The world demands a sick asymmetry from Jews. Palestinians may rage, hate, indoctrinate, celebrate terror, deny atrocities, and launch wars from civilian areas, while Jews must prove moral worth by grieving louder for the other side than for themselves. That is not compassion. It is psychological warfare. Empathy without judgment rewards the aggressor. Empathy without boundaries teaches Jews that everyone’s safety matters except theirs. Israel must fight with discipline, law, and conscience. But it must fight. No nation has a duty to die politely so its enemies can retain comfort, narrative control, and another chance to murder.
Palestine ceased to exist in 1947. In 1948 it became Jordan and the population, Jordanian.
The " Palestinian people" was created by Arafat, an Egyptian, and the KGB in 1964 as an instrument against the West. Since then, they tried to take over Jordan, and Jordan slaughtered them.
No "Palestinianism" was even real then. The myth, hoax and false origin of the"Palestinians" is purely political abuse and a stratagem for the sake of destroying Western civilisation. Israel, as so often is the case, is the last bastion of resistance.
All the misnomers attached to Israel - genocide, colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and more- are to be assigned to the nations that have committed them. Inverting the perpetrator and the victim is an old mind control tactic.
Now, look at the Islamic nations. All are Totalitarian. All mistreat women . All further ignorance. All are misogynistic by definition. Many chop heads and hands and hang teenagers for homosexuality. These societies are violent and barbaric. Millions of Muslims have been recently slaughtered by other Muslims. They are not mourned and no movements exist for their sake.
But those Arabs who always refused a state, whose only goal is to destroy Israel, created, with the help of a mentally ill world faction, a fake entity, with a fake history and fake pretences.
We need to stop defending ourselves; we are too used to it.
We need to stop giving the libellous accusations the dignity of a reply.
We need to take over AI and produce mass propaganda for the truth.
We need to scream the truth about this monumental hoax , the greatest in modern history, from the rooftops, and mourn the Israeli children with every interaction and chance we get.
I've only read half the article, so far, but I have to say this: We are in war mode. When in war mode, I do not feel compelled AT ALL to feel empathy for my enemy. Sorry, don't have that emotional band width and besides, I think it's out of place AND dangerous. You cannot do the awful things you must do when at war if you are worrying about the "innocent civilians" on the other side. Doesn't work that way, as the article points out. As I always say, we must be Athens, but Sparta when it's necessary; and then we must go back to being Athens. Right now I'm Sparta. To the suffering Palestinians I advise: get your own act together. It's not my job.
There is a reason no one wants to import the murderous, uncivilized “Palestinians” into their own countries. In my opinion, Israel has shown remarkable (and way too much) restraint after the heinous October 7 attack. But they are the only civilized country in the Middle East.
Agreed. The way to end all this nonsense -- including the nonsense with Iran -- is to just "end them" once and for all. Less people die in the long term when you do it that way.
When Israel had been (re) established as a state for 20 years, it had infrastructure, a functioning economy and was exporting goods and knowledge to the world. When "Palestine" was carved out of our homeland, it had infrastructure that Israel had left behind and after 20 years, it had turned it into a giant dunghill.
Excellent essay. On those rare occasions I get into a discussion about Israel with a moron and they mention the suffering of Palestinians and not of Israelis, I immediately ask "What about the suffering of the Jews, Israelis in particular? Their suffering is so much greater. Why didn't you mention it?" This usually ends the conversation, which is fine, because arguing with a moron is useless. But if they are reasonable and seem to suffer only from ignorance, I educate them.
In the US - Protestant gun ownership is 30% - Mormons 25% - Jews 11% and we have the most solid gun rights laws in the Western World - You have a God given right to have a gun. So glad we were a Protestant country in 1776. (5) of my direct ancestors were in the Continental Army and (3) were Minutemen, They were proud gun owners.
In Israel - only 5% of non-IDF, non -police have guns - you need a permit and they are hard to get which explains a lot about October 7th. You can only have a hand gun and 50 rounds. Want to fight crazed Muslims with AK-47's with a handgun? That is total insanity.
Those poor Jews were defenseless by choice. Some Kibbutz had zero weapons or they had a few but were locked up. Some Kibbutz had their guns removed by the government because they were being stold by Bedouins. I rememeber listening to a man who was on aKibbutz next to gaza with a high death toll. He said he had a hand gun but was afraid to keep it loaded. Bizarre.
The Left in Israel is totally opposed to the Jewish rights to self defense - totally - 100%
So Jews are defenseless - by and large - by choice.
You have to figure out why before the NEXT TIME you need them both here in America and most certainly in Israel. I know Jews in America who are rabidly anti-gun. I have attempted to reason with them but they are essentailly pacifist or basically Eloi. They will be eaten alive. They are stupid in addition to being nuts. As in Israel so in America. It must be deeply cultural.
Someone help me out on this. I want Jews to protect themseleves.
More often than note lately, it is a challenge speaking with some of my liberal Jewish friends about Israel. Especially if they have not visited Israel recently. When asked for my opinion, which is not often for reasons which will become obvious shortly, I suggest visiting as soon as possible and avoiding the usual tourist track. Hire a good guide, preferably one with a pistol in his belt, and travel down south. Visit the Nova Music Festival site and study the memorials of the attendees who didn't make it out alive; visit the "auto graveyard" which still holds the bullet-riddled shells of hundreds of cars that carried many of those attendees as they tried to escape; stop for lunch in Sderot; visit a kibbutz along the border such as Re'iem as I did in mid-February. Talk to the people who have moved back and are rebuilding their shattered communities; to those whose homes were burned to the ground, whose families and friends were massacred, who now man the security outposts 24/7; to those who are building new Emergency Response Centers; to those who are building new homes. Try, if you can, to empathize with these folks. They have bark on their hides that I can't even begin to comprehend. Ask them about their empathy for the "poor Palestinians" who worked on the kibbutzim in the years before the Oct. 7th attack and provided the espionage for Hamas' battle plans. The same "poor Palestinians" who crashed the border on the heals of the Hamasniks who breached the fence. The same "poor Palestinians" who took part in the raping, the pillaging, and the taking of hostages. The aiding and abetting of the holding of those hostages. Those who sit here in the comfort and safety of the U.S, listening to the pontificating of the talking heads, forming their self-righteous opinions of equivalency between Israel and the Palestinians, and then feel sorry for those same "poor Palestinians", disgust me. It is better that those who have no clue keep their opinions to themselves. I have no illusions about their motives. As Ms. Berg implied, they wish to impress upon their circle of friends that they are a "good Jew." Unfortunately, history records that the "good Jew" who is tolerated today is the Jew who these same "friends" will marginalize (or worse) tomorrow. All I can say is, do not be the "good Jew." Be civil, be courteous, but always be vigilant and ready. And do not apologize for it.
Vanessa, you have captured the current situation beautifully. We Jews feel like we have to constantly defend ourselves. I live in Greece. There are posters plastered around town that say ALL Israeli soldiers are murderers. Stop the genocide! I have friends-- some of whom are partially Jewish-- who believe so deeply in the "Palestinian" cause that it has put a real strain on our relationship. I know people who say to my face, "Well, Israel deserved Oct 7th." Or "It didn't just come from nowhere." Or "Why is it always the Jews? You had to have done something, no?" Jews, if anything, are not "one." There are all kinds of us. There always have been. I believe Jewish life will continue. But it may not be how the children of post WW II generation have envisioned it.
Instead of merely hiding the comment of the Jew hater who posted above, is it possible to block him completely? This Substack is too important to be sullied by his filth.
“Palestinians have suffered — sometimes at the doing of Israel, but mostly at the hands of their own governments and politicians.”
Omitted is that
A. According to the Quran, Jews are Khafirs Surah Al-Bayyinah (98:6)
B.Of the Khafirs, Jews are the lowest of the low Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:82)
C. It is a religious obligation to kill Jews wherever you find them Surah Al-Baqarah 2:191;
Haddiths Sahih al-Bukhari 2926 and Sahih Muslim 2922)
D. According to Dar al Islam, any land once conquered by Islam belongs forever to Islam even if it has been conquered by Khafirs.
As the article rightly asks “Who created the conditions that produced it? Who chose war? Who has habitually rejected coexistence since the 1800s? Who embedded a military fortress within civilian society? Who decided that attacking Israel was worth the predictable consequences for Palestinian civilians? Who continues to treat Palestinian suffering not as a tragedy to be prevented, but as a weapon to be aimed at Israel?”
But also needs to be asked who support religiously driven revanchist Jihad?
“A doctor who feels compassion for a disease but refuses to treat it is not compassionate.”
Does the doctor feel or merely expressing that he feels compassion? Is it compassion if it is not followed up by action when action is within one’s power? Bear this in mind when addressing “Palestinian” expression of compassion for Jewish suffering (an expression almost an oxymoron in itself).
“A country that allows its enemies to attack because preventing them would cause those enemies hardship is not compassionate. It is negligent.”
More than mere negligence, it is absolute suicide. Imagine the Allies adopting this attitude towards the Axis powers. We would all be speaking German.
“Not every Palestinian made those decisions, and neither did every Israeli.“
Of course not, but many Arab civilians went out into the streets lighting fireworks, dancing jubilantly, filling town squares with zaghareet (ululations of joy), and giving out sweets when their fighters returned after slaughtering Jews.
"It proves they are not tribal. It proves they are 'enlightened.' It proves they are different from those aggressive, nationalist, insufficiently remorseful Jews who embarrass them." Personally, I haven't wasted any time feeling bad for Palestinians. I am in war mode, and this is an existential war. Empathy for the enemy, even "innocent civilians" is impractical. I feel I am enlightened AND tribal. Nothing wrong with that.
Excellent commentary, Vanessa. And it's more often than not as you say. I'm in the Australian diaspora and have commonly been subjected to non-Jews in social circumstances pouncing to ask me how I feel about the Palestinians, more specifically in the last 2 1/2 years the Gazans. Or, as one woman recently put it, 'You must be so sad at the plight of the people of Gaza at the hands of the Israeli army.' Everyone in the circle went silent, awaiting my reply. I said, 'No, I am not sad with the Gazans in mind. I am angry at the invasion of Israel by Hamas and Gazan civilians that saw Israeli families slaughtered, tortured, raped and kidnapped and I'm angry that once again we are forced to kill to defend ourselves and survive as a nation.'
Jews who deflect to empathy instead of voicing reality are losing themselves in the confusion that ensures.
The world demands a sick asymmetry from Jews. Palestinians may rage, hate, indoctrinate, celebrate terror, deny atrocities, and launch wars from civilian areas, while Jews must prove moral worth by grieving louder for the other side than for themselves. That is not compassion. It is psychological warfare. Empathy without judgment rewards the aggressor. Empathy without boundaries teaches Jews that everyone’s safety matters except theirs. Israel must fight with discipline, law, and conscience. But it must fight. No nation has a duty to die politely so its enemies can retain comfort, narrative control, and another chance to murder.
Wonderfully said. I'm saving this comment.
It's worse than that:
Palestine ceased to exist in 1947. In 1948 it became Jordan and the population, Jordanian.
The " Palestinian people" was created by Arafat, an Egyptian, and the KGB in 1964 as an instrument against the West. Since then, they tried to take over Jordan, and Jordan slaughtered them.
No "Palestinianism" was even real then. The myth, hoax and false origin of the"Palestinians" is purely political abuse and a stratagem for the sake of destroying Western civilisation. Israel, as so often is the case, is the last bastion of resistance.
All the misnomers attached to Israel - genocide, colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and more- are to be assigned to the nations that have committed them. Inverting the perpetrator and the victim is an old mind control tactic.
Now, look at the Islamic nations. All are Totalitarian. All mistreat women . All further ignorance. All are misogynistic by definition. Many chop heads and hands and hang teenagers for homosexuality. These societies are violent and barbaric. Millions of Muslims have been recently slaughtered by other Muslims. They are not mourned and no movements exist for their sake.
But those Arabs who always refused a state, whose only goal is to destroy Israel, created, with the help of a mentally ill world faction, a fake entity, with a fake history and fake pretences.
We need to stop defending ourselves; we are too used to it.
We need to stop giving the libellous accusations the dignity of a reply.
We need to take over AI and produce mass propaganda for the truth.
We need to scream the truth about this monumental hoax , the greatest in modern history, from the rooftops, and mourn the Israeli children with every interaction and chance we get.
Beautifully expressed.
I've only read half the article, so far, but I have to say this: We are in war mode. When in war mode, I do not feel compelled AT ALL to feel empathy for my enemy. Sorry, don't have that emotional band width and besides, I think it's out of place AND dangerous. You cannot do the awful things you must do when at war if you are worrying about the "innocent civilians" on the other side. Doesn't work that way, as the article points out. As I always say, we must be Athens, but Sparta when it's necessary; and then we must go back to being Athens. Right now I'm Sparta. To the suffering Palestinians I advise: get your own act together. It's not my job.
There is a reason no one wants to import the murderous, uncivilized “Palestinians” into their own countries. In my opinion, Israel has shown remarkable (and way too much) restraint after the heinous October 7 attack. But they are the only civilized country in the Middle East.
Agreed. The way to end all this nonsense -- including the nonsense with Iran -- is to just "end them" once and for all. Less people die in the long term when you do it that way.
When Israel had been (re) established as a state for 20 years, it had infrastructure, a functioning economy and was exporting goods and knowledge to the world. When "Palestine" was carved out of our homeland, it had infrastructure that Israel had left behind and after 20 years, it had turned it into a giant dunghill.
absolutely 100% true, because they don't want a state; they want there to be no Israel.
Excellent essay. On those rare occasions I get into a discussion about Israel with a moron and they mention the suffering of Palestinians and not of Israelis, I immediately ask "What about the suffering of the Jews, Israelis in particular? Their suffering is so much greater. Why didn't you mention it?" This usually ends the conversation, which is fine, because arguing with a moron is useless. But if they are reasonable and seem to suffer only from ignorance, I educate them.
It's the "jizya" that "liberal" Jews voluntarily pay.
Jews and Self Defense - Crazy Statistics
In the US - Protestant gun ownership is 30% - Mormons 25% - Jews 11% and we have the most solid gun rights laws in the Western World - You have a God given right to have a gun. So glad we were a Protestant country in 1776. (5) of my direct ancestors were in the Continental Army and (3) were Minutemen, They were proud gun owners.
In Israel - only 5% of non-IDF, non -police have guns - you need a permit and they are hard to get which explains a lot about October 7th. You can only have a hand gun and 50 rounds. Want to fight crazed Muslims with AK-47's with a handgun? That is total insanity.
Those poor Jews were defenseless by choice. Some Kibbutz had zero weapons or they had a few but were locked up. Some Kibbutz had their guns removed by the government because they were being stold by Bedouins. I rememeber listening to a man who was on aKibbutz next to gaza with a high death toll. He said he had a hand gun but was afraid to keep it loaded. Bizarre.
The Left in Israel is totally opposed to the Jewish rights to self defense - totally - 100%
So Jews are defenseless - by and large - by choice.
You have to figure out why before the NEXT TIME you need them both here in America and most certainly in Israel. I know Jews in America who are rabidly anti-gun. I have attempted to reason with them but they are essentailly pacifist or basically Eloi. They will be eaten alive. They are stupid in addition to being nuts. As in Israel so in America. It must be deeply cultural.
Someone help me out on this. I want Jews to protect themseleves.
yes Israel is forever
What about the people of Narnia?
More often than note lately, it is a challenge speaking with some of my liberal Jewish friends about Israel. Especially if they have not visited Israel recently. When asked for my opinion, which is not often for reasons which will become obvious shortly, I suggest visiting as soon as possible and avoiding the usual tourist track. Hire a good guide, preferably one with a pistol in his belt, and travel down south. Visit the Nova Music Festival site and study the memorials of the attendees who didn't make it out alive; visit the "auto graveyard" which still holds the bullet-riddled shells of hundreds of cars that carried many of those attendees as they tried to escape; stop for lunch in Sderot; visit a kibbutz along the border such as Re'iem as I did in mid-February. Talk to the people who have moved back and are rebuilding their shattered communities; to those whose homes were burned to the ground, whose families and friends were massacred, who now man the security outposts 24/7; to those who are building new Emergency Response Centers; to those who are building new homes. Try, if you can, to empathize with these folks. They have bark on their hides that I can't even begin to comprehend. Ask them about their empathy for the "poor Palestinians" who worked on the kibbutzim in the years before the Oct. 7th attack and provided the espionage for Hamas' battle plans. The same "poor Palestinians" who crashed the border on the heals of the Hamasniks who breached the fence. The same "poor Palestinians" who took part in the raping, the pillaging, and the taking of hostages. The aiding and abetting of the holding of those hostages. Those who sit here in the comfort and safety of the U.S, listening to the pontificating of the talking heads, forming their self-righteous opinions of equivalency between Israel and the Palestinians, and then feel sorry for those same "poor Palestinians", disgust me. It is better that those who have no clue keep their opinions to themselves. I have no illusions about their motives. As Ms. Berg implied, they wish to impress upon their circle of friends that they are a "good Jew." Unfortunately, history records that the "good Jew" who is tolerated today is the Jew who these same "friends" will marginalize (or worse) tomorrow. All I can say is, do not be the "good Jew." Be civil, be courteous, but always be vigilant and ready. And do not apologize for it.
Vanessa, you have captured the current situation beautifully. We Jews feel like we have to constantly defend ourselves. I live in Greece. There are posters plastered around town that say ALL Israeli soldiers are murderers. Stop the genocide! I have friends-- some of whom are partially Jewish-- who believe so deeply in the "Palestinian" cause that it has put a real strain on our relationship. I know people who say to my face, "Well, Israel deserved Oct 7th." Or "It didn't just come from nowhere." Or "Why is it always the Jews? You had to have done something, no?" Jews, if anything, are not "one." There are all kinds of us. There always have been. I believe Jewish life will continue. But it may not be how the children of post WW II generation have envisioned it.
One way EMPATHY says it all
Instead of merely hiding the comment of the Jew hater who posted above, is it possible to block him completely? This Substack is too important to be sullied by his filth.
I reported it for libel and Nazi commentary similarity
“Palestinians have suffered — sometimes at the doing of Israel, but mostly at the hands of their own governments and politicians.”
Omitted is that
A. According to the Quran, Jews are Khafirs Surah Al-Bayyinah (98:6)
B.Of the Khafirs, Jews are the lowest of the low Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:82)
C. It is a religious obligation to kill Jews wherever you find them Surah Al-Baqarah 2:191;
Haddiths Sahih al-Bukhari 2926 and Sahih Muslim 2922)
D. According to Dar al Islam, any land once conquered by Islam belongs forever to Islam even if it has been conquered by Khafirs.
As the article rightly asks “Who created the conditions that produced it? Who chose war? Who has habitually rejected coexistence since the 1800s? Who embedded a military fortress within civilian society? Who decided that attacking Israel was worth the predictable consequences for Palestinian civilians? Who continues to treat Palestinian suffering not as a tragedy to be prevented, but as a weapon to be aimed at Israel?”
But also needs to be asked who support religiously driven revanchist Jihad?
“A doctor who feels compassion for a disease but refuses to treat it is not compassionate.”
Does the doctor feel or merely expressing that he feels compassion? Is it compassion if it is not followed up by action when action is within one’s power? Bear this in mind when addressing “Palestinian” expression of compassion for Jewish suffering (an expression almost an oxymoron in itself).
“A country that allows its enemies to attack because preventing them would cause those enemies hardship is not compassionate. It is negligent.”
More than mere negligence, it is absolute suicide. Imagine the Allies adopting this attitude towards the Axis powers. We would all be speaking German.
“Not every Palestinian made those decisions, and neither did every Israeli.“
Of course not, but many Arab civilians went out into the streets lighting fireworks, dancing jubilantly, filling town squares with zaghareet (ululations of joy), and giving out sweets when their fighters returned after slaughtering Jews.
I always look forward to Vanessa's articles. Another great read.
"It proves they are not tribal. It proves they are 'enlightened.' It proves they are different from those aggressive, nationalist, insufficiently remorseful Jews who embarrass them." Personally, I haven't wasted any time feeling bad for Palestinians. I am in war mode, and this is an existential war. Empathy for the enemy, even "innocent civilians" is impractical. I feel I am enlightened AND tribal. Nothing wrong with that.
Excellent commentary, Vanessa. And it's more often than not as you say. I'm in the Australian diaspora and have commonly been subjected to non-Jews in social circumstances pouncing to ask me how I feel about the Palestinians, more specifically in the last 2 1/2 years the Gazans. Or, as one woman recently put it, 'You must be so sad at the plight of the people of Gaza at the hands of the Israeli army.' Everyone in the circle went silent, awaiting my reply. I said, 'No, I am not sad with the Gazans in mind. I am angry at the invasion of Israel by Hamas and Gazan civilians that saw Israeli families slaughtered, tortured, raped and kidnapped and I'm angry that once again we are forced to kill to defend ourselves and survive as a nation.'
Jews who deflect to empathy instead of voicing reality are losing themselves in the confusion that ensures.