! It’s truly baffling that so many otherwise rigorous thinkers cannot see that all this tragedy and horror has been deliberately engineered by Hamas and that civilians in Gaza are ensnared in the grip of a nihilistic terror regime.
What a great piece, compassionate and forceful. Unfortunately, the Progressives don't care about any of it, but the Israelis do, and that's what we should always keep in mind. What you said about BDS is so true, but those who support it are too ignorant to even think about the short term repercussions for the Palestinians. Thank you for such a powerful essay.
This is utterly fantastic!
REMEMBER THE 38 WORDS: The Jews are the indigenous inhabitants of Israel, ethnically cleansed by the colonial powers of Imperial Rome and Imperial Arabia. They have their country back, Baruch Hashem, and never again will they be driven off their ancestral land.
I liked especially the part about the use of less precise weapons as a result of western withdrawal of munitions. Perhaps Israel should have used them from the very beginning. I wait every day to hear the advance on Rafah has begun. Biggest mistake is to accept that there are innocent Palestinians. Once you realize there are none, the highway to Gaza, Yale and Columbia, is open...
I'm not naive about the fact that a very considerable number of Palestinians support Hamas -- or that it's even fair to say the vast majority of Gazans and West Bank residents do. However, it's certainly not true that there are no innocent Palestinians. Every young child, for instance, is innocent by definition, even if they've been indoctrinated to hate us. And even if they're nowhere near the majority, some Palestinians undeniably do want peace with Israel. I know many of them.
I do not know of one Palestinian who wants peace with Israel and recognizes the Jewish sovereign right to Israel. Whereas I can think of a whole raft of notable and not so notable Israelis who went on the record for a two-state solution. As for Palestinian children, they are sewing suicide belts at summer camp at age five and practising with wooden guns at age eight and carrying weapons at age ten. And since their parents elected Hamas, supported Hamas - remember all those funeral crowds chanting death to Israel - and happily sacrificed their children to killing Jews, I think it is fair to say there are no incident civilians. And if there are children you want to save you would have to remove them from their parents, for which you would get well-deserved flak. The concern with innocent civilians is a smokescreen to prevent Israel form cleaning up Gaza. Let those innocent civilians who want peace with Israel dump Hamas, return the hostages, and sue for peace with enough authority to command the loyalty of the Palestinians. I don't see that happening until Israel takes over and gets serious.
Yes! Yes !
As an American conservative, I can say that a general antipathy towards Israel’s apartheid colonialist enterprise, aka Zionism, is one of the few sentiments I share with the progressive left. The true depths of depravity to which Israel has sunk in the course of this quest to liberate its hostages and punish Hammas will never be forgotten, nor unsullied by Israel’s masterful mechanisms of propaganda in the western world. The truth is seeping out, and sooner or later, despite all Israel’s attempts to distort the narrative, the West will recognize them for their war crimes.
Collective punishment of a civilian population is, by definition, a war crime. The ICJ has already expressed its intention to issue international arrest warrants for criminals on both sides of this conflict.
I would not be so sure, seems US public opinion is turning against Israel, including quite a few non-Sionist Jews….
Once again, I love this article so much. A comment: "You cannot expiate your Western guilt by trying to force Jews to take it on for you, to atone for you and suffer for you and die for you." What's with this Western guilt idea? I look very white, 99% Eastern European Jew, family in the U.S. three generations. I DO NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT BEING WHITE, BEING WESTERN OR AMERICAN!!! (And this is said by a person who has been quick to decry the British Empire -- and the ensuing American empire -- and the chaos they/we have created in the world, lasting to this day). You know what? Western values are at stake; Israel is just the first stop. 1. History has been awful to lots of people -- there have been empires and colonizers all over the world from time immemorial: the Chinese, the Arabs, the Persians, the Turks, the Russians, the Mongols, i.e., not just in the West. 2. Over time, Western values have evolved, first into the Enlightenment, and eventually into more advanced, truly democratic expressions. We are on a roll. 3. Is the West perfect? Of course not. But would I rather live in China, North Korea, Russia, Turkey, or any Muslim country on earth, or any African country? Absolutely not. 4. Plenty of white people in the West have gotten the short end of the stick for centuries (I generally think it's not geography or even race that confers privilege and power. It tends to be class). 5. In general, we're dealt a hand, some better than others. Make the best you can with what you've got and do NOT waste time and energy either on bemoaning your victimhood or your guilt. How juvenile.
Thank you so much for taking the time to express appreciation for my work! Words like yours keep me going -- truly.
For more like this, please sign up for my substack -- it's totally free!
https://neveralone.substack.com/
Thanks for the reminder about Soda Stream. I had forgotten!!