Genocide continues without interruption
April 14, 2025 6:58 AM Subscribe
On Passover, the IDF bombed al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, one of the last functional hospitals in Gaza, drawing widespread condemnation. It was the second time the IDF bombed the hospital. Al-Jazeera has posted a timeline of IDF attacks on hospitals over the past year and a half. A new potential ceasefire deal is on the table. Again. DropSiteNews indicates there is nothing new. Houthis strike Ben Gurion Airport, military base in Israel. Trump backs Israel pushing deeper into Gaza while also pushing for a hostage deal. Hamas slams Israel's ban on Palestinian Christians celebrating Palm Sunday in Jerusalem.
In the US, Mahmoud Khalil still remains in detention and will likely miss the birth of his child. An immigration judge ruled that he could be deported. Rümeysa Öztürk remains in detention. Don Moynihan notes that the DHS memo copies language directly from the Canary Mission's website. International students face visa revocations at multiple universities. 19 state Attorney Generals ask federal judge to block the revocations. The US Senate confirmed former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee as the Trump admin's ambassador to Israel in a 53-46 vote.
Nicholas Kristof writes about why Palestinian Christians feel betrayed by American Christians. ungated
Families of Israeli hostages hold seder at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square.
Israeli historian now thinks Zionism was a mistake, after having studied it most of his life. ungated
Anti-Zionist Jews reflect on Passover and Palestine.
Previously.
In the US, Mahmoud Khalil still remains in detention and will likely miss the birth of his child. An immigration judge ruled that he could be deported. Rümeysa Öztürk remains in detention. Don Moynihan notes that the DHS memo copies language directly from the Canary Mission's website. International students face visa revocations at multiple universities. 19 state Attorney Generals ask federal judge to block the revocations. The US Senate confirmed former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee as the Trump admin's ambassador to Israel in a 53-46 vote.
Nicholas Kristof writes about why Palestinian Christians feel betrayed by American Christians. ungated
Families of Israeli hostages hold seder at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square.
Israeli historian now thinks Zionism was a mistake, after having studied it most of his life. ungated
Anti-Zionist Jews reflect on Passover and Palestine.
Previously.
Thank you for the links. Hope is a practice, and every day, I reach for hope that Palestine will be liberated within our lifetimes.
On October 25, 2023, three weeks after the bombardment of Gaza began, Omar El Akkad tweeted: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” His book is on my TBR list.
posted by wicked_sassy at 8:21 AM on April 14 [16 favorites]
On October 25, 2023, three weeks after the bombardment of Gaza began, Omar El Akkad tweeted: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” His book is on my TBR list.
posted by wicked_sassy at 8:21 AM on April 14 [16 favorites]
Omar’s book is really good.
My Hirbawi kufiya arrived today.
Thank you for posting.
posted by lokta at 8:30 AM on April 14 [8 favorites]
My Hirbawi kufiya arrived today.
Thank you for posting.
posted by lokta at 8:30 AM on April 14 [8 favorites]
Palestine, as ever, demonstrating what religious freedom is really about :)
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 8:52 AM on April 14 [2 favorites]
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 8:52 AM on April 14 [2 favorites]
How phone footage exposed a massacre of Gaza paramedics – [Guardian] Full Story podcast
posted by cendawanita at 8:56 AM on April 14 [6 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 8:56 AM on April 14 [6 favorites]
Is that what Huckabee will be doing? Cementing the apocalyptofundie ties to Israel? Can't wait to see him open the U.S. Consulate on the plain of Megiddo.
posted by the sobsister at 9:20 AM on April 14 [3 favorites]
posted by the sobsister at 9:20 AM on April 14 [3 favorites]
Excellent post, thank you.
Tim Snyder: The Trump people claim to be fighting antisemitism, and the media often accept that framing. I believe, on the contrary, that these actions are antisemitic in intention and in execution.
Fomenting antisemitism.
posted by subdee at 10:54 AM on April 14 [5 favorites]
Tim Snyder: The Trump people claim to be fighting antisemitism, and the media often accept that framing. I believe, on the contrary, that these actions are antisemitic in intention and in execution.
Fomenting antisemitism.
posted by subdee at 10:54 AM on April 14 [5 favorites]
Thank you for this post, toastyk. I just used often-recommended-here 5 Calls service (also an iPhone app) to call my two US Senators and begged them to take action against deportations of pro-Palestinian students (because I am not taken seriously if I describe them as anti-genocide and am probably not taken seriously in any case).
The ongoing mass murder of Palestinians surely must end some day. I am not optimistic but, like wicked_sassy, I do practice hope.
*
posted by Bella Donna at 11:57 AM on April 14 [4 favorites]
The ongoing mass murder of Palestinians surely must end some day. I am not optimistic but, like wicked_sassy, I do practice hope.
*
posted by Bella Donna at 11:57 AM on April 14 [4 favorites]
→
I'm very glad that they're still operating
posted by scruss at 2:15 PM on April 14 [4 favorites]
My Hirbawi kufiya arrived today.
I'm very glad that they're still operating
posted by scruss at 2:15 PM on April 14 [4 favorites]
How is it possible for Jews to use the phrase "never again" without understanding how they are participating in a modern day atrocity?
posted by woman at 3:57 PM on April 14 [3 favorites]
posted by woman at 3:57 PM on April 14 [3 favorites]
Please be careful about talking about Jews as a uniform group. Many are not participating and do not support Israel and the Zionist project. Many are fighting for Palestinians.
posted by kokaku at 4:19 PM on April 14 [24 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 4:19 PM on April 14 [24 favorites]
How is it possible for Jews to use the phrase "never again" without understanding how they are participating in a modern day atrocity?
At the risk of becoming the least popular person on Metafilter, I would venture to say trauma. When you focus only on your own trauma (and there is certainly plenty to point to in the history of Jews around the world), you can become blind to the trauma of others. Add in an a nakedly opportunistic authoritarian like Bibi Netanyahu and the atrocity of October 7th, and you have the continuing horror we see today.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 5:00 PM on April 14 [4 favorites]
At the risk of becoming the least popular person on Metafilter, I would venture to say trauma. When you focus only on your own trauma (and there is certainly plenty to point to in the history of Jews around the world), you can become blind to the trauma of others. Add in an a nakedly opportunistic authoritarian like Bibi Netanyahu and the atrocity of October 7th, and you have the continuing horror we see today.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 5:00 PM on April 14 [4 favorites]
To echo Big Al's comment: hurt people hurt people. Besides the Israelis, another example is the Serbs and particularly the Bosnian Serbs: a cultural history of oppression and genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire leads to a culture of grievance and vengeance. Decades (or centuries) after the Ustashe or the Janissaries have done their deeds, demagogues then exploit the cultural memory to justify and even glorify counter-genocides.
See also: Russians v. Tartars and Mongols, Chinese v. Mongols and Uighurs, Real IRA v. Ulster Scot-Irish, Javanese v. ethnic Chinese, Hindus v. Punjabis.... there's probably a whole lot of other instances that I'm missing out on...
posted by LeRoienJaune at 6:49 PM on April 14 [6 favorites]
See also: Russians v. Tartars and Mongols, Chinese v. Mongols and Uighurs, Real IRA v. Ulster Scot-Irish, Javanese v. ethnic Chinese, Hindus v. Punjabis.... there's probably a whole lot of other instances that I'm missing out on...
posted by LeRoienJaune at 6:49 PM on April 14 [6 favorites]
Which is why I have always emphasized the commonality and pushed back on the cultivated sense of uniqueness that I always encountered in western spaces, like here. (Not to mention it does an absolute disservice to other groups affected by western genocidal norms) Israel loves to appeal to other Western countries as fellows - unless deleted (idk) you can literally find comments here in earlier coverage threads that thought it's a reasonable thing to phrase as unfair that Israel is judged unfairly now when countries like the USA managed to "survive" what it did to its indigenous peoples fine. But the thing is, Israel is a bog standard and boring exemplar of a typical postcolonial disease, when that politics of grievance is both valid in its historicity and then fused with romantic European ethnonationalism.
I'm saying it again: Israel is not special in its psychosis, even in its formation (is Papua even Indonesian? Yet. Is Xinjiang? What business does Russian Slavic majority have to have borders as eastern as they do?) What's unique is the western coddling, because that's preferable than actual reparations and addressing the injustice from the Holocaust.
Coincidentally, in Jewish Currents: Against Zionist Realism -
Is “Not In Our Name” Jewish organizing around Palestine inflating our culpability as Jews—and downplaying our complicity as Americans?
posted by cendawanita at 7:02 PM on April 14 [11 favorites]
I'm saying it again: Israel is not special in its psychosis, even in its formation (is Papua even Indonesian? Yet. Is Xinjiang? What business does Russian Slavic majority have to have borders as eastern as they do?) What's unique is the western coddling, because that's preferable than actual reparations and addressing the injustice from the Holocaust.
Coincidentally, in Jewish Currents: Against Zionist Realism -
Is “Not In Our Name” Jewish organizing around Palestine inflating our culpability as Jews—and downplaying our complicity as Americans?
posted by cendawanita at 7:02 PM on April 14 [11 favorites]
One thing doing a little travel around the world has taught me is there are in/out groups everywhere. Prejudice is sadly a universal condition. My sister-in-law is from Borneo (she is ethnically Chinese/Kadazan) and when we went to the wedding reception in Kota Kinabalu, we met her entire family. Her paternal grandfather, who was a child during WW II, still harbored strong resentment to the Japanese. The pain of the occupation was still very evident to him. At the reception, he gave a really lovely speech welcoming my brother to his family and celebrating multiculturalism. But he also complained about the amount of Muslim immigrants from Indonesia. He believed it was tacitly encouraged by the Malay majority because it would weaken the nominally Christian minority in Malaysia (who I believe are a majority on Borneo). As an outsider, it was curious to see — I’m sure someone from somewhere else in the world could spot my blind spots if they were to visit me.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:31 PM on April 14 [2 favorites]
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:31 PM on April 14 [2 favorites]
Since this thread is somewhat of an omnibus on these issues, I offer a well-thought-through article from a current college president who has been taking a principled view of how the current regime is using antisemitism for its own less-than-altruistic purposes.
This, for several weeks before a certain larger university has suddenly discovered its ****s: Trump Is Selling Jews a Dangerous Lie
And another thing: cendawanita, great thought-provoking article from Jewish Currents. An element raised not often enough in big/little power relationships is the lack of control that donor countries have once their weapons have left the dock. Last time I studied this stuff carefully (the 1970s, when Soviet sponsorship of Syria was at one of its peaks), I found a quote from a Soviet ambassador to Syria saying "Those damned Syrians will take anything but advice" (name available upon request).
It's easy to forget that these big/little arrangements are far from permanent. A good example: Israel's main supplier/supporter until the late 1960's was France. The U.S. only replaced France once Cold War dynamics, plus the withdrawal of France from North Africa, made France's committment wane, and the U.S's committment wax. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, then-President Nixon saw to it that Israel was instantly well-armed after Israel's original setbacks in the early days of the war. For most, this is ancient history. But the dynamics haven't changed since -- only the players.
(This is actually a totally separate issue from donor complicity, politics-motivated threats, and pot-stirring insane proposals).
End of rant :)
posted by Citizen Cane Juice at 7:42 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
This, for several weeks before a certain larger university has suddenly discovered its ****s: Trump Is Selling Jews a Dangerous Lie
And another thing: cendawanita, great thought-provoking article from Jewish Currents. An element raised not often enough in big/little power relationships is the lack of control that donor countries have once their weapons have left the dock. Last time I studied this stuff carefully (the 1970s, when Soviet sponsorship of Syria was at one of its peaks), I found a quote from a Soviet ambassador to Syria saying "Those damned Syrians will take anything but advice" (name available upon request).
It's easy to forget that these big/little arrangements are far from permanent. A good example: Israel's main supplier/supporter until the late 1960's was France. The U.S. only replaced France once Cold War dynamics, plus the withdrawal of France from North Africa, made France's committment wane, and the U.S's committment wax. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, then-President Nixon saw to it that Israel was instantly well-armed after Israel's original setbacks in the early days of the war. For most, this is ancient history. But the dynamics haven't changed since -- only the players.
(This is actually a totally separate issue from donor complicity, politics-motivated threats, and pot-stirring insane proposals).
End of rant :)
posted by Citizen Cane Juice at 7:42 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
I think the impermanence might be behind the giant levels of energy being exerted to stay contrary to both public opinion and international law, never mind if it's taking down democratic institutions.
Re: that NYT opinion piece, I don't know if it's related to NYT's now infamous contribution of the Palestine Exception or himself, but: As for Mr. Trump, he declared that Senator Chuck Schumer is “not Jewish anymore,”
And then what else, what else did he call him? NYT elided it by simply consigning it to a citation link: Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump attacked the Democrats over their response during his address to Congress on March 6 and targeted Schumer when he was asked about corporate taxes. ‘Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned. He’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian,’ Trump said.
I fall into this trap too, but like white woman tears that emerge when feminist issues impacting BIPOC women are being discussed, I have to remind myself, the story here, by 2025, is primarily of Palestinian dispossession and dehumanization.
Anyway, ICYMI:
Israeli troops shot at medics from as close as 12 metres, audio analysis suggests -
Analysis shared with Sky News calls into question Israel's claim that there was "no firing from close distance" in the IDF attack which killed 15 aid workers last month.
For housekeeping, as shared in the latest Biden thread and in keeping with the current conversation + recollection on how his administration acted: Under Primacy, Weapons Sales Will Always Supersede Human Rights
And: Pew Research:
As Americans look at the Middle East, fewer say the Israel-Hamas war is important to them personally – or important to U.S. national interests – than felt that way early last year, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
In addition, the public’s views of Israel have turned more negative over the past three years. More than half of U.S. adults (53%) now express an unfavorable opinion of Israel, up from 42% in March 2022 – before the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. (Pew Research Center regularly asks about attitudes toward countries like Russia, the U.S., China and others. Refer to the “How we did this” box for more details.)
Americans’ confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also remains relatively low (32%), according to the new survey. The survey was conducted March 24-30 – just before Netanyahu’s most recent visit – among a nationally representative sample of 3,605 U.S. adults.
posted by cendawanita at 8:33 PM on April 14 [5 favorites]
Re: that NYT opinion piece, I don't know if it's related to NYT's now infamous contribution of the Palestine Exception or himself, but: As for Mr. Trump, he declared that Senator Chuck Schumer is “not Jewish anymore,”
And then what else, what else did he call him? NYT elided it by simply consigning it to a citation link: Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump attacked the Democrats over their response during his address to Congress on March 6 and targeted Schumer when he was asked about corporate taxes. ‘Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned. He’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian,’ Trump said.
I fall into this trap too, but like white woman tears that emerge when feminist issues impacting BIPOC women are being discussed, I have to remind myself, the story here, by 2025, is primarily of Palestinian dispossession and dehumanization.
Anyway, ICYMI:
Israeli troops shot at medics from as close as 12 metres, audio analysis suggests -
Analysis shared with Sky News calls into question Israel's claim that there was "no firing from close distance" in the IDF attack which killed 15 aid workers last month.
For housekeeping, as shared in the latest Biden thread and in keeping with the current conversation + recollection on how his administration acted: Under Primacy, Weapons Sales Will Always Supersede Human Rights
And: Pew Research:
As Americans look at the Middle East, fewer say the Israel-Hamas war is important to them personally – or important to U.S. national interests – than felt that way early last year, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
In addition, the public’s views of Israel have turned more negative over the past three years. More than half of U.S. adults (53%) now express an unfavorable opinion of Israel, up from 42% in March 2022 – before the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. (Pew Research Center regularly asks about attitudes toward countries like Russia, the U.S., China and others. Refer to the “How we did this” box for more details.)
Americans’ confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also remains relatively low (32%), according to the new survey. The survey was conducted March 24-30 – just before Netanyahu’s most recent visit – among a nationally representative sample of 3,605 U.S. adults.
posted by cendawanita at 8:33 PM on April 14 [5 favorites]
Thanks everyone.... I do want to point out that for every single discussion that has been had on this site about anti-semitism in relation to Palestinians, there has not really been an actual discussion of anti-Palestinian racism - its definitions, and how it manifests, what it entails, etc. This is as much my fault as it is anyone else's, but it was just something I was mulling over.
I just watched this Middle East Eye interview with Helena Cobban, who just authored a book with Rami G. Khouri on "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters", and it's quite illuminating. It's about an hour long; I highly recommend it.
The latest abductee in the US is a Palestinian student and activist at Columbia University Mohsen Mahdawi, who was arrested by ICE when he showed up to take his citizenship test.
Anyway the latest from the ceasefire merry-go-round - Israel is demanding that Hamas disarms, with no commitment towards ending the war, and Hamas is rejecting disarmament as a condition of ceasefire, asserting that resistance is a right they have. Looks like another impasse.
I don't know if this is a sign, but several groups of Israeli soldiers have been circulating petitions calling for an end to the war on Gaza. In addition, NPR reports that fewer military reservists are willing to report for duty.
posted by toastyk at 9:28 PM on April 14 [10 favorites]
I just watched this Middle East Eye interview with Helena Cobban, who just authored a book with Rami G. Khouri on "Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters", and it's quite illuminating. It's about an hour long; I highly recommend it.
The latest abductee in the US is a Palestinian student and activist at Columbia University Mohsen Mahdawi, who was arrested by ICE when he showed up to take his citizenship test.
Anyway the latest from the ceasefire merry-go-round - Israel is demanding that Hamas disarms, with no commitment towards ending the war, and Hamas is rejecting disarmament as a condition of ceasefire, asserting that resistance is a right they have. Looks like another impasse.
I don't know if this is a sign, but several groups of Israeli soldiers have been circulating petitions calling for an end to the war on Gaza. In addition, NPR reports that fewer military reservists are willing to report for duty.
posted by toastyk at 9:28 PM on April 14 [10 favorites]
The best explanation for these perennial horrors is also the most succint. It's just two words. It was the title of Benny Morris' comprehensive history of the Zionist-Arab/Palestinian conflict: Righteous Victims.
The Zionists embrace a victimhood stemming from centuries of pogroms, persecution and the Holocaust. Hamas embraces a victimhood from Nakba and decades of oppression by successive Israeli governments.
When you see yourself as a victim, and a righteous one you can justify anything.
posted by storybored at 8:14 AM on April 15
The Zionists embrace a victimhood stemming from centuries of pogroms, persecution and the Holocaust. Hamas embraces a victimhood from Nakba and decades of oppression by successive Israeli governments.
When you see yourself as a victim, and a righteous one you can justify anything.
posted by storybored at 8:14 AM on April 15
I used to be active on Metafilter years ago (prior to and early in Trump’s first term) and drifted away from the site for a variety of reasons. I will not be insulted if this thread gets deleted but I needed to say the following in case it earnestly helps someone here understand the site’s current dynamic.
I can only say that it is truly too bad that Metafilter has become a place where the following happens:
1. Someone early in the thread says “Jews”, (without any caveating, context, or qualifiers) are collectively “participating in a modern day atrocity”.
2. Someone politely comments in reply to that user as though the user had accidentally posted a double link to the front page and not condemned an entire, globally dispersed people to conflation with the acts of a particular nation state.
3. Other users chime in (again politely!) psychoanalyzing The Jews. “Perhaps this poor tribe is just universally traumatized!”
4. Cendwanita posts an excellent article that really, truly should, if read correctly, make everyone consider if the above conversation/framing about “the special place for American Jews” does anything to help the larger and more important issue of Palestinian dehumanization.
I know it is usually a big “no” these days to mentions users by name. But I mention Cendwanita because in my lurking I really do believe they are wrestling with the complexities of this topic in a way that, if emulated by other users, would likely mean that the various MetaTalk threads that crop up around this (here and here etc. ) wouldn’t be needed. I say this as someone that has gotten actually mad at Cendwanita’s posts but can still see that they put thought and work into them.
This is all to say that if folks on this site continue to wonder: “hey, why do threads on this issue seem to always turn into conversations about antisemitism?”
Because, before anyone can make thoughtful points about racism directed at Palestinians or post thoughtful articles about “Zionist Realism” someone will post just the most plainly ignorant YouTube comment of a thought generalizing about Jews and Judaism. It should also be noted that even if one is Jewish it doesn’t preclude one from posting such ignorant nonsense.
My expectation is that as long as Metafilter remains a place where one, plainly ignorant comment can sit like an anchor at the top of a thread for a full day, it will continue to drag down the rest of the threads like this and will continue to distract folks from more thoughtful posts on this thread and site.
posted by BobbyPullsAWilson at 8:34 AM on April 15 [5 favorites]
I can only say that it is truly too bad that Metafilter has become a place where the following happens:
1. Someone early in the thread says “Jews”, (without any caveating, context, or qualifiers) are collectively “participating in a modern day atrocity”.
2. Someone politely comments in reply to that user as though the user had accidentally posted a double link to the front page and not condemned an entire, globally dispersed people to conflation with the acts of a particular nation state.
3. Other users chime in (again politely!) psychoanalyzing The Jews. “Perhaps this poor tribe is just universally traumatized!”
4. Cendwanita posts an excellent article that really, truly should, if read correctly, make everyone consider if the above conversation/framing about “the special place for American Jews” does anything to help the larger and more important issue of Palestinian dehumanization.
I know it is usually a big “no” these days to mentions users by name. But I mention Cendwanita because in my lurking I really do believe they are wrestling with the complexities of this topic in a way that, if emulated by other users, would likely mean that the various MetaTalk threads that crop up around this (here and here etc. ) wouldn’t be needed. I say this as someone that has gotten actually mad at Cendwanita’s posts but can still see that they put thought and work into them.
This is all to say that if folks on this site continue to wonder: “hey, why do threads on this issue seem to always turn into conversations about antisemitism?”
Because, before anyone can make thoughtful points about racism directed at Palestinians or post thoughtful articles about “Zionist Realism” someone will post just the most plainly ignorant YouTube comment of a thought generalizing about Jews and Judaism. It should also be noted that even if one is Jewish it doesn’t preclude one from posting such ignorant nonsense.
My expectation is that as long as Metafilter remains a place where one, plainly ignorant comment can sit like an anchor at the top of a thread for a full day, it will continue to drag down the rest of the threads like this and will continue to distract folks from more thoughtful posts on this thread and site.
posted by BobbyPullsAWilson at 8:34 AM on April 15 [5 favorites]
Mod note: woman: "How is it possible for Jews to use the phrase "never again" without understanding how they are participating in a modern day atrocity?"
Just following up on this comment and what other members have pointed out: Painting Jewish people as a monolithic block is anti-semitic. Not all Jews agree with the Israeli government. Not all Jews support various actions of the Israeli military.
Anyone who said all blacks agree with "X" would be quickly condemned as racist, so please be cognizant of your thoughts and language when speaking of the Jewish people.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:16 PM on April 15
Just following up on this comment and what other members have pointed out: Painting Jewish people as a monolithic block is anti-semitic. Not all Jews agree with the Israeli government. Not all Jews support various actions of the Israeli military.
Anyone who said all blacks agree with "X" would be quickly condemned as racist, so please be cognizant of your thoughts and language when speaking of the Jewish people.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:16 PM on April 15
1. Someone early in the thread says “Jews”, (without any caveating, context, or qualifiers) are collectively “participating in a modern day atrocity”.
That's one reasonable interpretation of this comment.
A more sympathetic reading would interpret it as asking how it is possible for such Jews as are participating in a modern day atrocity to use the phrase "Never again" with a straight face.
Near as I can tell, the answer to that question is that for those Jews and those Jews only, "Never again" means "Never again to Jews".
The thinking seems to be that the most effective way to overcome irrational hatred is by replacing it with the kind of existential fear best induced via frequent demonstrations of mass killings with total impunity.
I don't see it, myself. Apart from being psychologically counterproductive, the current Israeli brand of Zionism looks like internalized victim-blaming - identifying the root cause for countless historical instances of Jews being targeted and killed as the inability of those killed to defend themselves, rather than the antisemitism of their murderers.
There's also the matter of treating antisemitism as in some way structurally different from hatred directed at any other minority group. The thinking seems to be that antisemitism has always existed and therefore will always pose the same degree of existential threat.
But "it wouldn't matter what we did, they'd hate us anyway" is fucking weak sauce as an excuse for doing things that would make anybody hate anybody who did those things exactly because they'd done those things. Israel's "they hate us because we're Jewish" is no more justifiable than W's "they hate us for our freedoms" and it's really no surprise to me that it's pretty much the same kind of conservatives who seem to be convinced by both.
posted by flabdablet at 7:23 PM on April 15 [4 favorites]
That's one reasonable interpretation of this comment.
A more sympathetic reading would interpret it as asking how it is possible for such Jews as are participating in a modern day atrocity to use the phrase "Never again" with a straight face.
Near as I can tell, the answer to that question is that for those Jews and those Jews only, "Never again" means "Never again to Jews".
The thinking seems to be that the most effective way to overcome irrational hatred is by replacing it with the kind of existential fear best induced via frequent demonstrations of mass killings with total impunity.
I don't see it, myself. Apart from being psychologically counterproductive, the current Israeli brand of Zionism looks like internalized victim-blaming - identifying the root cause for countless historical instances of Jews being targeted and killed as the inability of those killed to defend themselves, rather than the antisemitism of their murderers.
There's also the matter of treating antisemitism as in some way structurally different from hatred directed at any other minority group. The thinking seems to be that antisemitism has always existed and therefore will always pose the same degree of existential threat.
But "it wouldn't matter what we did, they'd hate us anyway" is fucking weak sauce as an excuse for doing things that would make anybody hate anybody who did those things exactly because they'd done those things. Israel's "they hate us because we're Jewish" is no more justifiable than W's "they hate us for our freedoms" and it's really no surprise to me that it's pretty much the same kind of conservatives who seem to be convinced by both.
posted by flabdablet at 7:23 PM on April 15 [4 favorites]
There actually is an interesting conversation to be had about 'never again' because it is used differently by Jewish people in Israel, where it tends to mean "never again TO US" - aka we won't let ourselves be victims again, we'll become oppressors first if that's what it takes.... Versus Jewish people of the disappora, who tend to interpret it as "never again means never again to anyone."
I can see where this is a derail from the thread about Palestinian genocide, though. It's just that for the ongoing atrocities in Palestine I don't know what else to say beyond that they are horrible. And the US government using 'antisemitism' as a cover to preemptively defang what they've identified as a threat to themselves - mass protests by student activists - I mean this isn't genocide, but it also makes me sick at heart.
posted by subdee at 7:38 PM on April 15 [2 favorites]
I can see where this is a derail from the thread about Palestinian genocide, though. It's just that for the ongoing atrocities in Palestine I don't know what else to say beyond that they are horrible. And the US government using 'antisemitism' as a cover to preemptively defang what they've identified as a threat to themselves - mass protests by student activists - I mean this isn't genocide, but it also makes me sick at heart.
posted by subdee at 7:38 PM on April 15 [2 favorites]
it is used differently by Jewish people in Israel, where it tends to mean "never again TO US"
Which is even more victim-blamey than "never again to Jews". Distinct whiff of "Your synagogue got burnt down? Well, what did you expect? I told you you should have moved to Tel Aviv."
posted by flabdablet at 7:45 PM on April 15 [2 favorites]
Which is even more victim-blamey than "never again to Jews". Distinct whiff of "Your synagogue got burnt down? Well, what did you expect? I told you you should have moved to Tel Aviv."
posted by flabdablet at 7:45 PM on April 15 [2 favorites]
This is all to say that if folks on this site continue to wonder: “hey, why do threads on this issue seem to always turn into conversations about antisemitism?”
Because, before anyone can make thoughtful points about racism directed at Palestinians or post thoughtful articles about “Zionist Realism” someone will post just the most plainly ignorant YouTube comment of a thought generalizing about Jews and Judaism
That has actually almost never happened in any of these threads going back to October of 2023; apart from the singular and obvious comment in this thread, I have to say I haven't seen a single instance of anyone (apart from avowed Zionists) conflating Jews as a people with Israel as a state.
There are two reasons that threads on this issue often turn into conversations about antisemitism: 1) bad-faith accusations of same by supporters of Israel directed at criticism of Israel; 2) the fact that those same bad-faith accusations have been weaponised against student protesters and used as grounds for revocation of permanent citizenship and deportation.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 10:47 PM on April 15 [3 favorites]
Because, before anyone can make thoughtful points about racism directed at Palestinians or post thoughtful articles about “Zionist Realism” someone will post just the most plainly ignorant YouTube comment of a thought generalizing about Jews and Judaism
That has actually almost never happened in any of these threads going back to October of 2023; apart from the singular and obvious comment in this thread, I have to say I haven't seen a single instance of anyone (apart from avowed Zionists) conflating Jews as a people with Israel as a state.
There are two reasons that threads on this issue often turn into conversations about antisemitism: 1) bad-faith accusations of same by supporters of Israel directed at criticism of Israel; 2) the fact that those same bad-faith accusations have been weaponised against student protesters and used as grounds for revocation of permanent citizenship and deportation.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 10:47 PM on April 15 [3 favorites]
apart from the singular and obvious comment in this thread, I have to say I haven't seen a single instance of anyone (apart from avowed Zionists) conflating Jews as a people with Israel as a state
and unless and until that commenter actually says in so many words that they were indeed conflating those things as they wrote it, there's a defensible reading that excludes that comment as well.
posted by flabdablet at 11:40 PM on April 15
and unless and until that commenter actually says in so many words that they were indeed conflating those things as they wrote it, there's a defensible reading that excludes that comment as well.
posted by flabdablet at 11:40 PM on April 15
At this rate, just use "Zionist". It's more accurate and not limited to Jewish people. If you're not a Palestinian who's been so policed that most of them literally has never met a Jewish person who's 1) not part of the IDF and therefore Israeli; and 2) so terrorized and abused that they get the Star of David graffitied on their homes or burned onto their skin like cattle, and therefore 3) consistently molested with the cries that this is what "the Jews" are doing to them, "Zionist" remains the most instructive since this genocide is driven by political ideology.
/sympathies to anyone whose upbringing and sociopolitical environment conflated the religion and the political ideology tho. At least I got to run away from the Wahhabist brainwashing.
If you feel concerned about using it, ask yourself why. If you'd like to persist in the conflation I'm forced to continue marvelling at the multifaceted antisemitism of the Western mind. Countries are persistent structures - even the USA is still standing despite its many sins. Germany split for a bit and came back again. Invented countries like mine are still ticking. So Israel is not going away, but if you want it to stay being a cancer to its regional neighbours, well... That would make sense. It's not like there's not a lot of jobs left but the army.
---
Posted elsewhere:
Forward: Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy -
Former Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt supports parts of the Trump administration’s visa crackdown, but said it must be done ‘thoughtfully’ and with due process
As the Trump administration escalates its campaign to revoke the visas of hundreds of international students — many for their involvement in pro-Palestinian activism — Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s antisemitism envoy, is offering support for some of the moves.
“To depict some of these people as martyrs and heroes is ludicrous,” Lipstadt said in an interview, her words pointed and deliberate.
(...) Her remarks place her in a carefully calibrated position — neither in full alignment with critics of the Trump administration’s policy, nor with those who have championed mass deportations as a show of zero tolerance. “I’m not opposed to the administration rescinding the student visas of some of the people that they’re rescinding the student visas of,” she said. “But I just think it should be done properly, according to the laws of the country.”
----
Journalist Ahmed Alnaouq: ‘It’s our duty to make Gaza’s stories immortal’
The Gaza-born, UK-based journalist, who has lost more than 20 family members in Israeli airstrikes, has taken pieces from an online platform he co-created for young Palestinians and collated them in a new book
---
Did an Israeli Oct. 7 Witness Tell ‘Many Lies’ About Rape and Sexual Violence? -
An Israeli reporter says Rami Davidian, a key source in Sheryl Sandberg’s Oct. 7 documentary, told ‘hair-raising stories that never, ever occurred.’
posted by cendawanita at 12:36 AM on April 16 [4 favorites]
/sympathies to anyone whose upbringing and sociopolitical environment conflated the religion and the political ideology tho. At least I got to run away from the Wahhabist brainwashing.
If you feel concerned about using it, ask yourself why. If you'd like to persist in the conflation I'm forced to continue marvelling at the multifaceted antisemitism of the Western mind. Countries are persistent structures - even the USA is still standing despite its many sins. Germany split for a bit and came back again. Invented countries like mine are still ticking. So Israel is not going away, but if you want it to stay being a cancer to its regional neighbours, well... That would make sense. It's not like there's not a lot of jobs left but the army.
---
Posted elsewhere:
Forward: Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy -
Former Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt supports parts of the Trump administration’s visa crackdown, but said it must be done ‘thoughtfully’ and with due process
As the Trump administration escalates its campaign to revoke the visas of hundreds of international students — many for their involvement in pro-Palestinian activism — Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s antisemitism envoy, is offering support for some of the moves.
“To depict some of these people as martyrs and heroes is ludicrous,” Lipstadt said in an interview, her words pointed and deliberate.
(...) Her remarks place her in a carefully calibrated position — neither in full alignment with critics of the Trump administration’s policy, nor with those who have championed mass deportations as a show of zero tolerance. “I’m not opposed to the administration rescinding the student visas of some of the people that they’re rescinding the student visas of,” she said. “But I just think it should be done properly, according to the laws of the country.”
----
Journalist Ahmed Alnaouq: ‘It’s our duty to make Gaza’s stories immortal’
The Gaza-born, UK-based journalist, who has lost more than 20 family members in Israeli airstrikes, has taken pieces from an online platform he co-created for young Palestinians and collated them in a new book
---
Did an Israeli Oct. 7 Witness Tell ‘Many Lies’ About Rape and Sexual Violence? -
An Israeli reporter says Rami Davidian, a key source in Sheryl Sandberg’s Oct. 7 documentary, told ‘hair-raising stories that never, ever occurred.’
posted by cendawanita at 12:36 AM on April 16 [4 favorites]
At this rate, just use "Zionist".
Use of that term by people who are not themselves Zionist is already enough to put them on the current US Administration's social media surveillance radar. The most plausible explanation I can think of for that is that it does challenge the very conflation of Judaism with present-day Israeli Zionism that so much hasbara has been devoted to boosting.
The excuse is that Hamas and other designated terrorist groups frequently refer to Israel as "the Zionist entity". Anybody who reports that they've been made to feel unsafe on hearing "from the river to the sea" is almost certainly going to say the same thing about hearing non-Zionists criticise Zionism, on much the same basis.
Weirdly, I see far fewer complaints about being made to feel unsafe arising from criticism of Israel that's directed improperly at Jews rather than properly at Zionists. Perhaps this reflects the fact that criticism explicitly directed at Zionism tends to come from people who manifestly know more about current and historical conditions in Palestine than the typical casually antisemitic yobbo and whose opinions are therefore harder to dismiss.
Personally, I generally stick to "Likud" or "Likud and its enablers" when criticising the current wave of genocide, "the Israeli and US governments" when complaining about how nothing useful has made its way through the Security Council these sixty years, and "the governments of Israel and its allies" when talking about everything Israel has done from the Nakba to the present.
posted by flabdablet at 1:30 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]
Use of that term by people who are not themselves Zionist is already enough to put them on the current US Administration's social media surveillance radar. The most plausible explanation I can think of for that is that it does challenge the very conflation of Judaism with present-day Israeli Zionism that so much hasbara has been devoted to boosting.
The excuse is that Hamas and other designated terrorist groups frequently refer to Israel as "the Zionist entity". Anybody who reports that they've been made to feel unsafe on hearing "from the river to the sea" is almost certainly going to say the same thing about hearing non-Zionists criticise Zionism, on much the same basis.
Weirdly, I see far fewer complaints about being made to feel unsafe arising from criticism of Israel that's directed improperly at Jews rather than properly at Zionists. Perhaps this reflects the fact that criticism explicitly directed at Zionism tends to come from people who manifestly know more about current and historical conditions in Palestine than the typical casually antisemitic yobbo and whose opinions are therefore harder to dismiss.
Personally, I generally stick to "Likud" or "Likud and its enablers" when criticising the current wave of genocide, "the Israeli and US governments" when complaining about how nothing useful has made its way through the Security Council these sixty years, and "the governments of Israel and its allies" when talking about everything Israel has done from the Nakba to the present.
posted by flabdablet at 1:30 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]
The excuse is that Hamas and other designated terrorist groups frequently refer to Israel as "the Zionist entity". Anybody who reports that they've been made to feel unsafe on hearing "from the river to the sea" is almost certainly going to say the same thing about hearing non-Zionists criticise Zionism, on much the same basis.
Weirdly, I see far fewer complaints about being made to feel unsafe arising from criticism of Israel that's directed improperly at Jews rather than properly at Zionists.
It's not weird - those who haven't deprogrammed themselves from being made ideological human shields that cause them to fall to pieces at the first feels validated by the antisemitism of the second. That's how minority fascism flourish because the persecution is real even if located extraterrestrially. (See also: India - what does Americans joking about pungent foods and JD Vance's wife have anything to do with Muslims eating beef in India? Or mine: what does Palestinians being killed and Muslim Westerners being violated has anything to with unilateral religious conversions in Malaysia? Just because UAE has zero income tax means f-all to hijabis in France, etc etc etc)
But Western-minded postcol majorities don't talk to other people who's not white-facing unless it can be done patronizingly. In that Israel finds something in common with Singapore. And that's how American Asians find Crazy Rich Asians soooo hashtag representation.
posted by cendawanita at 2:16 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]
Weirdly, I see far fewer complaints about being made to feel unsafe arising from criticism of Israel that's directed improperly at Jews rather than properly at Zionists.
It's not weird - those who haven't deprogrammed themselves from being made ideological human shields that cause them to fall to pieces at the first feels validated by the antisemitism of the second. That's how minority fascism flourish because the persecution is real even if located extraterrestrially. (See also: India - what does Americans joking about pungent foods and JD Vance's wife have anything to do with Muslims eating beef in India? Or mine: what does Palestinians being killed and Muslim Westerners being violated has anything to with unilateral religious conversions in Malaysia? Just because UAE has zero income tax means f-all to hijabis in France, etc etc etc)
But Western-minded postcol majorities don't talk to other people who's not white-facing unless it can be done patronizingly. In that Israel finds something in common with Singapore. And that's how American Asians find Crazy Rich Asians soooo hashtag representation.
posted by cendawanita at 2:16 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]
(I couldn't for the life of me figure why in that last comment I clearly phrased something lopsidedly and then I realized it's because I'm writing for Malaysians/Singaporeans and we'd put the nationality first before ethnicity)
posted by cendawanita at 2:31 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]
posted by cendawanita at 2:31 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]
NYT opinion: The U.S. Must Now Reckon With a Hegemon in the Mideast: Israel
The Trump administration, assuming it still considers peace between Israel and the Palestinians a top priority, will find it harder than ever to persuade Israel to convert its newfound military dominance into enduring political agreements with its Arab and Palestinian neighbors. There are no deals on the cheap here, to be scribbled on the back of cocktail napkins. President Trump and his team will need to put in the time and effort and press key Arab states and the Palestinians to do their part and, in an even tougher task, push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to make concessions. Mr. Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington suggests that Mr. Trump isn’t yet ready to try.
The Israeli leader and his far-right coalition are disinclined to strike deals, especially given that the Trump administration has imposed few constraints on Israel’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon or Syria. Mr. Netanyahu is facing trial on various charges for which he can escape judgment only by remaining in office. He is not going to jeopardize his hold on power.
That means in Israel there’s little significant domestic pressure to change course. Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza failed to galvanize the political left even though most Israelis say they want the cease-fire to continue. Meanwhile, the groundwork for annexing much of the West Bank is rapidly advancing. Rarely have the prospects for any negotiations toward a two-state solution been more remote.
posted by cendawanita at 3:44 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]
The Trump administration, assuming it still considers peace between Israel and the Palestinians a top priority, will find it harder than ever to persuade Israel to convert its newfound military dominance into enduring political agreements with its Arab and Palestinian neighbors. There are no deals on the cheap here, to be scribbled on the back of cocktail napkins. President Trump and his team will need to put in the time and effort and press key Arab states and the Palestinians to do their part and, in an even tougher task, push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to make concessions. Mr. Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington suggests that Mr. Trump isn’t yet ready to try.
The Israeli leader and his far-right coalition are disinclined to strike deals, especially given that the Trump administration has imposed few constraints on Israel’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon or Syria. Mr. Netanyahu is facing trial on various charges for which he can escape judgment only by remaining in office. He is not going to jeopardize his hold on power.
That means in Israel there’s little significant domestic pressure to change course. Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza failed to galvanize the political left even though most Israelis say they want the cease-fire to continue. Meanwhile, the groundwork for annexing much of the West Bank is rapidly advancing. Rarely have the prospects for any negotiations toward a two-state solution been more remote.
posted by cendawanita at 3:44 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]
Holy shit, they've lost Friedman. Never thought I'd see the day.
Trump’s and Netanyahu’s domestic strategies have truly merged with the weaponization of antisemitism as a way to silence or delegitimize critics. Readers of this column know that I have zero respect for any campus protesters who bash Israeli actions in Gaza without uttering a word of censure for Hamas — let alone a word of support for Ukrainians whose democracy is being savaged by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. But ours is, for now, still a free country, and if people aren’t engaging in violent acts, or harassing other students in or out of class, they should be free to say whatever they want, including advocating a Palestinian state of whatever size they want.posted by flabdablet at 4:54 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]
“President Trump has taken a real phenomenon that needs to be addressed — antisemitism that emerges out of debates on Israel — and is using it to justify crackdowns on immigration, higher education and free speech on Israel,” Jonathan Jacoby, national director of the Nexus Project, which works to fight antisemitism and uphold democracy, said to me.
As an American Jew, I neither need nor want Trump’s cynical defense. He is still the man who, in 2017, defended the white nationalists and neo-Nazis who protested in Charlottesville, Va., as including “some very fine people.” Vance has also embraced Germany’s Nazi-sympathizing, Holocaust-trivializing AfD party, whose leaders have called on Germans to stop atoning for Nazi crimes.
Even when Friedman is coming around, he's still being a dick. Why are activists obligated to say a single thing about Ukraine? I tire of people trying to dictate what Palestinian activists/students need to do/say in order to be heard. Why aren't the horrors of the genocide itself enough to be its own condemnation? (Rhetorical q; I know why.)
Al-Jazeera provides a helpful video explainer of Betar USA, the Jewish supremacist group which claims credit for sending lists of US pro-Palestinian activists to the Trump admin. They also just released a list of Jews that they've asked the Israeli government not to admit into Israel, including people who've been dead for years, like Tony Judt and Adrienne Rich.
Leading US Jewish groups denounce federal crackdown "under guise of fighting antisemitism" - Signatories include the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the National Council of Jewish Women, the American Conference of Cantors, HIAS, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.
A swath of American Jewry, including leaders of the Reform community, is alarmed about the Trump administration’s crackdown due to perceived threats to due process and free speech while acknowledging that action is needed to combat rampant antisemitism. The statement released today is another expression of those concerns.
The X account for DropSiteNews has ongoing updates for the Middle East that include direct communications from Hamas - among the many things happening - the IDF continues its assault on the Jenin camp, displacing 21,000, 600 homes destroyed, the US launching over 25 airstrikes in Yemen in 3 hours, Palestinian factions rejecting calls for disarmament, US beginning phased troop reduction in Syria, which worries Israelis that fear the loss of US presence would embolden Turkey. There is a possibility that the Israeli airstrikes might have resulted in the death of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander as Hamas claims they have lost contact with the group guarding him.
posted by toastyk at 6:20 AM on April 16 [6 favorites]
Al-Jazeera provides a helpful video explainer of Betar USA, the Jewish supremacist group which claims credit for sending lists of US pro-Palestinian activists to the Trump admin. They also just released a list of Jews that they've asked the Israeli government not to admit into Israel, including people who've been dead for years, like Tony Judt and Adrienne Rich.
Leading US Jewish groups denounce federal crackdown "under guise of fighting antisemitism" - Signatories include the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the National Council of Jewish Women, the American Conference of Cantors, HIAS, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.
A swath of American Jewry, including leaders of the Reform community, is alarmed about the Trump administration’s crackdown due to perceived threats to due process and free speech while acknowledging that action is needed to combat rampant antisemitism. The statement released today is another expression of those concerns.
The X account for DropSiteNews has ongoing updates for the Middle East that include direct communications from Hamas - among the many things happening - the IDF continues its assault on the Jenin camp, displacing 21,000, 600 homes destroyed, the US launching over 25 airstrikes in Yemen in 3 hours, Palestinian factions rejecting calls for disarmament, US beginning phased troop reduction in Syria, which worries Israelis that fear the loss of US presence would embolden Turkey. There is a possibility that the Israeli airstrikes might have resulted in the death of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander as Hamas claims they have lost contact with the group guarding him.
posted by toastyk at 6:20 AM on April 16 [6 favorites]
and unless and until that commenter actually says in so many words that they were indeed conflating those things as they wrote it, there's a defensible reading that excludes that comment as well.
The degree to which some people are giving benefit of the doubt and twisting themselves into knots to avoid calling a blatantly anti-Semitic comment anti-Semitic is bizarre to me, as if acknowledging that comment was phrased terribly causes someone to lose their anti-genocide bonafides or something.
posted by The Gooch at 7:21 AM on April 16 [4 favorites]
The degree to which some people are giving benefit of the doubt and twisting themselves into knots to avoid calling a blatantly anti-Semitic comment anti-Semitic is bizarre to me, as if acknowledging that comment was phrased terribly causes someone to lose their anti-genocide bonafides or something.
posted by The Gooch at 7:21 AM on April 16 [4 favorites]
Even when Friedman is coming around, he's still being a dick.
Well, yeah. That's how you know it's actually Friedman.
posted by flabdablet at 2:44 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]
Well, yeah. That's how you know it's actually Friedman.
posted by flabdablet at 2:44 PM on April 16 [2 favorites]
After Nonviolence: The end of peaceful resistance in Palestine - by Ben Ehrenreich -
All of this revealed a fundamental miscalculation. In colonial India, in the Jim Crow South, and in Palestine, the goal of nonviolent resistance was to leverage one’s sacrifices, to use one’s courage when faced with the repressive violence of the state as a tool for moral awakening, to move people of conscience to act. To that end, it had worked. Over the past decade, sympathy for Palestinians in the United States has grown steadily, particularly among the young, while support for Israel has plummeted. But last year’s campus demonstrations were almost everywhere repressed by the police, and the fact that a majority of Americans supported putting conditions on military aid to Israel found no reflection in either party’s platform.
Manal, Bilal, and others in Nabi Saleh had done everything they were supposed to do. The moral awakening occurred as planned. It just didn’t make a difference. What they hadn’t counted on was the utter lack of real democracy in the West.
posted by toastyk at 9:33 PM on April 16 [7 favorites]
All of this revealed a fundamental miscalculation. In colonial India, in the Jim Crow South, and in Palestine, the goal of nonviolent resistance was to leverage one’s sacrifices, to use one’s courage when faced with the repressive violence of the state as a tool for moral awakening, to move people of conscience to act. To that end, it had worked. Over the past decade, sympathy for Palestinians in the United States has grown steadily, particularly among the young, while support for Israel has plummeted. But last year’s campus demonstrations were almost everywhere repressed by the police, and the fact that a majority of Americans supported putting conditions on military aid to Israel found no reflection in either party’s platform.
Manal, Bilal, and others in Nabi Saleh had done everything they were supposed to do. The moral awakening occurred as planned. It just didn’t make a difference. What they hadn’t counted on was the utter lack of real democracy in the West.
posted by toastyk at 9:33 PM on April 16 [7 favorites]
A bit of a religious bent, this roundup, even if it's basically a land grab:
Israel allows groups of 180 Jews to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque for first time -
Islamic authorities fear the status quo is under threat as Israel permits hundreds of Jewish worshippers at the site
‘They are trying to make it unbearable’: Jerusalem Christians face Easter under Israeli crackdown -
Palestinians trying to access Christianity's holiest sites in the Old City of Jerusalem face restrictions and hostility
I stopped wearing the Star of David because it has become a symbol of supremacy and fascism -
In October 2023, I proudly wore my Star of David necklace to an emergency rally for Gaza, but a year later I could no longer wear it. Israel has made it impossible to divorce this symbol from the unfathomable devastation carried out under its banner.
Letter: As British Jews we can no longer stay silent on the war in Gaza (from The Board of Deputies of British Jews)
...The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out.
This is what we see: the last 18 months of heartbreaking war have shown us that the most successful way of bringing the hostages home and creating a lasting peace is through diplomacy. By the end of the first phase of the second ceasefire and hostage release deal, 135 hostages had been released through negotiation, just eight by military action, with at least three tragically killed by the Israel Defense Forces.
(...) Such incidents are too painful and shocking to take in, but we know in our hearts we cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent at this renewed loss of life and livelihoods, with hopes dwindling for a peaceful reconciliation and the return of the hostages.
This most extremist of Israeli governments is openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, strangling the Palestinian economy and building more new settlements than ever.
This extremism also targets Israeli democracy, with the independence of the judicial system again under fierce attack, the police increasingly resembling a militia and repressive laws are being advanced as provocative partisan populism is bitterly dividing Israeli society. Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to.
Silence is seen as support for policies and actions that run contrary to our Jewish values. Led by the families of the hostages, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are demonstrating on the streets against the return to war by an Israeli government that has not prioritised the return of the hostages.
We stand with them. We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life. We yearn for the “day after” this conflict when reconciliation can start. As we mark the festival of freedom with so many hostages still in captivity, it is our duty, as Jews, to speak out.
'New Kind of Antisemitism': Jewish Students Slam Trump's Detention of Mohsen Mahdawi -
The Columbia student, a green card holder, was detained by ICE at his citizenship interview on Monday.
Anyway, just another day of supporting a genocidal regime at the cost of your own democratic institutions and norms. I'm familiar with the experience.
posted by cendawanita at 3:55 AM on April 18 [9 favorites]
Israel allows groups of 180 Jews to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque for first time -
Islamic authorities fear the status quo is under threat as Israel permits hundreds of Jewish worshippers at the site
‘They are trying to make it unbearable’: Jerusalem Christians face Easter under Israeli crackdown -
Palestinians trying to access Christianity's holiest sites in the Old City of Jerusalem face restrictions and hostility
I stopped wearing the Star of David because it has become a symbol of supremacy and fascism -
In October 2023, I proudly wore my Star of David necklace to an emergency rally for Gaza, but a year later I could no longer wear it. Israel has made it impossible to divorce this symbol from the unfathomable devastation carried out under its banner.
Letter: As British Jews we can no longer stay silent on the war in Gaza (from The Board of Deputies of British Jews)
...The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out.
This is what we see: the last 18 months of heartbreaking war have shown us that the most successful way of bringing the hostages home and creating a lasting peace is through diplomacy. By the end of the first phase of the second ceasefire and hostage release deal, 135 hostages had been released through negotiation, just eight by military action, with at least three tragically killed by the Israel Defense Forces.
(...) Such incidents are too painful and shocking to take in, but we know in our hearts we cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent at this renewed loss of life and livelihoods, with hopes dwindling for a peaceful reconciliation and the return of the hostages.
This most extremist of Israeli governments is openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, strangling the Palestinian economy and building more new settlements than ever.
This extremism also targets Israeli democracy, with the independence of the judicial system again under fierce attack, the police increasingly resembling a militia and repressive laws are being advanced as provocative partisan populism is bitterly dividing Israeli society. Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to.
Silence is seen as support for policies and actions that run contrary to our Jewish values. Led by the families of the hostages, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are demonstrating on the streets against the return to war by an Israeli government that has not prioritised the return of the hostages.
We stand with them. We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life. We yearn for the “day after” this conflict when reconciliation can start. As we mark the festival of freedom with so many hostages still in captivity, it is our duty, as Jews, to speak out.
'New Kind of Antisemitism': Jewish Students Slam Trump's Detention of Mohsen Mahdawi -
The Columbia student, a green card holder, was detained by ICE at his citizenship interview on Monday.
Anyway, just another day of supporting a genocidal regime at the cost of your own democratic institutions and norms. I'm familiar with the experience.
posted by cendawanita at 3:55 AM on April 18 [9 favorites]
Deadline: Palestinian Photojournalist & Protagonist Of Cannes-Selected Doc Killed In Israeli Gaza Strike
“She was such a light, so talented. When you see the film you’ll understand,” Farsi told Deadline. “I had talked to her a few hours before to tell her that the film was in Cannes and to invite her.”
Farsi recounts that Hassouna was open to the idea of attending the screening, as long as she could return to Gaza afterwards.
“She said, ‘I’ll come, but I have to go back to Gaza. I don’t want to leave Gaza,” said Farsi. “I was already in touch with the French Embassy. We’d just started the process. I was worried about how to get her out and back in safely. I didn’t want to have the responsibility of separating her from her family.”
“Now the whole family is dead. I’m trying to find out if her parents are dead but for sure Fatima and her sisters and brothers are dead. One of the sisters was pregnant. On a video call two days ago, she showed me her belly. It’s so horrible and devastating. Fatima herself had gotten engaged a few months ago.”
Guardian: ‘If I die, I want a loud death’: Gaza photojournalist killed by Israeli airstrike -
Fatima Hassouna, who had been documenting war in Gaza for 18 months and was subject of new documentary, killed along with 10 members of her family
Hey hey hey, is Israel winning yet? Are the hostages back?
posted by cendawanita at 8:36 PM on April 18 [4 favorites]
“She was such a light, so talented. When you see the film you’ll understand,” Farsi told Deadline. “I had talked to her a few hours before to tell her that the film was in Cannes and to invite her.”
Farsi recounts that Hassouna was open to the idea of attending the screening, as long as she could return to Gaza afterwards.
“She said, ‘I’ll come, but I have to go back to Gaza. I don’t want to leave Gaza,” said Farsi. “I was already in touch with the French Embassy. We’d just started the process. I was worried about how to get her out and back in safely. I didn’t want to have the responsibility of separating her from her family.”
“Now the whole family is dead. I’m trying to find out if her parents are dead but for sure Fatima and her sisters and brothers are dead. One of the sisters was pregnant. On a video call two days ago, she showed me her belly. It’s so horrible and devastating. Fatima herself had gotten engaged a few months ago.”
Guardian: ‘If I die, I want a loud death’: Gaza photojournalist killed by Israeli airstrike -
Fatima Hassouna, who had been documenting war in Gaza for 18 months and was subject of new documentary, killed along with 10 members of her family
Hey hey hey, is Israel winning yet? Are the hostages back?
posted by cendawanita at 8:36 PM on April 18 [4 favorites]
The Pope died; in his final Easter address, he reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
The Israeli military has completed its internal investigation on their soldiers massacre of 15 Red Crescent ambulance workers, and have concluded that it was a “professional failure”. They fired one guy. Another guy will be reprimanded. The paramedic who survived appears to be in Israeli custody but there are no further details.
Within Israel, return of the hostages is no longer the most important goal - taking control of Gaza is, and forced population transfer of the Palestinians is more important. Ungated.
I’m pretty sure we knew that though.
Meanwhile Israeli Air Force veterans and other reservists have signed letters calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu wants to bomb Iran despite Iran’s ongoing talks with the US. The Atlantic wants the US to also get involved with Israel’s conflict with Turkey. Ungated.
posted by toastyk at 7:03 AM on April 21 [5 favorites]
The Israeli military has completed its internal investigation on their soldiers massacre of 15 Red Crescent ambulance workers, and have concluded that it was a “professional failure”. They fired one guy. Another guy will be reprimanded. The paramedic who survived appears to be in Israeli custody but there are no further details.
Within Israel, return of the hostages is no longer the most important goal - taking control of Gaza is, and forced population transfer of the Palestinians is more important. Ungated.
I’m pretty sure we knew that though.
Meanwhile Israeli Air Force veterans and other reservists have signed letters calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu wants to bomb Iran despite Iran’s ongoing talks with the US. The Atlantic wants the US to also get involved with Israel’s conflict with Turkey. Ungated.
posted by toastyk at 7:03 AM on April 21 [5 favorites]
Workshops4Gaza says that the SameerProject shared that there's about 2 weeks away from there being no food or medicine left to buy.
DropSiteNews says the Gaza Health Ministry is recording deaths from hunger and famine separately from deaths from attacks, which are still ongoing.
Mahmoud Khalil was denied his request by ICE to go see his wife give birth to their child.
I just learned today that apparently the El Salvadoran president is of Palestinian descent.
What a cursed timeline.
posted by toastyk at 9:37 PM on April 21 [3 favorites]
DropSiteNews says the Gaza Health Ministry is recording deaths from hunger and famine separately from deaths from attacks, which are still ongoing.
Mahmoud Khalil was denied his request by ICE to go see his wife give birth to their child.
I just learned today that apparently the El Salvadoran president is of Palestinian descent.
What a cursed timeline.
posted by toastyk at 9:37 PM on April 21 [3 favorites]
Good job - got OTHER countries to ruin their democratic institutions to carry water for you, and for what?
Drop Site News:
NEW | Israeli Army Fabricated Gaza Tunnel Discovery to Stall Ceasefire Talks
Israel’s public broadcaster KAN 11 reports the Israeli military fabricated claims of discovering a tunnel in Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor to stall ceasefire negotiations and delay a hostage deal.
➤ The structure, presented last August by the army as a “sophisticated underground tunnel,” was revealed by KAN’s Zman Emet (Time of Truth) program to be “a shallow channel barely covered with soil.” The military staged vehicles to make the trench appear more substantial.
➤ Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed the deception, admitting: “This is not 20 or 30 meters underground. It’s just a meter below the surface. It’s like a channel you drive under sometimes, beneath a highway.”
➤ Gallant further admitted: “It was not a tunnel, but rather an attempt to prevent a ceasefire agreement … At the end of the matter, weapons did not pass under the Philadelphi Corridor."
➤ The report concludes the fabricated tunnel was used to “exaggerate the importance of the Philadelphi Corridor and delay a hostage deal.”
Ah well, at least now that it's actual Republicans in the White House benefiting from that ruin, maybe we'd have some mainstream western journalism.
posted by cendawanita at 9:20 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]
Drop Site News:
NEW | Israeli Army Fabricated Gaza Tunnel Discovery to Stall Ceasefire Talks
Israel’s public broadcaster KAN 11 reports the Israeli military fabricated claims of discovering a tunnel in Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor to stall ceasefire negotiations and delay a hostage deal.
➤ The structure, presented last August by the army as a “sophisticated underground tunnel,” was revealed by KAN’s Zman Emet (Time of Truth) program to be “a shallow channel barely covered with soil.” The military staged vehicles to make the trench appear more substantial.
➤ Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed the deception, admitting: “This is not 20 or 30 meters underground. It’s just a meter below the surface. It’s like a channel you drive under sometimes, beneath a highway.”
➤ Gallant further admitted: “It was not a tunnel, but rather an attempt to prevent a ceasefire agreement … At the end of the matter, weapons did not pass under the Philadelphi Corridor."
➤ The report concludes the fabricated tunnel was used to “exaggerate the importance of the Philadelphi Corridor and delay a hostage deal.”
Ah well, at least now that it's actual Republicans in the White House benefiting from that ruin, maybe we'd have some mainstream western journalism.
posted by cendawanita at 9:20 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]
Given the sheer consistency with which the IDF and its political masters have been shown to lie and lie and lie and lie and lie, it should be a lot harder than it is to find any media outlet continuing to report anything they say as if it might be in some way factual or illuminating.
The regime's pronouncements should be reflexively laughed to scorn the same way Comical Ali's were back in the day, and yet they continue to get treated as credible until shown otherwise. It's infuriating.
posted by flabdablet at 11:07 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
The regime's pronouncements should be reflexively laughed to scorn the same way Comical Ali's were back in the day, and yet they continue to get treated as credible until shown otherwise. It's infuriating.
posted by flabdablet at 11:07 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
The paramedic who survived appears to be in Israeli custody
presumably pending being charged with the dreadful crime of Seeing The IDF Do A Thing.
posted by flabdablet at 11:10 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
presumably pending being charged with the dreadful crime of Seeing The IDF Do A Thing.
posted by flabdablet at 11:10 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
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Gaza is a ‘killing field’ where people are being starved. How long will the world tolerate this? Arwa Mahdawi, Guardian
posted by lalochezia at 7:47 AM on April 14 [18 favorites]