We are all responsible for the Black Sabbath.
We are all responsible for the Black Sabbath.
Even though the Israeli government has reluctantly done so, we should all share in the responsibility of October 7th, 2023 — also known as the “Black Sabbath.”
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We are all responsible.
The Israelis who didn’t take Hamas all that seriously. The Israelis who overlooked the Palestinians as Israel normalized relations with other Arab countries.
The Israelis who think a one-state solution is doable. The Israelis who oppose a two-state solution.
The Israelis who want to give up on a Jewish state. The Israelis who want to impose their form of Judaism on all inhabitants of Israel.
The Israelis who think that “most” Palestinians want what they want, think how they think, and aspire for what they aspire. The Israelis who think all Palestinians are Jewish blood-thirsty terrorists.
The Israelis who presume that “most” Palestinians are willing to live in peace next to a Jewish state. The Israelis who are not willing to live in peace next to a Palestinian state.
The Israelis whose ideology puts the State of Israel in precarious positions. The Israelis who call for Israel to withdraw from all or most of the so-called settlements, even though doing so in Gaza proved to be a massive mistake.
The Israelis who provoke other Israelis. The Israelis who provoke Palestinians.
The Israelis who take for granted those who live on and near the Gaza border. The Israelis who should’ve ensured that a significant infiltration from Gaza into Israel was impossible.
The Israelis who sat idly by as the government was “busy with nonsense,” as one member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party put it. The Israelis who enabled or participated in the government as it was “busy with nonsense.”
The Israelis whose protests against the government’s “nonsense” also included cursing of religious right-wing groups of Israelis, creating an “us versus them” environment. The Israelis who said they supported the intentions behind these protests, but never actually protested, or didn’t protest enough.
The Israelis who refuse to contribute to mainstream society, such as military or social service, and to paying taxes that come from having a legal job. The Israelis who believe Israel should be a completely secular state that doesn’t support any religious-oriented functions.
The Israelis who are not Jewish, yet enjoy tremendous rights, liberties, and social services that they would otherwise not receive in many other Middle Eastern countries, yet take these things for granted. The Israelis who are Jews and do not advocate enough for improved lifestyle and opportunities for Israel’s minority groups.
The Israelis who don’t realize that Palestinian terrorists want to kill all Jews, no matter how religious or secular they profess to be. The Israelis who don’t realize that every Palestinian is not a terrorist.
The Israelis who claim that most Palestinians are peaceful, even though they don’t have any actual proof. The Israelis who claim that most Palestinians are evil, even though they also don’t have any actual proof.
The Israelis who continue to call left-wing groups “traitors.” The Israelis who have nothing good to say about religious right-wing folks.
The Israelis who unconditionally vote for Benjamin Netanyahu, whose been deteriorating as a true leader for years. The Israelis who vote for extreme left-wing factions that could one day threaten Israel’s Jewish fabric, which scares right-wing voters into staunchly voting right-wing.
The Israelis who awkwardly chant, “Bibi, King of Israel, lives, lives and exists.” The Israelis who proudly chant “Democracy! Democracy!” even though Israel can never be a true democracy as long as it’s a Jewish state.
We are all responsible.
The Jews who never went out of their way to establish and develop a relationship with Israel, their only true safe haven in the world. The Jews who unapologetically defend Israel at even the slightest of gripes against it.
The Jews who have never visited Israel, just assuming it’ll always be there for the “one day” they might pay a visit, if ever.
The Jews who expect Israel to do things that would never be expected of any other country. The Jews who expect everyone to overlook Israel’s mistakes and missteps.
The Jews who expect Israel to be just another democratic state. The Jews who expect Israel to be extremely more Jewish than democratic.
The Jews who are looked after by Israel (the Mossad has departments which regularly thwart attacks against Jews across the world), but who never look after Israel.
The Jews whose Jewish identity has nothing to do with Israel, even though Israel is the Jewish world’s capital. The Jews whose Jewish identity has only to do with Israel, even though there are more Jews living outside of Israel than in it.
The Jews who over-emphasized the Holocaust as a way to build one’s Jewish identity. The Jews who don’t acknowledge that the evil forces who perpetuated the Holocaust are still very much in existence today.
The Jews who ignorantly claim that Israel was founded as a result of the Holocaust, greatly overlooking the equally important history and narratives of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews.
The Jews who bemoan refugees, yet ignore or are unaware that millions of Jews were refugees for thousands of years, most recently leading up to, during, and after the Holocaust, as well as Jews living in Middle Eastern and North African countries who were expelled or socially pressured to leave their homes leading up to and following the founding of the State of Israel.
The Jews who know how to decipher right-wing antisemitism, but overlook or don’t know how to identify left-wing antisemitism. The Jews whose idols are people who spew sophisticated and subliminal left-wing antisemitism, and the Jews who are ignorant to the fact that this antisemitism will ultimately be used against them.
The Jews who know left-wing antisemitism when they see it, but for whatever reason refuse to call it out. The Jews who know right-wing antisemitism when they see it, but for whatever reason refuse to call it out.
The Jews who say they are “proud to be Jewish” yet consistently don’t do much in the way of being Jewish. The Jews who are obnoxious about their Jewishness.
The Jews who use other Jews’ “anti-Israel” stance to amplify anti-Israel hatred and bigotry across the world.
The Jews who don’t realize that most of their values are Judaism-based, and the Jews who look for wisdom and guidance in every place, except for Judaism.
The Jews who don’t realize that Judaism is far more than a religion. The Jews who over-emphasize the religious aspects of Judaism.
The Jews who judge Judaism and Israel, without understanding the historical content in which they came to life. The Jews who refuse to update their views and beliefs according to modern-day developments.
The Jews who gaslight other Jews. The Jews who think all Jews are as perfect as can be.
The Jews who think that “tikkun olam” is center of Jewish gravity. The Jews who think Judaism is the answer to everything.
The Jews who didn’t marry Jewish and didn’t raise their kids Jewish. The Jews who look down on interfaith marriages and make interfaith families feel uncomfortable at quintessentially Jewish events.
The Jews who make conversion to Judaism way too long and drawn-out. The Jews who could ask their spouses to convert, but don’t.
The Jews who think nationalism is wrong. The Jews who don’t realize that, without a Jewish country, all Jews across the world would return to living in fear of pogroms and other antisemitic violence.
The Jews who haven’t taken the time to learn and experience all of Israel and its history. The Jews who haven’t taken the time to learn and experience all of Judaism and its history.
The Jews who don’t realize that Reform Judaism was initially a reaction to Christian community-gathering in Germany. The Jews who don’t realize that Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Judaism have been perverted to advance political and other agendas.
The Jews who are too Zionist. The Jews who are not Zionist enough.
The Jews who deny the Jewish claim to their homeland. The Jews who overemphasize the Jewish claim to their homeland.
The Jews who have allowed ideology and politics to stand in the way of unity and solidarity. The Jews who have used ideology and politics to divide Jews amongst ourselves.
The Jews who support Jewish organizations to further promote their own worldviews. The Jews who run organizations that are more interested in their own organizing logic and self-preservation than they are in advancing their stated missions and collaborating accordingly.
The Jews who taught their kids that Israel can do no wrong. The Jews who taught their kids that Israel is a colonizing, white supremacist menace.
The Jews who apply their so-called liberal values to everyone except for other Jews and Israel. The Jews who apply their form of Judaism to other Jews and Israel.
The Jews who don’t realize that Black lives, Asian lives, and every other group of lives don’t matter if Jewish lives don’t matter.
The Jews who don’t realize that Jews can be antisemitic, or at least propagate antisemitic messages.
The Jews who are overly pro-Palestinian at the expense of Israel. The Jews who are overly pro-Israel at the expense of Palestinians.
The Jews who say they stand with Israel, but won’t publicly do so because they’re hesitant to engage in uncomfortable conversations with their non-Jewish family, friends, colleagues, and social media connections. The Jews who incessantly publicize their pro-Israel stance, but don’t acknowledge that the situation is multifaceted and Israel has both wronged and been wronged.
The Jews who don’t take antisemitism seriously because it hasn’t directly affected them, or because they think they (or their surroundings) are invincible to it. The Jews who think every little comment and action are antisemitic.
The Jews who claim Israel is living on stolen land, yet are themselves living on stolen land in places like, but certainly not limited to, the United States and Australia. The Jews who believe in continuing to build settlements on land that may one day need to be used in a negotiated peace with Palestinians.
The Jews who are so arrogant, they think they know more about the Palestinians than the people who’ve been living next to them for 100 years. The Jews who are not willing to listen to the Palestinian side of the story.
The Jews who don’t realize Israel is at war with a vicious ideology, not a people. The Jews who don’t realize that Zionism, in and of itself, is also an ideology, and that we are all subject to ideologies, no matter how positive they may seem.
The Jews who don’t realize that the Palestinians have long been pawns used by other Arab countries in their geopolitical game of chess across the Middle East and North Africa.
The Jews who scream “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing” without knowing what these terms actually mean, or without knowing that the reality has nothing to do with these terms.
The Jews who are anti-war for mostly good reasons, but don’t realize that not all wars are fought for the same reasons. And some wars, especially against pure evil, must be fought. The Jews who are overwhelmingly pro-war, even if it means losing way too many lives on all sides.
The Jews who compare the Israel-Hamas war to the United States’ wars in the Middle East following 9/11, even though the more you unpack this comparison, the more you realize that it is actually a misleading and inaccurate one.
The Jews who don’t realize that both Palestinians and Jews have wronged and been wronged. The Jews who don’t realize that you can be both pro-Palestinian and pro-Jewish.
The Jews who claim to be pro-Palestine, yet have very little knowledge of Palestinian history. The Jews who refuse to accept the Palestinians as a group of people who we also share this planet with.
The Jews who have become so assimilated in societies around the world that they are effectively propagating Jewish death by assimilation.
The Jews who didn’t give their children the tools to deal with the Black Sabbath and its aftermath.
We are all responsible.