We will see where this entry goes. S is gone again for work -- she left yesterday -- so I have the kids by myself for the week. Sometimes this means I have less free-time because I have more dad things to do; sometimes it means I have more free-time because I have less husband things to do. Today very much falls into the former camp -- not a ton of time, but I'll write what I can.
As I've mentioned on this blog before, I've been thinking a lot about the Israel-Palestine conflict the past few weeks. I've now read thousands of words on the subject and listened to dozens of hours of podcasts. I consider myself an expert -- not really, but I can recommend some expert material. Ravi Gupta at the Lost Debate did two excellent episodes on the history of the conflict. His stated goal is to present the material in a way in which somebody listening to it would not know his personal opinions on the matter, and I think he did a very good job of that. Also, Coleman Hughes has two episodes on his podcast feed, one with a pro-Israel commentator, one with a pro-Palestine commentator . I found both of them very compelling and persuasive, which speaks to why this is such a difficult problem.
In fact, my personal view on the matter is that not only is it a difficult problem, it's an impossible one under current conditions. It's a catch-22 where one side says violence against Israel is inevitable until Palestine is completely free and autonomous, and the other side says Palestine will not be completely free and autonomous until the violence again Israel ends. So entrenched is the acrimony and distrust by each side toward the other that I don't envision anybody's position changing any time soon, and so I don't see a peaceful resolution coming anytime soon. Very sadly, I think the status quo of hatred and bloodshed will continue indefinitely.
As to who I think is "right" and "wrong," I don't think anybody is really right and only Hamas is really wrong. I understand and support the White House line on Israel having the right to defend itself, and I fully stand with Jews across the world who just want to exist in peace and are constantly subjected to threats, harassment, and violence. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in a country in which your neighbor is constantly bombarding you indiscriminately with rocket fire and terrorist invasions, and the largest country in the region has repeatedly pledged to destroy you.
With that said, it's undeniable that Israel's government -- particularly in the past few decades under Benjamin Netanyahu -- has done some fucked up things itself, completely contrary to the promotion of peace. The ongoing construction of settlements in the West Bank is probably the most egregious (but not the only) example. And the thing about this is that it also directly impacts Israel's ability to defend its contiguous borders. It takes resources to fortify and supply these island communities, and we saw what happens when Israel spreads its defenses too thin. My opinion: Bibi needs to go, and given that his whole thing is hawkishness in the name of self-defense, and he just oversaw perhaps the worst breach of Israeli's borders in its history, I don't see how anybody could disagree.
As for what's been going on stateside, I've been pretty dismayed by the public response to everything. It's one thing to protest the treatment of Palestinians by Israel's government; it's quite another to cheerlead for Hamas and claim Israel is fully responsible for a horrific massacre of its innocent citizens, as we've seen people do at rallies in lefty spaces like college campuses. It's also pretty fucked up that people are ripping down signs honoring those who were killed or captured in the October 7 invasion. Maybe it's a political statement (but so what?), but maybe it's a form of communal grief. I mean, these were just normal everyday citizens. I don't understand the mindset of somebody who would feel compelled to desecrate posters in support of innocent victims, regardless of what country they happened to be born in.
Although, I also don't really love the effort to videotape the people tearing the signs down to shame them on social media or attempt to get them fired. We need more, not less, empathy, all around. I feel the same way about the doxxing of the college students. People do stupid shit in college, and a lot of them are still trying on different identities. I don't like branding 19-year-olds as antisemitic over a statement criticizing Israel (not Jewish people in general), even if it is poorly timed, incredibly insensitive, and, in my view, just plain wrong. It's possible a lot of those students don't even really understand the issues and didn't know their leadership was releasing such a statement.
I actually once unwittingly participated (perhaps) in a Free Palestine rally as a grad student. I was a big Ralph Nader guy, and I briefly attended local Green Party meetings near my university. There was a demonstration in Seattle that I thought was a "peace march," so I tagged along to it with some other members in the group. (It didn't hurt that one of them was a fellow grad student I was attracted to and would briefly date.) It was really fun and exciting to march, but halfway through it, everybody around me started chanting "Israel out of Palestine!" I was so naive at the time, I literally didn't know what they were talking about, and I also didn't know if I had somehow ended up in a breakaway group of the protest, or if this was what the entire thing was about and I just didn't realize it. I'm still not sure to this day.
After going with crowd for a bit, I started to feel uncomfortable and dumb not knowing what I was marching for, so I bailed and went to see some friends who lived in the area. This was before cellphone cameras were really a thing, so there is no footage of me at the march or anything like that. Also, it seemed to be a pretty respectful protest. But what if it wasn't, and what if I was filmed in the middle of it, with everybody around me chanting "from the river to the sea" or "glory to our martyrs," pumping my fists with no idea what I was even doing? I certainly would not have wanted that to define me.
In general, whenever I feel the urge to call somebody out or join in a public pile-on, I think about things like this from my own life, and the urge typically subsides. More empathy, not less.
Until next time...
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