Even as the Palestinians' story has excessively evolved, they have mastered the art of the "throughline" — an essential element of fiction storytelling.
Great article. History is so important yet is ignored by the far left. Most don't realize that up until 1948 the Jews living in "Palestine" were also considered Palestinians.
Interesting article. I do have a question though. Since 2 states is not an option, what happens to and where do the Palestinians go? Also I note that Bibi spent years buffering up Hamas as opposed to the PA. How do we factor that in? What to do with the West Bank? That issue is not going away anytime soon. Why pursue it? Most importantly what happens when the 'dust from the war' settles? What is the plan? What would be acceptable? Hamas is not going to vanish into thin air. How do we cut off it's oxygen? What is the path forward? I would like to know your thoughts on the path forward.
1) The Palestinians don’t go anywhere unless they want to. The problem is historically very few countries have accepted them or wanted them, including their Arab “brothers and sisters” in all their states.
2) The first draft of this essay included the part about Bibi, but I ended up taking it out. In short, Bibi’s desire to “prevent” a two-state solution by playing up Hamas, is a direct response to the Oslo Accords “peace process” which he inherited during his first term as prime minister in the 1990s. The Oslo Accords were a backdoor to a Palestinian state that would ultimately wage war and attempt to destroy the Jewish state after it was founded, which Bibi understood and therefore wanted to prevent. But don’t just take Bibi’s word for it; Arafat said so at the time.
3) I don’t know what the “day after” plan is. I presume there are many and we’ll see which one has the most political and international support. I do know that the Palestinian society is inherently rooted in Jew hatred and thus the most barbaric forms of terrorism against Jews, a society that celebrates death among its highest values.
This is not my opinion. It is rooted in historical fact, going all the way back to 1834 — far before political Zionism was but a mere thought — when the peasants’ riot broke out. It was supposed to be against the heavy Egyptian demands of conscription, yet somehow involved Palestinian raping, killing, looting, etc of Jews in Hebron, Safed, Nablus, and Jerusalem.
So I think it’s about time we stop asking the Jews “what’s the plan” and start asking the Palestinians what they want to be: an actual people with a society that is no longer based on hate and vitriol of another people, or if they want to keep up their kleptocratic, terrorist and murderous ways. Israel will act accordingly and the Jews around the world would be wise to have a stronger, deeper relationship with the Jewish country than to sympathize with a people who have manipulated truth and reality into pretending they — the Palestinians — are something that, in reality, historical and current, they are not.
Kol haKavod, Joshua. Such an excellent response and article which exposes the facts. The Meir-Levi book is a good one and does the same. The world is truly upside down. Keep up the fight. You’re doing a good job.
I appreciate you taking the time Joshua. Our hearts are breaking. As we go forward I keep feeling that Bibi and his coalition keeps becoming a bigger issue.
Why is it not possible for those in Palestine who wish to live under Muslim law to move to Jordan, a nation that was also created by the international community, only for Muslims?
Arab Christians and Druze who do would prefer not to live under Muslim laws could be accepted into Israel. Is that too ridiculous?
Why Gaza can’t have nice things: Blue Beach hotel was a lovely resort hotel in Gaza on the Mediterranean. Turns out full of tunnels and terror infrastructure. Not surprised.
This article is excellent. Surely the Arab States have a responsibility to take these people? It seems incredible. The UN has created a nightmare scenario by granting this massive number of refugees. Pressure must be put on Arab Countries to take them. It’s unbelievable
What do you think about this Palestinian story published yesterday in The Free Press (usually an excellent source)? It reads wrong to me. More like a fairy tale about The Good Father than a true life story.
Yes: the greatest decolonization project on planet earth! The problem is, antiemetic stories, fables, historical distortions, etc will always drown out this story. Thus, the only thing to do about it is to make sure that all Jews know this throughline and remain united in it!
I wonder how sophisticated the organized Jewish approach is to testing the right way to tell that story? "Decolonization" feels like a hard term to fully understand that carries a history with it. I realize the Israeli story is a complicated nuanced story, but the Palestinian throughline you mention has somehow been simplified in such a way that makes it easy to understand and somehow logical. The nuanced history tells a different story, but that's not how its being perceived. I sometimes wonder whether the Palestinian story is absorbed in the way that it is because people draw an analogy with other oppresor/oppressed stories that in reality bare little resemblance to Israel, but that might appear like they do. I wonder what Israel's analogy or mental model is that can be leveraged to reduce the cognitive load of understanding what's going on there.
Great points Ari! The problem is the Jews have so much history that it’s hard to pack it into a few bullet points. I think the original story of Judaism, that it was one of the first civilisations to value the other — “Do not unto others what you wouldn’t do to yourself is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary,” as one rabbi famously said (I’m paraphrasing) — could be a good place to start. But that’s also hard to sell when people are fed endless pictures of Israelis “lording over their Arab brethren.”
I think the formula for a partial solution may actually lie in your response to Ms. Nagel; maybe it's not our job to work out other people's problems. Though Israel did try.
I wonder what an idiot like Benn will do if he's ever reminded that, he too, in the eyes of the world is just a Jew, and that all his virtue signaling (and self-hating) will have been for naught. And the difference with refugees in post WWII Europe and Japan is that the world didn't adopt them as a pet projects and infantilize them to the point of paralysis (likely driven by anti-Israel agendas). That has greatly, and systematically for that matter, diminished, if not completely destroyed any prospect of national/idiosyncratic agency whatsoever for them. They're just as you you've written in the previous article- whatever palestinians "that blame Israel for everything can be trusted with nothing", and as such, they should be given nothing. I wonder if there'll ever come a time when they seriously band together in the interest of a genuine rebuilding of their own state simply by the virtue of self-reliance. I know, I know, hamas supporters will excuse their incapacitation with the stalwart argument 'well whatabout....?'
Great article. History is so important yet is ignored by the far left. Most don't realize that up until 1948 the Jews living in "Palestine" were also considered Palestinians.
Interesting article. I do have a question though. Since 2 states is not an option, what happens to and where do the Palestinians go? Also I note that Bibi spent years buffering up Hamas as opposed to the PA. How do we factor that in? What to do with the West Bank? That issue is not going away anytime soon. Why pursue it? Most importantly what happens when the 'dust from the war' settles? What is the plan? What would be acceptable? Hamas is not going to vanish into thin air. How do we cut off it's oxygen? What is the path forward? I would like to know your thoughts on the path forward.
Best regards
Frieda Nagel
Thanks Frieda!
To answer your questions:
1) The Palestinians don’t go anywhere unless they want to. The problem is historically very few countries have accepted them or wanted them, including their Arab “brothers and sisters” in all their states.
2) The first draft of this essay included the part about Bibi, but I ended up taking it out. In short, Bibi’s desire to “prevent” a two-state solution by playing up Hamas, is a direct response to the Oslo Accords “peace process” which he inherited during his first term as prime minister in the 1990s. The Oslo Accords were a backdoor to a Palestinian state that would ultimately wage war and attempt to destroy the Jewish state after it was founded, which Bibi understood and therefore wanted to prevent. But don’t just take Bibi’s word for it; Arafat said so at the time.
3) I don’t know what the “day after” plan is. I presume there are many and we’ll see which one has the most political and international support. I do know that the Palestinian society is inherently rooted in Jew hatred and thus the most barbaric forms of terrorism against Jews, a society that celebrates death among its highest values.
This is not my opinion. It is rooted in historical fact, going all the way back to 1834 — far before political Zionism was but a mere thought — when the peasants’ riot broke out. It was supposed to be against the heavy Egyptian demands of conscription, yet somehow involved Palestinian raping, killing, looting, etc of Jews in Hebron, Safed, Nablus, and Jerusalem.
So I think it’s about time we stop asking the Jews “what’s the plan” and start asking the Palestinians what they want to be: an actual people with a society that is no longer based on hate and vitriol of another people, or if they want to keep up their kleptocratic, terrorist and murderous ways. Israel will act accordingly and the Jews around the world would be wise to have a stronger, deeper relationship with the Jewish country than to sympathize with a people who have manipulated truth and reality into pretending they — the Palestinians — are something that, in reality, historical and current, they are not.
Kol haKavod, Joshua. Such an excellent response and article which exposes the facts. The Meir-Levi book is a good one and does the same. The world is truly upside down. Keep up the fight. You’re doing a good job.
Thank you Lisa 🙏
I appreciate you taking the time Joshua. Our hearts are breaking. As we go forward I keep feeling that Bibi and his coalition keeps becoming a bigger issue.
They are an issue for sure but I’m confident that Gantz and Gallant are doing a good job of balancing out some of the issues!
Very nice, Joshua.
Why is it not possible for those in Palestine who wish to live under Muslim law to move to Jordan, a nation that was also created by the international community, only for Muslims?
Arab Christians and Druze who do would prefer not to live under Muslim laws could be accepted into Israel. Is that too ridiculous?
Great questions Anne!
Why Gaza can’t have nice things: Blue Beach hotel was a lovely resort hotel in Gaza on the Mediterranean. Turns out full of tunnels and terror infrastructure. Not surprised.
This article is excellent. Surely the Arab States have a responsibility to take these people? It seems incredible. The UN has created a nightmare scenario by granting this massive number of refugees. Pressure must be put on Arab Countries to take them. It’s unbelievable
Unbelievable indeed!
What do you think about this Palestinian story published yesterday in The Free Press (usually an excellent source)? It reads wrong to me. More like a fairy tale about The Good Father than a true life story.
https://www.thefp.com/p/imam-father-gaza-kidnapped-by-hamas?utm_campaign=email-post&r=ltld3&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Haven’t read it yet but planning to soon!
Great article. Does Israel have a throughline? Why might it not resonate as much? What can we do about that?
Yes: the greatest decolonization project on planet earth! The problem is, antiemetic stories, fables, historical distortions, etc will always drown out this story. Thus, the only thing to do about it is to make sure that all Jews know this throughline and remain united in it!
I wonder how sophisticated the organized Jewish approach is to testing the right way to tell that story? "Decolonization" feels like a hard term to fully understand that carries a history with it. I realize the Israeli story is a complicated nuanced story, but the Palestinian throughline you mention has somehow been simplified in such a way that makes it easy to understand and somehow logical. The nuanced history tells a different story, but that's not how its being perceived. I sometimes wonder whether the Palestinian story is absorbed in the way that it is because people draw an analogy with other oppresor/oppressed stories that in reality bare little resemblance to Israel, but that might appear like they do. I wonder what Israel's analogy or mental model is that can be leveraged to reduce the cognitive load of understanding what's going on there.
Great points Ari! The problem is the Jews have so much history that it’s hard to pack it into a few bullet points. I think the original story of Judaism, that it was one of the first civilisations to value the other — “Do not unto others what you wouldn’t do to yourself is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary,” as one rabbi famously said (I’m paraphrasing) — could be a good place to start. But that’s also hard to sell when people are fed endless pictures of Israelis “lording over their Arab brethren.”
I think the formula for a partial solution may actually lie in your response to Ms. Nagel; maybe it's not our job to work out other people's problems. Though Israel did try.
Excellent, Joshua.
I wonder what an idiot like Benn will do if he's ever reminded that, he too, in the eyes of the world is just a Jew, and that all his virtue signaling (and self-hating) will have been for naught. And the difference with refugees in post WWII Europe and Japan is that the world didn't adopt them as a pet projects and infantilize them to the point of paralysis (likely driven by anti-Israel agendas). That has greatly, and systematically for that matter, diminished, if not completely destroyed any prospect of national/idiosyncratic agency whatsoever for them. They're just as you you've written in the previous article- whatever palestinians "that blame Israel for everything can be trusted with nothing", and as such, they should be given nothing. I wonder if there'll ever come a time when they seriously band together in the interest of a genuine rebuilding of their own state simply by the virtue of self-reliance. I know, I know, hamas supporters will excuse their incapacitation with the stalwart argument 'well whatabout....?'
Who said “A lie gets half way around the world before the truth gets its shoes on “?