Controversy rages on our Island and around the world over the Israel-Gaza war. Some Island residents, myself included, have publicly expressed outrage over the Israeli military’s assault on Gaza, which we, along with millions of others, characterize as genocidal. Our group of like-minded Islanders has coalesced into an informal organization called Ceasefire MV, also known as MV For Palestine. We have demonstrated in Vineyard Haven in support of an immediate and permanent ceasefire; our first such demonstration on Nov. 19 was covered in an article in The MV Times. A few days earlier, the newspaper published my letter to the editor in which I called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In response, a number of readers denounced Ceasefire MV as anti-Semitic, and defended the actions of the Israeli military as necessary and appropriate. Ceasefire MV welcomes a vigorous debate on the extremely sensitive issues around the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My purpose here is to clarify our position, and answer some of the criticisms that have been raised.
On Oct. 7, Hamas launched a horrific attack on Israel, and Israeli forces responded with extensive and brutal airstrikes on Gaza. By all reports, Hamas’s actions were heinous: mass murder, kidnapping, and torture, involving some 1,400 victims. One criticism is that Ceasefire MV’s demonstrations are insensitive to the suffering of those victims, because we carried no signs demanding the return of the hostages, and expressed no support for the Israeli state.
We condemn the atrocities committed by Hamas. Our position is that war crimes are war crimes, regardless of who commits them, or for what ostensible reason. Nobody, ever, anywhere, should have to endure the unspeakable horror of having family members kidnapped, tortured, murdered; no one should have to pick through the rubble looking for family members’ body parts: never again for anyone.
Another frequently heard criticism is that any support for Palestinians and for a ceasefire is de facto, if not consciously, anti-Semitic, because any ceasefire will allow Hamas to regroup and kill more Jews. Any demonstration calling for a ceasefire is therefore pro-Hamas.
One of the several flaws in this line of thinking is that genocide is not only wrong and immoral; it is illegal under international law, which provides no exception based on how legitimate the perpetrators say their motives and objectives are. The right to self-defense does not extend to bombing hospitals and refugee camps, even when the enemy is hiding there using people as human shields.
Another objection is amoral but pragmatic: The war of annihilation is unlikely to achieve its stated objective of obliterating Hamas, according to expert analysts cited by the New York Times. And by failing to “eliminate” and “crush” Hamas, the Israeli strategy will ensure that Hamas recovers and strikes again. Military violence and systematic oppression all but guarantee a new generation of terrorists obsessed with revenge. Thus the cycle is perpetuated.
Even the pro-Israel pundit Thomas Friedman has argued that the disproportionate Israeli military response is a bad idea because of the damage to Israel’s international reputation, and that a more restrained approach would over the long run be more beneficial to Israel’s security interests.
Moreover, concern for the fate of the hostages militates in favor of a ceasefire, not against it. Netanyahu initially declared that there would be no ceasefire until the hostages were returned. Faced with overwhelming pressure from the families of those hostages, including demands to do whatever it takes to get the hostages back, the Israeli government has now agreed to a temporary ceasefire as part of a deal to swap hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Some courageous rabbis have formed Rabbis for Ceasefire, which now has some 200 members. This group includes the Vineyard’s own Rabbi Brian Walt. Speaking to the Boston Globe, he condemns the Oct. 7 attack; referring to the Israeli assault, Walt also says, “The horrifying images from Gaza violate the most sacred values of Jewish tradition.” Are these rabbis, Friedman, and Netanyahu himself anti-Semites?
The U.N.’s’ Commission of Inquiry is currently collecting evidence of war crimes on both sides. Five countries have petitioned the International Criminal Court to investigate recent Israeli war crimes in Gaza. It is absurd to attribute every criticism of the Israeli government to some global anti-Semitic conspiracy. With more than enough real anti-Semitism in the world, there is no need to exaggerate and weaponize it.
The reader may nevertheless ask, Why do we not wave Israeli flags at our demonstrations? Why not protest both Hamas’s as well as Israeli atrocities?
Political demonstrations by nature are one-sided. One would not expect pro-life demonstrators to carry pro-choice signs out of sensitivity to the opposition’s feelings.
Another important distinction involves the arrow of time. The perpetrators must be held accountable, but Hamas’s murder victims of Oct. 7 cannot be saved. The onslaught on Gaza, however, is on a temporary pause; the Israeli government makes no secret of its intention to resume. The immediate mortal danger is to the inhabitants of Gaza.
There is also a question of scale and proportionality. Whatever the exact body count, it is clear that the number of noncombatants killed by the Israeli reprisal is vastly greater than those killed by Hamas: over 12,000 civilians, including over 4,000 children who cannot possibly pose any threat to Israel. This collective punishment inflicted on Gaza — airstrikes on densely populated residential buildings and hospitals, cutting off supplies of fuel, electricity, and water — is objectively illegal under international law.
Finally, there is the question of who pays for the slaughter. While Hamas may be getting money from Iranian sources, Israel is the U.S.’s largest recipient of military aid, collecting over $3 billion in both 2021 and 2022. We believe we have not only a right but an obligation to protest the use of our tax dollars to fund mass murder. If you want peace, you have to stop killing people.
David Mintz lives in Oak Bluffs. His personal website is davidmintz.org. CeasefireMV is at ceasefiremv.org.
Again moral equivalence. Mintz doesnt get it— doesnt want to get it. This provides the cool face of demagogy when one says “”all of us are complicit to some degree”” Jews and non Jewish Israelis massacred are caught on film and liberals are either spared the spectacle or treated to its explication with the narrative”” Palestinian anguish and despair has unfortunately but understandably led to this……..”” . As if the rapist and the young girl he desecrated were both involved in the rape.
“War crimes are war crimes, regardless of who commits them.” This is not moral equivalence, it’s a pretty apples to apples comparison. It seems you’re implying that Palestinian lives are of lesser value than Israeli lives.
Interesting point about the rapist – would you say an appropriate response to being raped would be to go out and rape 100 more people?
https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/hamas-gang-raped-and-beheaded-women-at-rave-massacre-fresh-testimony-reveals-blp0ghdl
Here you go, Ms Faber. #MeToo is a joke to you?
Eva– Excellent point.
“No justifications and no excuses. Rape as a weapon of war is a crime against humanity.” ~Hillary Clinton
we agree on that one.
David,
I don’t believe this is an accurate or complete summary of the criticisms.
Does your group use “from the river to the sea”? It so, how do you justify this?
Do you personally believe that Israel should be dismantled? This was mentioned in your letter. If so, what does that entail? Where would Israelis go? Would Israeli Arabs remain on the land?
How exactly do you suggest Israel protects itself from future massacres? Hamas has said they’re not done. Please be highly specific. What does the proper military response to the continued vow of torture and murder look like?
Ask those exact same questions and replace Israelis with Palestinians.
You mean, gaslight? Accusing the target of what the perpetrator does is what gaslighting is.
Joseph, I asked these specific questions of David to follow up on things he’s written previously. I have no need to flip them around because the answers in reverse are known.
Israelis and their supporters are not chanting in massive numbers for the elimination of every Palestinian. Quite the opposite. When hundreds of thousands of pro-Israel folks gathered in Washington, they didn’t focus on hatred. They sang instead of peace and life.
We know Israeli Jews would accept Arabs remaining on the land because they already have, complete with equal rights and powerful positions within Israel’s institutions.
The proper move from Hamas, if we’re to pretend they’re a legitimate military, is either to surrender or, at the least, move the fight elsewhere. To stop hiding among the very people they claim to represent. These solutions are clear and obvious. Always have been. Funny how the terrorists are under no public pressure to opt for them.
Israel has no such easy out, and that is by careful, evil design. They can continue to fight for survival within the impossible parameters Hamas has created, or they can go home and await more sworn rapes and beheadings. The complete demise of their country. The erasure of their families.
No one who claims to be pro-Palestine is calling on Hamas to change their tactics and end the war today. That says a lot, none of it good.
Katie,
Very well said. And to over simply what the world is dealing with is that Israel uses rockets and bombs to protect their children and Hamas uses children to protect their rockets and bombs.
Please keep speaking the truth as you and others are doing it so much better than I ever could. Thank you.
You’re doing great, Carl. And Katie’s precision is amazing.
You’re doing great, Carl. And Katie’s precision is amazing. I spend so much energy trying to point out the antisemitic lies I neglect to show my appreciation for this incredible and honest support. Thank you.
Thank you, Carl and Jackie! There have been many good comments this month that I wish I had time to reply to—a lot of solid facts and points being made. I appreciate everybody who puts in the effort to talk this through.
I just wish those facts, especially about Hamas, were paid more attention. Sometimes they get lost or go ignored, and they’re almost totally absent on social media apps, where many opinions are formed without historical understanding.
Katie: Thanks for your comment. Note that I said I was responding to “some of” the criticisms we have heard, not presenting an exhaustive catalogue. As for accuracy, see for yourself the comments on the article about our demonstration on November 19 [https://www.mvtimes.com/2023/11/19/gaza-ceasefire-demonstration-met-counter-protester/].
Regarding “from the river to the sea”: the phrase has a long and complicated history. There is a seemingly reasonable article about it here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/us/politics/river-to-the-sea-israel-gaza-palestinians.html. It means different things to different people. I have no problem with it because to me, it means that Palestinians should enjoy freedom of movement and full social and political equality as first class citizens from the river to the sea. You might or might not hear it if you pass by Five Corners on a Sunday between 1:00 and 3:00 pm.
Regarding whether I favor the peaceful dismantlement of Israel: in principle it sounds like a good idea to me. In all candor, I used to think the refusal to recognize Israel was extreme. After October 7 I learned a bit more about the history of the region since 1948 and before. Now I don’t think it unreasonable for those 700,000+ people who fled or were driven from their homes in 1948, and their descendants, to refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli state. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba.
As for how such a dismantlement or similar political resolution would look, I readily acknowledge that all the implementation details are above my pay grade. Fortunately, there are people smarter than me and you who can work on that. For example, the author of https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-11-30/ty-article/.premium/not-two-states-not-one-state-a-new-way-out-of-disaster-for-israelis-and-palestinians/0000018c-1fc0-d21c-abae-7ffc7f960000 seems to have some cogent arguments and interesting ideas. I urge you to read it. One thing that will have to happen is the dismantlement of the illegal settlements — declared as such by the UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry [https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129722] — certainly will have to be dismantled and their occupants will have to go back where they came from.
As for Israeli security, this much is certain: anyone who wants to stop terrorism should stop practicing it. Then look at why people want to do violence and consider addressing their issues. And if you are upset about the carnage of October 7, you really should take a look at the Netanyahu government that knew it was coming and deliberately let it happen. See, e.g., https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/12/02/klox-d02.html and https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-attack-intelligence.html
David, where will you be relocating once the United States are dismantled and the land given back to Native Americans ?
Because I don’t wanna go where you goin’.
Your rhetorical question points to a legitimate one: what would be a fair and equitable way to attempt to make reparations for the genocide, explusion, ethnic cleansing to which the indigenous people of North America were subjected? It’s definitely complicated, and underscores the point that people shouldn’t subjugate, enslave, displace, exterminate, and otherwise abuse other people in the first place — a great reason why we need to stop the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Thank you for bringing this up.
Mintz. So now you call what Israel is doing ”ethnic cleansing” Hamas cowardice does not get to define the scope of Israel’s retribution and it has not.. Damage to enemy combatants and enemy civilians is absolutely within the law of war as it actually reads, and not as some looney liberals on MV say.
It is morally correct for the good to destroy enemies who seek to destroy the good. America was right to go across the ocean and kill just about everybody who had anything to do with 9/11 just like it would be right today to go kill the Hamas rats ourselves – if our participation would not get in the Israelis’ way – for daring to kill and kidnap American citizens.
There is nothing moral about stopping the war on Hamas. The only moral course of action is to wipe out every single Hamas terrorist. Tell your Hamas buddies to surrender.. They want a Hamas victory or what they would call a Palestinian victory. Well, decent people want an Israeli victory, and there should be no ceasefire until every single Hamas savage is in a bag.
Moral clarity is the understanding that good and evil are constantly struggling and that good must fight to win. The morally illiterate will object that this is a black-and-white view—they want nuance. Yes, because, like with gender, morality is binary. There is good, and there is evil. You should always choose good. But to be on the side of good and actually enforce good requires resolute men and women. The idea that we are obligated to call a time-out every time the terrorists’ actions put a noncombatant at risk is tactical and moral nonsense. This wailing and gnashing of teeth about Gaza is all a cheap indulgence
David, your reply sparked a lot of thoughts for me. I am going to try to respond before this piece stops accepting comments… but I haven’t been doing great in that department lately.
David, bravo for speaking out against injustice. We are not a minority, even if the MV Times comment sections indicates otherwise. 68% of Americans support a ceasefire.
Only 68% hold antisemitic antagonism toward Israel’s right to exist and defend and protect itself? I would have thought the number would be higher. It’s probably 80% on Martha’s Vineyard among those who “say” they are against injustice but in fact actually mean to announce they are pro intifada.
Ms Faber, more than 68 percent of Americans know nothing about Israel and Hamas; are ignorant of Jewish history, the Balfour Declaration and the occupation of that territory by numerous empires over the last 2000 years. They couldnt describe what happened in 1967 or 73 wars or where Gaza is on a map. Jackie Mendez is a lonely warrior likely siding with liberals on MV on most issues, and that alliance should give you pause to wonder why she would drift away from you on this one.
“So anyone who is obsessed with revenge for October 7 really should put the complicitous Netanyahu and company at the top of the hit list.”
~David Mintz, 12/2/23, advocating on his public FB page for the assassination of Netanyahu ‘and company’.
This hate-obsessed person quotes from a proven garbage news source, the socialist site, WSWS.org, that reports Israeli intelligence knew about the planning for the attack (true) and then falsely states they “decided to let it go ahead”. No, that is the Jew-hating, false narrative about having the intelligence about the plot but not taking it seriously– bad enough that it was not regarded as real and imminent. They did NOT decide to let it go ahead. David Mintz spreads senseless, Jew-hating lies. Over and over.
The Martha’s Vineyard Times must be so proud of itself for giving editorial space to a person so obsessed with hatred for Israel and his own flesh of his flesh, blood of his blood, that he contradicts himself, lies, makes senseless statements, and now advocates for the murder of Netanyahu– not removal from power, not jail, not punishment of any sort that is according to decency and Israeli democratic ideals, but a “hit”, a murder. Of his pals, too. What next? Chop his head off? He thinks he can get away with hate speech because mv is a small island, and then carefully edits the speech depending on the audience?
Antisemites are obsessed with blaming Israel for what Hamas has done to their own Palestinian people. Jew-haters will do or say anything to avoid the fact that the terrorists started the war on Isreal civilians with crimes against humanity which are against international law and are war crimes. It’s againsst international law to use hospitals and schools for military purposes. No worries, when israel bombs the war centers, antisemties can wrongfully accuse jews of war crimes. When hospitals are used as war centers, the war criminals are the ones who illegally used civilian medical, educational, and residential areas to house their military.
Jew-haters, always looking for bigger and better reasons to hate Jews and Isreal, now need to blame israeli leadership for the depravity, (even though most Jews want Netanyahu out and a 2 state solution for peace). I get it. Israel can defend and protect its ancient homeland from the promised terrorism they face, but not too much– and certainly not enough to remove the threat. Is there anyone still thinking that Hamas started this war because of ‘freedom’? It’s about their cult religious beliefs based on Jew-Hatred. Seriously, idiots don’t yet know that Hamas does not want a free Palestine? They want a world free of Jews and Israel. Everyone who is making excuses and justifications for “freedom fighters” who were “hungry” and got “angry” are on the side of the terrorists. End of story. Stop blaming Jews in Paris, LA, London, and Israel for what Jew-hating terrorists did to their own Palestinian people, creating the biggest suicide bomb in the world, martyring their innocent babies. Why don’t these protesting idiots ever call for hamas to surrender? That would put an immediate stop to all the killing. Why? Because the majority of all the idiots protesting either don’t know where the river Jordan even is, or they are just your average, everyday antisemite. Welcome to Martha’s Vineyard.
And now, an island person who compulsively blabbers antisemitic hate speech, whose own ancestors were Jewish, blames Netanyahu, et al, you know, Jews, for the barbarism of putting a baby in an oven, IN AN OVEN, turning the temperature to 500 degrees, and torturing the parents by forcing them to listen to their baby’s tortured, dying screams.
Look, MVTimes, I understand why antisemitic letters to the editor are allowed, includinng one from a Christian, Israel-blaming member of the clergy, but did you have to give a narcissistic antisemite editorial space, too? How dare you do that to the island’s Jewish community?
If anyone thinks this guy advocates peace, look up ‘useful idiot’. (And I know at least one person who does.) Then look at his social media presence. Do your homework, MVTimes. Peter Oberfest knows how disgusted I have been at how much antisemitism appears in this paper, (which he denies is there), but this really takes the latkes. Happy Chanukah.
I congratulate the moderator for making what must have been a close call on Jackie’s comment above. It borders on slander and hate-speech, but in the interests of free speech the moderator correctly decided to approve it.
I wonder if you recognize what it means when you excoriate Israel for “letting it happen”, (they did not decide to allow it) and in the next breath you condemn Israel for making sure it does not happen again.
You see, with antisemites, Jews can’t ever be in the right. If they defend and protect themselves, they are “Zioniststs” committing genocide. If they let the threats go unheeded, they allow barbaric atrocities.
It must be a lot of work to allow these contradictions into your arguments and think no one is smart enough to notice.
David–I agree, the editor has a fine line
to walk. It’s difficult to know when to just
sort out the frothing hate filled paranoid
privileged “chosen people”.
Very few times here do we have to tolerate
those who strongly advocate for genocide.
I have very reluctant to use that word here,
but it is increasingly clear that Israel is at least on
doorstep of that. “Move to the south” they say
then they bomb the south. The frothing
Palestinian haters cheer them on.
No cease fire they say.
Why stop now? The israelis have only destroyed
about 1/2 the residential buildings in
northern Gaza. And only 10 % in southern
Gaza. When all this started it was thought
that there were about 3,000 hamas “fighters”
or terrorist if you will. I would think that if Israel
was accurately targeting these terrorist they
would have a better success rate.
15.000 civilians are dead. Women children,
dismembered and burned alive.
When does the line get crossed ?
The “everyone is an antisemite ”
bray is getting annoying.
I apparently cannot use the word “antigoyimism”
— not calling anyone that specifically,mind you.
I apparently can’t state that I am proud to support
the creation of the state of israel and its right to
continued right to exist because I refer to myself
as a Zionist. Someone of course thinks that is
slanderous or something. Not dictionary .com;
“noun
a political movement for the establishment and
support of a national homeland for Jews in
Palestine, now concerned chiefly with the
development of the modern state of Israel”
I’m not sure how that got to be a “bad” word,
but apparently I am an antisemite if I use it.
Indeed, in just one comment on this thread
a single person managed to get the words
Jew hater, Jew haters or some other version
of that concept in 8 times.
Incredibly, at the same time they managed to
use the word “anti semite ” or a derivative of it
6 times. You really gotta have a lot of hate
for people who disagree with you, to throw
it all in there that many times. And then
accuse “them” of gaslighting.
Happy Chanukah
Or maybe it’s
Happy Hanukkah
I wouldn’t want to be called a Jew hating
anti semite if I spelled it wrong.
Apparently, if you sympathize with the moderator’s job, you get to call Jews who object to the lies of antisemites:
“…the frothing hate filled paranoid
privileged ‘chosen people’.”
In public. With your real name attached.
Sounds kinda Jew-hate-y to me.
Jackie– I do notice that your name changes
occasionally.
You are gaslighting and displacing.
Your constant barrage of calling virtually
everyone who disagrees with your opinion
about this topic Jew haters and antisemites,
as well as accusations of supporting hamas–
a terrorist organization dedicated to the
genocide of the Jewish people, and accusing them
of lying when they say they support
Israel sounds kinda Gentile hate-y to me.
Keller, when you call someone, me, a “rabid Zionist”, that is using the word as a slur.
Jackie– I have done a pretty thorough
search of my comments concerning
this issue. I cannot find my comment
where I directly called you a
“rabid Zionist”.
I may have, but I can’t find it
and don’t recall calling you that.
I would really appreciate it if
you could let me know which article
I called you that in. You put it in quotes.
I will be happy to apologize
if I actually directly called you that .
But to the best of my recollection, and
from what I can find going through past
comments , the only person that I have
directly, or even indirectly called a
Zionist is me.
Yup– me — that alleged anti semite that
supports the founding of the state of
Israel and its continued existence and
well being, as well as its right to defend
itself and its people.
And let me be clear, I do not consider
the label “zionist” to be a slur.
I understand others might.
But I do consider this statement
to be somewhat of a slur and a bit
offensive;
“You are an antisemite. A
bitter, gaslighting Jew-hater.”
Jackie Mendez-Diez Nov 20 2023
The first line of a rambling hate mail
sent to Don Keller via email.
PS, in case my previous doesn’t pass muster. An unmistakable red flag that announces antisemitism in flashing red lights is falsely claiming that Israel wants to conduct a genodice of Palestinians… after having an unwanted war declared upon it’s innocent civilians.
What was true in November is true today and will be true tomorrow. That’s the thing about truth– you can’t push it around to suit your mood and regrets.
Since Jews are often referred to as “The Chosen People, when someone calls Jews, “…the frothing hate filled paranoid
privileged ‘chosen people’”, it is entirely within deductive reasoning to know that person is a bitter, gaslighting Jew-hater.
Objecting to a known given, over and over, doesn’t make it any less so.
Hey Don. Agreed that those who go rabid with hatred for those who disagree with them are toxic. It takes self-control and good judgment to know when to walk away and stop engaging — qualities I occasionally lack. And one must beware of the trap of becoming more concerned with winning and losing arguments than with the actual life-and-death issues about which we are arguing. So right now I am striving mightily to stay on the high road — by talking to you instead of the irrationalist haters 🙂
As for Zionism, that is one of those spectacularly loaded words, a label that means different things to different people when they apply is to themselves and to others. I strongly recommend the excellent discussion at https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/resource/zionism/
For me, Zionism is essentially synonymous with Jewish supremacy, the expression of which is found here in the comments of — ahem — certain people. They’re saying that the massacre of innocent Jews is unforgivable, heinous, morally abhorrent, wrong, while the massacre of innocent Palestinians in the wrong place at the wrong time is collateral damage for which Hamas, not the IDF, bears full and exclusive responsibility. If it were them or their own loves ones lying helpless in a hospital that was being bombed, you can bet that they would see the matter differently. This is the quintessentially supremacist mentality: the idea that some people’s lives matter less than others’.
The antisemitic narrative of lies, contradictions, senselessness, word salads, and misogyny is not the high road. People reading can judge for themselves… and they have. We know who pushes the antisemitic narrative, links known antisemitic sources, and employs gaslighting and projection.
The resident antisemites made it easier for me to state the obvious. For instance, the use of stats straight outta Hamas are treated as gospel. Who does that? We’re also supposedly to suddenly believe the word genocide is not used easily— even though the accusations against Israel, of Hamas’s openly stated goal. have been thrown out on here against Israel since before Israel dropped the first bomb— after first alerting civilians. The word GENOCIDE has been thrown around in Times comments and on FB pages in relation to The Jews as if it were cotton candy. No issues at all about it, despite deciding suddenly that what’s so, isn’t.
Oh, the lies. I remember when I read, (after much prodding by me) “I stand with Israel and the Jewish people.” I mean, what was one supposed to say when caught saying antisemitic-ish stuff? But then, unable to stop, we immediately get, “But I don’t condone genocide”. Didn’t even pause for a breath.
It’s like antisemitism wants to be called something else by antisemites. Maybe someone else would like to enlighten our resident antisemites, and tell them the cat’s out of the bag?
Mintz. Zionism has nothing to do with Jewish supremacy. The Zionist movement began as an attempt to establish a safe Jewish Homeland. In 1896, Theodor Herzl expressed his views on “the restoration of the Jewish state”. Herzl considered antisemitism to be an ETERNAL feature of all societies in which Jews lived as minorities, and that only a sovereignty could allow Jews to escape eternal persecution : “Let them give us sovereignty over a piece of the Earth’s surface, just sufficient for the needs of our people, then we will do the rest!” he proclaimed exposing his plan.
Omg you don’t stop. Preach on Dr Mendez
The irony of using gaslighting against Israel– accusing Israel of doing what is being done to them– is no different from what antisemites do here to people for recognizing that their “Ceasefire Now” nonsense is really about letting Hamas get away with October 7 and ensuring that there will be more rapes and Palestininas calling home to brag how many Jews they killed with their own hands while praising their god. Ever wonder why no terrorist never screams out “FREE PALESTINE” in the middle of cutting off the head of a Jewish infant? They scream “PRAISE GOD”. Killing Jews is the point, not having their own land, not making a better life with opportunities for innocent Palestinians. It’s not rocket science.
Terrorists and their supporters don’t want Israel to exist. The babies and women and holocaust survivors deserved what they got because… zionism, oppression, yadda, yadda, none of it actually true. Ceasefire Now knows nothing of the history of Israel. They think “Palestine” was not the colonizer. They blame Israel for life in Gaza under Hamas. The blaming of Jews for what Hamas has knowingly and intentionally caused is ancient history and modern history and future history. It’s space lasers and blood libels and controlled media and disloyalty and ceasefire now and on and on. It’s age-old Jew-Hatred, folks. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The arguments for CeaseFire Now are just sad– pathetic. The more the grasping attempt at legitimizing October 7th goes on, the more the senseless contradictions and antisemitism stand out… to those of us who love Israel, want it protected and safe, and are proud to Jewish.
Liberals, and American jews are constantly exposed to propaganda and it is promoted as news or as education. The antisemitic, anti-American indoctrination in schools continues throughout the liberal adult’s life. The liberal is raised to believe there are two sides to every story, that there is no absolute right and wrong, and that the truth must lie somewhere in between. He repeats these mantras until he is personally challenged, at which point he may either wise up or blame the victims, whose tragedy has unfortunately forced him to choose between good and evil. He believes two sides to the Terrorist–Jewish conflict until his synagogue is bombed, his relatives are slain, or he is terrified into either defending himself or indicting his brothers and sisters — in which case he determines that there is just one side. Years ago we had the concept of one Jew saying to another Jew ‘’they will never forgive us for Auschwitz’’ And the world has not.
Anne Frank closes her diary saying, “I still believe people are basically good at heart’’ This is a lie. It presents an evil as comprehensible. Recently, a man murdered 18 people in Maine. The media, show videos of him committing the acts. And yet he is identified, as the alleged, suspected, . . . shooter. There is no suspicion about the crime. He committed them on video. But the looney verbiage that has drained into reporting has degraded not only the capacity to tell but that to hear a simple story.
Media claims “an unfolding story” with conjectures about “what gave rise to the murderer’s behavior.” How could one know, why should one care? One should not; and the conjectural nonsense feeds an understandable but unhealthy interest in the aberrant. The BS about the shooter’s childhood, alcoholism, marital woes, and so on is an attempt to “humanize” atrocity. But atrocity should not be humanized. One must turn away. And yet we see this on this site. We also see ‘’proportionality’’ and ‘’Israeli occupation of Gaza’’ and ‘’open air prison’’ and then the normal mantra of ‘’genocide is illegal in international law’’
The desecration of Israelis, Jew and non-Jew, and the protestors against Israel are obscenities. Acceptance of them degrades our human condition. Works and pictorial coverage that do not assert, report, and decry these horrors add to and encourage violence. Those attacking our shared humanity are cowards. Instead of masking their faces, show them and instead of “Free Palestine,” let their T-shirts proclaim, “Proud Antisemite.”
Andrew, my copy of ANNE FRANK, New Translation, Edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler, The Difinitive Edition, ends this way:
“Tuesday August 4, 1944
A voice within me is sobbing… When everybody starts hovering over me, I get cross, then sad, and finally end up turning my heart inside out, the bad part on the outside and the good part on the inside, and keep trying to find a way to become what I’d like to be and what I could be if . . . if only there were no other people in the world. Yours, Anne M. Frank”
She was 15 when she wrote that.
Thank you, Andrew, for aways supporting Israel and the Jewish people.
andy– if you know about the nazi propaganda
machine, it often referred to “the Jew” and what
“the Jew” thought. It then explained why this kind
of thinking was a danger to the common person
and the country of Germany. Both Hitler and
Mussolini upped it a bit and called “the Jew” “vermin”
I couldn’t help but notice that the frontrunner of the
republican party for president of the U.S. used that
exact word to describe
“the liberal” last week.
And nobody, but nobody attempted to “humanize” that
trump supporting nut case in Maine actions’.
Pointing out some of the root causes that would contribute
to such a heinous hateful act is not condoning it.
Also , I can’t help but notice that it seems to be the
right wing racist that cover their faces.
If anyone at a 5 corners protest is covering
their faces, it’s because they are concerned about
infectious diseases.
Review the tapes of Jan 6 and Charlottesville
if you think it is only “the liberal” that is hiding
behind a mask.
I will not say that the people who tried to overthrow
the peaceful transition of power on Jan 6 were all evil
and hated America. They had their reasons to believe
what they did. They were brainwashed and drank the
Kool aid. I will not be so draconian as to say
that they were evil people. If I were to take your
comment about there is only one side to heart, I would be
advocating for all of them to be executed for treason.
Which I am not. The actions of humans are not motivated
by (metaphorically) black and white positions. We are
complex organisms .
It is not as simple as Christians that believe in your
version of christianity go to heaven, and everyone else
goes to hell. As far as I know, according to your belief
system, there are certainly no Jews in heaven.
isn’t that anti semitic ? I would think so.
No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
whoever does not believe stands condemned already because
he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only
Son” (John 3:18).
https://www.gotquestions.org/going-to-heaven.html
That’s all in the new testament ( the current rules)
according to you , by the way.
Too bad for the Jews, I guess– there is only one
choice right ?
FYI “rabid Zionist” is the updated version of “vermin”.
“…the frothing hate filled paranoid privileged ‘chosen people’” is another updated version of “vermin”, Keller.
Keller your knowledge of the Old and New Testament is weak. Abraham the father of the Jews and their future is certainly in Heaven. God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham that gives Jews peace and prosperity land and survival. God has His hand on them now. Christianity is Jewish and you will find no bigger supporter of Israel than me.
Evangelicals have supported and stood with Israel 100%, never wavering, not even a little. It is sincere. The antisemitic liberal left has always had its problem with Jew-hatred within, but I never dreamed it was this bad. It’s pretty clear who hates Jews and Israel and who loves and supports them. Your position is clear, and try as you might, you can’t unring that bell.
As the rationale for the slaughter on both sides emanates from newscasts I think those of us not crowded into cardboard boxes in a region where we’ve been driven, with no apparent rationale, now that all of Gaza is being mercilessly attacked. Israel estimates two Palestinians are being killed for every Hamas member. Doesn’t this beget more Hamas members? Is there no other answer? And will we ever get the hostages home? Or have we forgotten them entirely?
… sorry, lost track of my own rant. Something to the effect of can we even imagine the horror of being an innocent on either side of this conflict? Please, stop the killing and torture and work it out like intelligent human beings — or step down and put the women in charge..
Sara, in a perfect civilized world your comment makes complete sense, however you obviously have not witnessed pure evil. You don’t have to look too far to see it either. During my time in law enforcement I got to see what pure evil is but no where near the scale of Hamas. I was the first responder to victims of violent sexual assaults, children and infants being beaten within an inch of their lives, humans being trafficked among other heinous acts. I looked at those evil people in their eyes and they told me that whenever they get out of jail they will do it again. And thanks to our inadequate criminal justice system they made good on their promise.
Hamas is pure evil. Israelis are facing this evil head on and it simply comes down to survival just like in primitive times. It’s either kill are be killed and be damned with what stands in the way of me killing what is trying to kill me. It’s as simple and barbaric as that. Kill or be killed and I don’t see the Israeli people looking to become martyrs anytime soon. Nor should they.
When working the streets of Newark, NJ we made promises to ourselves that we were going home at the end of tour. Most of us did some did not. There is evil out there and I suggest you look for it before it finds you.
“For me, Zionism is essentially synonymous with Jewish supremacy, the expression of which is found here in the comments of — ahem — certain people.” ~MINTZ
For antisemites, Zionism is essentially synonymous with “Jewish supremacy”, a typical, ugly, hateful, and certainly untrue antisemitic trope: Jews think they are better than anyone else. This is what happens when Jew-hating is unleashed, making up lies inits own definitions to fit their irrational hatred of Jews.
There is no way to Peace.
PEACE IS THE WAY✨
“What cause have we to complain about their fierce hatred to us? For eight years now, they sit in their refugee camps in Gaza, and before their eyes we turn into our homestead the land and villages in which they and their forefathers have lived.” ~ Moshe Dayan
Did it take you all 8 weeks of Hamas’s war against Jews to dig up an out of context quote? Let me put in context for you. Jews, Arabs, Bedouins, and others lived for generations on the land that became Israel, and on the land that could have been Palestine, but Arab leaders rejected it. There could have been a free Palestine but Arab leaders said no, then, and again and again. Why? Jews. When you bite off your nose to spite your face, thanks to an insane hatred, you get bupkis… and you blame the Jews for it, too. Now the majority of Americans are blaming Jews. For existing. For wanting to live and be well. The resident anti-semites on this page keep digging themselves deeper. Lying. Repeating antisemitic narrative. Contradicting. Denying. Gaslighting. Projecting. Palpably hating Israel and Jews. It’s pathetic how obvious it is. A real wake-up.
‘the frothing hate filled paranoid
privileged “chosen people” ‘
I try not to criticize this paper too often or too harshly because I understand it’s not an easy job. Still, I find the above to be beyond the pale and don’t feel it should’ve been published on a moderated forum.
I cannot imagine the Times would allow someone to characterize Muslims in such a stereotypical, inflammatory way, nor would I want to see that. Why is this acceptable to direct at Jews?
As I’m sure we all know, there’s been an uptick in crimes of prejudice since the start of this war. It’s so important that all of us, regardless of high tensions, are careful about how we refer to the groups and individuals involved. Negative tropes spread faster than the truth.
Also, some folks have been more personally affected than others by these events. Let’s try to respect that. I’m not Jewish and yet the stuff I read makes me wince at times. Can only picture how it feels to be on the receiving end of that animosity.
“Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you, because these geography books no longer exist; not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either. Nahalal arose in the place of Mahalul, Gevat – in the place of Jibta, Sarid – in the place of Haneifs and Kefar Yehoshua – in the place of Tell Shaman. There is no one place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.” ~ Moshe Dayan
Jews are indigenous to Israel. Read a history book.
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