if you are dismayed at my particular reaction to 10/7
Via various news media and social media I see/hear a lot of people in the US who are shocked and dismayed that some on the Left do not share their condemnations of Hamas for what Hamas militants did in Israel on 10/7: killing over 1,000 Israelis -- including hundreds of civilians -- in a surprise attack.
What I can say in response to their dismay: is that by the time I had digested what actually happened on 10/7 -- and it did take me some time to learn the extent of it, because of the complete operational surprise and the vast number of invaders and communities invaded (aka Fog of War) -- Israel was already reacting to this attack by Hamas in ways that treated the Palestinians in Gaza as expendable subhumans. Israeli leaders, and civilians, spoke to the media of their enemy in subhuman terms and vowed to exterminate them.
So for somebody like me, who understands some of the complex history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it looked like a "both sides are being horrible again" sort of thing.
The violence on 10/7 did not occur without context.
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Similarly, the violence on 9/11 in the US by Al-Qaeda did not occur without context. But I stood nearly alone in the US in opposition to the resulting War on Terror that took over a million lives in revenge for the loss of our own.
I can oppose acts of violence while still striving to understand why the violence happened. I oppose what Al-Qaeda did on 9/11, as I oppose what Hamas did on 10/7. But what I saw after 9/11, and now what I also see after 10/7, is a demand by those in power that I ignore any context or reasons for the violence I oppose. According to them, I'm simply supposed to condemn the violence of 10/7, while ignoring the long-standing grievances of Palestinians, and while ignoring the disproportionate response by Israel that has already killed at least 3x as many civilians in Gaza as were killed by Hamas in Israel.
"They were horrible to me first," is not an excuse for being even more horrible. And, again, there is a context to this violence that is older than any living person.
Israel does not get to step off the bus in 2023 as though it had never existed before, and claim complete innocence when attacked, while then responding with even more horrific violence than it suffered.
But an informed and macroscopic response like mine is called "anti-semitic" by a lot of people in the US who are focused mainly on the Israeli civilians and our long-standing strategic alliance with Israel.
I try to understand their point of view, as part of my macroscopic review of the past century of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But I'm not anti-semitic just because some people say so. I think all faith-based religions are bullshit, no better no worse. I think all racial, ethnic, and nationalist identities are bullshit, no better no worse. [Ditto for gender identities! Gender is fake!]
I'm not standing here rooting for Hamas or the Palestinians either. But Israel gave me no time to grieve Israeli losses before they inflicted worse on Gaza. At least after 9/11 there was a space of time in which the US focused on its own losses before lashing out. Some time for me to grieve the deaths on 9/11 before I had to start grieving the subsequent losses in Afghanistan, and then Iraq. I had four weeks to grieve our own before the US & UK began their disproportionate invasion of Afghanistan.
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I try not to be anti-semitic, as I try not to be racist, sexist, or bigoted in other ways. But I refuse to accept that criticizing the state of Israel is anti-semitic, especially criticizing the state of Israel for how it has treated Palestinians since the beginning of its existence. It is not anti-semitic to be anti-Zionist, where Zionism is defined as support for a Jewish state in Palestine.
What I support anywhere on the planet is open immigration, universal suffrage, proportional representation, rule of law, civil liberties, separation of church and state, peaceful coexistence with other humans and other species, environmental responsibility, and universal basic income. If I lived in Israel, I'd vote for whichever party comes closest to my ideals. If I lived in a country without a democratic government, I'd do my best to support transitioning to democracy, and then I'd vote for whichever party comes closest to my ideals. If I criticize a government for not living up to my ideals, it doesn't mean I'm anti-the-residents-of-that-country or anti-the-people-who-identify-with-that-country-but-who-reside-elsewhere.
Based on what I said in the previous paragraph, I'd support the right of any Jewish person anywhere in the world to immigrate to Israel. But I'd also support the right of any Palestinian person anywhere in the world to immigrate to Israel. Or any person at all. The state of Israel only allows the Jewish person to immigrate, not the Palestinian, not anybody else (unless you have been offered a job by an Iraeli company and are granted an employment visa, or have been accepted by an Israeli university and are granted a student visa). The state of Israel does not allow the Palestinians in its occupied territories to vote in Israeli elections. While Israel has allowed some amount of self-government in some areas of its occupied territories, it does not recognize a sovereign state of Palestine with control of its own border, but instead continues to allow the expansion of Jewish settlements inside these occupied territories. Israel also views itself as a Jewish state, rather than keeping to a strict separation of church and state.
But also based on what I said above, I don't support Islamism. I am both anti-Zionist and anti-Islamist. I would not support an Islamic Republic of Palestine, certainly not one that wanted to expel Jewish people.
But I don't live there! It really doesn't matter what I want for the people who live there. But if you're asking me who and what I support, I just told you. I don't support Palestinians killing Israelis, and I don't support Israelis killing Palestinians. I would support a cease fire, sure. But they've been killing each other for a century, two competing nationalisms backed by two different religions fighting over which one gets to occupy the Holy Land. Back in 1947 the baby United Nations tried to resolve this conflict by providing a two-state solution, which it then absolutely failed to enforce as the UK walked away from its so-called Mandate over Palestine. War between the two sides immediately followed ... ... and continues today. The state of Israel, like many other states throughout history, established itself via arms and defends its continued existence via arms.
Do I think the state of Israel has "the right to self defense"? I think any state or group or individual has the right to self defense. But there's a difference between self defense and retaliation. Though I'm not claiming it is always easy to draw the line between the two. Sometimes when I play Civ V the only way to get an enemy to stop attacking me is to wipe them out. I like to play Civ V because it tests me as I roleplay leading a country, trying to survive on the map with 20-40 other countries and city states, many of which do not behave ethically.
How would I roleplay Israel? Or Hamas? But I don't get to do that. I can only watch while they keep killing each other, and then try to explain why I'm not taking either side.
What I can say in response to their dismay: is that by the time I had digested what actually happened on 10/7 -- and it did take me some time to learn the extent of it, because of the complete operational surprise and the vast number of invaders and communities invaded (aka Fog of War) -- Israel was already reacting to this attack by Hamas in ways that treated the Palestinians in Gaza as expendable subhumans. Israeli leaders, and civilians, spoke to the media of their enemy in subhuman terms and vowed to exterminate them.
So for somebody like me, who understands some of the complex history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it looked like a "both sides are being horrible again" sort of thing.
The violence on 10/7 did not occur without context.
-----
Similarly, the violence on 9/11 in the US by Al-Qaeda did not occur without context. But I stood nearly alone in the US in opposition to the resulting War on Terror that took over a million lives in revenge for the loss of our own.
I can oppose acts of violence while still striving to understand why the violence happened. I oppose what Al-Qaeda did on 9/11, as I oppose what Hamas did on 10/7. But what I saw after 9/11, and now what I also see after 10/7, is a demand by those in power that I ignore any context or reasons for the violence I oppose. According to them, I'm simply supposed to condemn the violence of 10/7, while ignoring the long-standing grievances of Palestinians, and while ignoring the disproportionate response by Israel that has already killed at least 3x as many civilians in Gaza as were killed by Hamas in Israel.
"They were horrible to me first," is not an excuse for being even more horrible. And, again, there is a context to this violence that is older than any living person.
Israel does not get to step off the bus in 2023 as though it had never existed before, and claim complete innocence when attacked, while then responding with even more horrific violence than it suffered.
But an informed and macroscopic response like mine is called "anti-semitic" by a lot of people in the US who are focused mainly on the Israeli civilians and our long-standing strategic alliance with Israel.
I try to understand their point of view, as part of my macroscopic review of the past century of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But I'm not anti-semitic just because some people say so. I think all faith-based religions are bullshit, no better no worse. I think all racial, ethnic, and nationalist identities are bullshit, no better no worse. [Ditto for gender identities! Gender is fake!]
I'm not standing here rooting for Hamas or the Palestinians either. But Israel gave me no time to grieve Israeli losses before they inflicted worse on Gaza. At least after 9/11 there was a space of time in which the US focused on its own losses before lashing out. Some time for me to grieve the deaths on 9/11 before I had to start grieving the subsequent losses in Afghanistan, and then Iraq. I had four weeks to grieve our own before the US & UK began their disproportionate invasion of Afghanistan.
-----
I try not to be anti-semitic, as I try not to be racist, sexist, or bigoted in other ways. But I refuse to accept that criticizing the state of Israel is anti-semitic, especially criticizing the state of Israel for how it has treated Palestinians since the beginning of its existence. It is not anti-semitic to be anti-Zionist, where Zionism is defined as support for a Jewish state in Palestine.
What I support anywhere on the planet is open immigration, universal suffrage, proportional representation, rule of law, civil liberties, separation of church and state, peaceful coexistence with other humans and other species, environmental responsibility, and universal basic income. If I lived in Israel, I'd vote for whichever party comes closest to my ideals. If I lived in a country without a democratic government, I'd do my best to support transitioning to democracy, and then I'd vote for whichever party comes closest to my ideals. If I criticize a government for not living up to my ideals, it doesn't mean I'm anti-the-residents-of-that-country or anti-the-people-who-identify-with-that-country-but-who-reside-elsewhere.
Based on what I said in the previous paragraph, I'd support the right of any Jewish person anywhere in the world to immigrate to Israel. But I'd also support the right of any Palestinian person anywhere in the world to immigrate to Israel. Or any person at all. The state of Israel only allows the Jewish person to immigrate, not the Palestinian, not anybody else (unless you have been offered a job by an Iraeli company and are granted an employment visa, or have been accepted by an Israeli university and are granted a student visa). The state of Israel does not allow the Palestinians in its occupied territories to vote in Israeli elections. While Israel has allowed some amount of self-government in some areas of its occupied territories, it does not recognize a sovereign state of Palestine with control of its own border, but instead continues to allow the expansion of Jewish settlements inside these occupied territories. Israel also views itself as a Jewish state, rather than keeping to a strict separation of church and state.
But also based on what I said above, I don't support Islamism. I am both anti-Zionist and anti-Islamist. I would not support an Islamic Republic of Palestine, certainly not one that wanted to expel Jewish people.
But I don't live there! It really doesn't matter what I want for the people who live there. But if you're asking me who and what I support, I just told you. I don't support Palestinians killing Israelis, and I don't support Israelis killing Palestinians. I would support a cease fire, sure. But they've been killing each other for a century, two competing nationalisms backed by two different religions fighting over which one gets to occupy the Holy Land. Back in 1947 the baby United Nations tried to resolve this conflict by providing a two-state solution, which it then absolutely failed to enforce as the UK walked away from its so-called Mandate over Palestine. War between the two sides immediately followed ... ... and continues today. The state of Israel, like many other states throughout history, established itself via arms and defends its continued existence via arms.
Do I think the state of Israel has "the right to self defense"? I think any state or group or individual has the right to self defense. But there's a difference between self defense and retaliation. Though I'm not claiming it is always easy to draw the line between the two. Sometimes when I play Civ V the only way to get an enemy to stop attacking me is to wipe them out. I like to play Civ V because it tests me as I roleplay leading a country, trying to survive on the map with 20-40 other countries and city states, many of which do not behave ethically.
How would I roleplay Israel? Or Hamas? But I don't get to do that. I can only watch while they keep killing each other, and then try to explain why I'm not taking either side.