Dahlia and I worked all day to get this video up. It’s a message from the people of Israel to the people of Gaza letting them know that we don’t have anything against and that all we want is to live in peace. Hopefully, this video, which is in Palestinian dialect Arabic with English subtitles, will have even a tiny impact. There’s a lot of anger and hatred out there and it’s important to note that both Israelis and Palestinians share the desire to make a better future for themselves and their children. Such a future can only happen through peaceful coexistence.
Publisher at Jewlicious
Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.
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You know you are justifying collective punishment,
don’t you?
Punishing an entire population for the actions of a few: do you honestly think killing hundreds of children in ghastly ways (like white phosphorus, for instance) will persuade the people of Gaza that Israel wants peace with them?
Are you honestly that sheltered about what is happening in Gaza?
Dahlia I saw this video and it remined me of your peace video for some reason.I posted a link below if you want to see it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvGYOH1srlk
One must always allow individuals to have a voice; no matter how misguided, misinformed, dillusional, or hate-inspired the voice may be. So long as the voice is not that of hate-speech (which, by the way, is not covered by the First Ammendment in its right to freedom of speech, as hate speech goes beyond freedom of speech but rather urges criminal activites such as murder, for example), any individual should have the right to express their opinions. This right is what separates us, as freedom-loving individuals, from those who prefer dicatatorial tyrannical forms of governence and leadership.
Brazilian, we’ve always attracted this crowd. Our name makes a fast impression. It’s always hard to know whether one should let these people have a voice here or not.
Jewlicious is becoming a hang out place for the anti-Israel crowd. Ms. Jillian C. York, the same person all over twitter “defending” Gaza, same person in Huffington Post, now gracing this website. Love your blog’s post about the survivors of Srebrenica speaking out in favor of the Palestininas. I guess they are not bitter about the Arab and Muslims worlds allowing the Bosnian Muslims to be massacred without protest/protection. Who ended up coming (late) to the conflict? Which Muslim nation? Which Arab nation? That’s right, it was Great Satan who eventually showed up.
Also love this part on your blog “Israeli organizations, more likely than not backed by the IDF, are hacking Facebook groups, getting people kicked off Twitter or deleting tweets, and getting YouTube videos taken down.” Delusional much?
Message of peace
To discontinue war in Gaza let us all entire to conduct movement of peace by on 10 January 2009 on 01.00 GMT to come and remain to camp during 3 day in location which can be reached
To which remain close to frontier of Israel or owning ability to come to that place to be gathering and camp in gateway frontier of nearest Israel.
To which remain close to embassy of USA or owning ability to come there gather and camp in gateway embassy of USA
We are Expected gathering of millions of this people can stops war in Gaza
please help to submit this message to others
York – you hit the nail right on the head. There is way too much spin here. I suppose when you live in a land that is not yours. You must create an illusion that it is. And to continue that illusion, you must spin the truth, therefore creating an illusion.
Ben-David – You think you’re slick, but your not. This victimhood speech is wearing thin, and your attempt to spin spin spin is not working. You said the real Question is
“Are the Palestinians responsible for their actions? ”
EPIC FAIL!!
Of course they are, that’s not the REAL question. Thats a feeble attempt to spin the situation.
You also said about the Palestinians..
“…they set aside terror against innocent Isrraeli women and children as a political tactic?”
Israel is not using terror? Are you serious?! Really.
Then you ask if there is a MAP, during 800 plus years that proves a Palestine?! Wow Ben you couldn’t have stooped lower. Steal the land of the Palestinians, who are the indigenous people of that land. Bulldoze their homes, homes that have been handed down for generations; proof enough that they live there. Then have the audacity to ask for a “MAP”?!? HAHAHAHAH!!!
Wow Ben, here I thought I could try and understand a different point of view, and I get one man who proves more and more, that he’s nuts. A MAP?! Destroy peoples homes and lives and ask for a map. WOW!
Your SPIN equals FAIL. It’s so apparent. And sad.
And when will see the peace video from the Palestinians to the Israelis? Peace has always been a one way street in this conflict. When will Israelis internalize that the majority of Palestinians do not “wish to live side by side in peace with Israelis?” I don’t care what their spokesman say on CNN. Actions speak louder than words. And if their actions don’t convince you, then listen to their words (in Arabic) on any Arabic channel. Their true intentions are out there for the whole world to see (if they opened their eyes).
Furthermore, If I were a Gazan, I’m sure I wouldn’t care about this video. It is prob. akin to how I feel when Ahmedinijad says he doesn’t want to kill all Jews, just all Zionists. You guys better realize that Hamas is Gaza. They are all in solidarity, especially at this time.
“Hamas is not in a position to establish an Islamist state.”
No reason to give them any indication that they’ll be allowed to kill, maim and assassinate their way into believing they can, Joseph.
Mike I’m an atheist. So couldnt give a toss about what your god gave your people as much as they couldnt care about Hamas’s religious rhetoric.
Without getting involved over an argument about who was there first, the onl proof you need is millions of refugees scattered across the Arab world and the millions who stayed behind. The only proof you need is that they are still fighting you a century later and will continue to do so.
In response to Montana, Hamas came to light in the first intifada in the late 80s. Israel has been killing, maiming and assasinating since 1948. At the time, those who led the strugle were secularists, Nationalists and leftists. Hamas is not in a position to establish an Islamist state. But will reason prevail on your side?
Not soon it seems.
this is ridiculous.
anyone who has read the facts knows that Israel has violated SEVERAL major international laws, and that the people of Gaza are in essence, starving to death and without medical treatment, and have been for the past few years. So obviously they are going to fire their pitiful rockets and do whatever else they can to try to provide some means for their family.
If Israel was a neighbor and not an enemy, they would open up the borders – heck they would have never built the walls in the first place. They would allow trade and aid to come into Gaza.
There are a lot of “they would haves”
Clearly, the Jews have forgotten the holocaust and have become an imitator of Hitler in every way.
Mike asks:
Do you feel in any way that Israel is committing apartheid?
– – – – – – – –
Wrong question.
Although it’s another good illustration of how some people loop back to the narrative of Palestinian victimhood – again, not because of facts (Gaza has been autonomous for over a decade, and Judenrein for over 2 years – so, no apartheid).
Because an static ideological determination of Pali victimhood is used to obscure facts.
Here’s the real question – oh and Jillian and Joseph, feel free to answer this one, too:
Are the Palestinians responsible for their actions?
For example: are there some things even the Palis cannot do – now that we’re 20 years into an internationally-sponsored peace process, now that they have been granted autonomy – some things even “freedom fighters” cannot do now that the Israelis have agreed to give them a state?
Or does their victim status excuse everything they do?
Do the treaties they’ve signed obligate them – treaties that demand that they set aside terror against innocent Isrraeli women and children as a political tactic?
Or can they sign whatever they want – and still do whatever they want?
Oh, and Joseph – could you find me ANY map or other document from the 800-plus years of Arab control of the mid-east that mentions “Historical Palestine” – except in reference to ancient Israel?
It’s interesting Joseph, that you think the Palestinians need Israel’s approval to declare a viable state somewhere in the land of “historic” Palestine (funny, the U.S. didn’t need Britain’s approval to declare their statehood), but that you don’t seem to think that Hamas needs Israel’s approval to declare an Islamic state within the entirety of the land – where Jews will be relegated to second-class citizenship and everyone will be deprived of any rights in law.
Your intentions may also be genuine. But until you’re willing to apply some of the same basic moral (and logical) reasoning to yourself that you’re so eager to direct at Israel, no recognition of anyone’s misery will amount to any meaningful change.
What a shame Israel has failed to abide by Res 242. It’s no surprise the legitimate indigenous people of the region continue to resist the illegal occupation and the theft of THEIR land.
Israel cannot expect to have peace until it does the right thing, gives back the land it has stolen, declares itself behind pre 1967 borders and compensates refugees.
Until it does those things, I for one will know Israel is not sincere in seeking peace and manipulates as deviously as it can to steal more land with no regard for human life or dignity.
“While Likud would prefer a State without Arabs, this does not translate to hatred.”
Dahlia, you said it all right there. An apartheid state IS hatred, no matter how you try to spin it.
Your intentions may be genuine but peace will not come without the recognition by Israelis of the misery caused by the creation of your state.
This is not about hate or racism or antisemitism.It is about the right for the Palestinian people to have a dignified existence in a viable state on the land of Historic Palestine. A right your people have denied them since 1948.
So let’s stop this playground nonsense. Instead of calling the people of Gaza to question their government you would be better off questioning your own governments, past and present,and your American backers. Only then will you find the path to peace.
Mike, you wrote: “The Palestinians are living under an apartheid, have had their homes stolen, and they live under a brutal and ILLEAGAL military occupation.”
Who is stealing their homes in Gaza? Hamas controls Gaza. Are you trying to say that Hamas ended the cease fire with Israel because they were fighting apartheid? If that’s what you think, then I don’t know what to tell you. If that’s not what you think, then you’re simply railroading the discussion with loaded words that have absolutely nothing to do with the current conflict.
For someone who complains about words like “victim” and “terrorism” being misused, you sure like to trot out your own buzzwords when you feel that it supports your argument.
I’m not even going to read these comments– I’ll just tell you my gut reaction 40 seconds into it. Intentions not withstanding, this was a disgusting video. I was nauseated, and wanted to find a window to jump out of. What “we” are you speaking with? Unless you are an official representative clown of the Israeli government, don’t use that “we.” It really is fascist for a common citizen to identify with the state so closely. Unless you are also prepared to say, “we bombed your homes, killed your children, and starved you for six months,” and thus take responsibility for all the OTHER stuff the Israeli government has done, don’t use that “we.” You’ve just digested and regurgitated the official Israeli talking points, as if you were a spokesperson of the government. As soon as you liberate yourself from authoritarian bullshit like that, then you’ll figure out how you can really connect to your neighbors in Gaza and the West Bank.
Barry – Sure some people will latch on to 450 vs 4 body count, and side with the Palestinians without getting into the details of it all. I’m not one of them. Though it pains me to see the Palestinians in the state that they are in, I try my best to get to the very bottom of things which is why I enjoy typing back and forth here. We all have a vantage points. I enjoy trying to get to know others and I appreciate this. I have a question for you. The apartheid issue will always strike up flames, Israelis don’t view it that way, weather citing the many things that Israel has done to broker peace, or giving rights to Arabs, giving land back, or pointing out that Israel is no where close to the actions of apartheid South Africa. Then you have the Palestinians who will say that it is apartheid, citing the wall, bulldozing homes, stealing land, rights that Jews get over Arabs or Muslims. Do you feel in any way that Israel is committing apartheid? Any other thoughts for or against?
Ben-David – First off, if I haven’t cleared myself in the first place. I agree with the “official victim group” theory to an extent. I agree that there are people; (you view them as “leftist”, which leads me to believe you’ve already drawn a line and chosen a side) who latch on to the victim, without going into greater detail of the overall situation. I agree that that is abused by some, and the victims themselves. You said…
“Palis have been declared an “official victim group†by the PC thought police – so left/liberals are unable to make a true, normal moral evaluation of Pali actions.
First off, who’s the “PC thought police”?!? Is this an organization? I think I know the jest of what your saying, but it’s really vague and holds no water.
Second, “so left/liberals are unable to make a true, normal moral evaluation of Pali actions”… left/liberals?! So I guess I’m not conservative since I do see Palestinians as victims, which many are. I guess I should stop voting Republican then? If your home was wrongfully stolen from you, I would at least have the heart to realize you’re the victim, and have enough intelligence and patience to also see the facts. I feel that your analogy between the “victim” and how the “left” connects to the victim, is just a vehicle for you to per sway others to look at the cold hard facts. Which is noble. But when the cold hard facts are brought out. Israel had done much wrong.
Third, its Palestinians, Ben, not “Palis” (and hey – just spell it out, willya?)<—if your gonna grill me for a accidental keystroke, I should grill you for being lazy…jk. 😉
I feel your point of trying to make it clear that we should see past the hoopla and look at the facts is true. But at the same time I feel you latch on to that so hard , you feel as if people shouldn’t sympathies with the Palestinians at all! Your argument, gives Israel more clear reason to continue what is being done. Which is why I think you like that analogy. People must take heed to who’s is being victimized, without it deluding the facts. It can be done.
Mike, you’re the one using “terrorism” as a trigger word to enforce a moral equivalency on Israelis and Palestinians that simply isn’t there. Everyone is a terrorist, therefore, the strong are morally no better than the weak. With moral equivalency thereby “established”, the whole story boils down to the strong abusing their power over the weak. The international media plays up this angle by running constant updates on the Gaza vs Israel body count, as if 450 vs 4 completely summarizes what is going on.
By your all-encompassing definition, every military action ever undertaken is terrorism. Using “terrorism” in the broadest possible sense simply renders the word meaningless. Was Russia’s attack on Georgia last summer an act of terrorism? They killed about ten times as many people in one-tenth the time, btw. The thing is, that Russian attack was typical of pretty much every battle ever fought in the history of warfare, where military goals are pursued by carpet bombing an area with little regard for civilians. If you’re going to call that “terrorism”, then are you claiming that the Israeli campaign in Gaza is fundamentally no different, that targeted bombings are essentially equivalent to leveling the entire area?
I’m also curious about this apartheid regime that you’re referring to, and am wondering how it’s related to the Gaza conflict. Who is being forcibly separated from who in Gaza? Are Fatah members being forced to live apart from Hamas members? Arabs and foreign nationals? Muslims and Christians?
Mike Eshaq wrote:
Did they occupy their land, steal their own homes? I know you mean this latest incident with Hamas. But really? The Palestinians or Gazans did this to themselves?
The Palestinians are living under an apartheid, have had their homes stolen, and they live under a brutal and ILLEAGAL military occupation.
– – – – – – – – –
The Israelis withdrew 2 years ago – after a decade-plus of autonomy that was supposed to lead to independence.
Sorry, no “apartheid” to blame this time.
No “ILLEAGAL military occupation”
(and hey – install a spell-check, willya?)
Your post is a textbook case of what MUL and I are describing. Palis have been declared an “official victim group” by the PC thought police – so left/liberals are unable to make a true, normal moral evaluation of Pali actions.
Instead they loop back to empty claims of victimhood, trying desperately to cram reality into their theories of class/ethnic oppression.
It must, must, must be so that the Palis are victims.
It must, must, must be so that Israelis are oppressors – not because of reality, but because of ideology.
So we’ll go on talking about apartheid long after it’s irrelevant.
WEVS1 – Why is it that Israelis insist that the fact that they are a “Nation” that they are superior, and therefore justifies the violence they use as being okay?
dahlia – Why is it better to kill hundreds as a “NATION” as opposed to a “De Facto State” doing the killing? I feel major bias here. I feel this is a tactic used to justify Israels actions. If your a “NATION” its defense. When you’re weak and not a nation its “TERRORISM”? Isn’t it just as terrifying to have missles hitting homes in Israel as much as it is terrifying to have missles hitting in Palestine? These are “TRIGGER” words your using dahlia, to manipulate and justify these actions of Israel. Terrorism is a word used by the powerful to vilify their weaker enemies, in order to persuade others that their own violent actions are NOT Terrorism. It’s all terrorism. Both sides are just as guilty of it. One problem is, is that Israel wont admit that they are on stolen land. It will never happen. The Jews will say that they “never forget”. Yet it seems that Israel wants the Palestinians to “just forget”. They wont. Can you blame them?
Ben-David – You said – “I don’t feel a grain of pity for the Gazans. They are grownups who brought this upon themselves.”
Did they occupy their land, steal their own homes? I know you mean this latest incident with Hamas. But really? The Palestinians or Gazans did this to themselves?
I see you really like Montana Legends point of view that the “Victim” card being used by the “leftist claptrap” is ruining the way people approach situations. I agree that people will outright negate the facts and latch on to victims. But I must say, it looks like you enjoy this observation, because it allows you to justify your point of view. Put the ball in your court so to speak. I think Montanas argument makes sense, with the exception that, you must have some balance. If you think for one second that it’s wrong to sympathies with the Palestinians because they are victims, which they are, then you have no heart. Israel can crush Palestine in a blink. And has shown time and time again that it will.
The Palestinians are living under an apartheid, have had their homes stolen, and they live under a brutal and ILLEAGAL military occupation. <—–That alone should satisfy you, since it clearly shows Israel is wrong.
Yes.
The problem is that people have taken the concepts of right and wrong and discarded them entirely in favor of the concept of powerful versus weak. This can’t be overstated. People still hold to notions of right and wrong in the abstract, but in a political analysis they assign them on the basis of who is powerful versus who is weak, respectively. That is why it is so important to have Arab support – so that the left doesn’t perceive that this is just a matter of the strong Israelis oppressing the weak Arabs. Once you remove the obstacle of seeing one ethnic group as pitted against the other, then the moral calculus of the left falls apart. They are generally incapable of perceiving and applying ethical considerations within another’s ethnic group, so as long as that group is not unified in its support of the Palestinians as the aggrieved party then they are too confused to take as vociferous a stand against Israel’s actions toward them. It is no longer a simple matter of one ethnic group versus the other.
The fact that they had been withdrawn from Gaza also helps.
As I said, the genesis of these ideas was actually rooted within the Judeo-Christian (and now, increasingly leftist Muslim) traditions, whereby helping the poor became a religious obligation. But with the advent of market capitalism, post-industrial economies with enough wealth that they can distribute services in ways that actually help the poor, and governments that have learned how to tweak apart the nuances of doing so without killing incentives even for the poor or stifling economic growth, the conflation of poverty, “underclass” status and an implied moral superiority needs to cease.
Incredibly, I actually agree with something MUL said:
The problem here is that people need to free their minds from the leftist claptrap that assigns ethical considerations on the basis of an amorphously depicted status of being a “victimâ€. There are ethical considerations to anyone’s actions regardless of their past and who they are.
The concepts of “victimhood†and ethical propriety need to be decoupled from one another. Better yet, people should just discard the concept of victimhood altogether
– – – – – – – – – –
Yup.
I don’t feel a grain of pity for the Gazans. They are grownups who brought this upon themselves.
The problem is that many left-liberals use victimology politics – a PC version of old Marxist class warfare – to determine who to pity. Which is why we keep hearing drivel about “Israel’s disproportionate response.”
Sorry. Brown-skinned non-Judeo-Christians are also responsible for their actions. So are poor people.
Mo-ha-med,
maybe you should make your own video, urging the Hamas leadership to accept Israel and it’s right to exist. perhaps that could have more weight than Dahlia’s video. I don’t see many videos out there by the people of Arab or Muslim persuasion asking THEIR leaders to put their well-being and the Gazan’s well-being before their ‘struggle.’ Which has been historically and will always be an utter failure.
CK – Thank you greatly for this. At a time where many people are selecting very polarized and hatefilled positions, I am glad that you have chosen to take the route of peace and compassion.
J. Miller – you point out that Jews have individual opinions, and then you put a blanket statement on the Palestinians. Don’t you see the hypocrisy? We are all human. We all have the ability to form our own thoughts. To assume that all Palestinians have the same opinion is grossly wrong.
Mo-ha-med – I agree that the “urge your government to stop their violent actions on us†applies to both sides of this. However, I disagree with you on the effectiveness of this video. It might now lower guns, but it might made people around the world stop and think. Propaganda is powerful. The more peaceful propaganda that’s put out there, the better.
Mike, you seem to view both sides as equally culpable for the violence and see the Palestinians as oppressed and the Israelis as oppressors. This is a lopsided interpretation, to say the least. Going back to 1948 Arab governments, militaries and terrorist organizations have functioned as belligerent obstructionists in the path to peace.
Israel is a sovereign, democratic, member of the international community and has a duty to protect its citizens against acts of terrorism and military aggression. Every democratic country in a similar position would behave the same way, if not more forcefully. I see no reason to apply a double-standard when it comes to Israel.
Your notion that:
“The people in the area would just be “pro-whoever’s in chargeâ€, just to keep their heads and the peace. We are all sheep. All of us. Well, most of us.â€
Is one quite common among the youth of every generation. The adults are ignorant, the kids enlightened, etc.
“If Hamas were to topple overnight and say another entity gets propped up with whatever new name they have.â€
Context matters. In a democratic polity–one that is pluralistic and allows the room for an independent and thriving civil-society–people have an opportunity to express themselves and influence government. In authoritarian and totalitarian polities this freedom is largely absent and discouraged, if not illegal. This is one reason why authoritarian regimes are often followed by another, similar, regime. Even when the name (and ostensibly the political ideology) of the party in power has changed.
Dahlia, I regret having been absent for the conversation that’s built up since I posted my comment, but I wasn’t “accusing” your clip of promoting a left this or left that. I am simply taking issue with the mindset (or any mindset, for that matter) which believes that responsibilities generally or the burdens of justice in particular flow first from a fictitiously simpleminded, reductionist identification of two parties, whereupon one proceeds to implement an analysis of who has more or less power or who has more or less of a claim to the status of victimhood.
Aside from coddling the disastrously pervasive inferiority complex in new and interesting ways, it really fucks up most geopolitical equations.
Now I don’t know if your clip feeds into that dynamic, by tacitly acknowledging it, or not. And that’s not the point. If it’s successful at anything, then that’s fine. However, my comment was directed at Mike, who said:
“The Palestinians have a hard time letting go that their land was and is still being stolen from them. Who in their right mind can just allow their homes to be bulldozed? Not me…
And the Israeli gov’t seems to slam the Palestinians way too hard when they punish them. I just dont see that helping.
You have Palestinians angry and fighting back with peanuts compared to what Israel has for weapons. Each side feels they are the victims, and each side feels they are right. Whos right, whos wrong? It will never stop. Palestinians have a better reason to be mad; their homes are being stolen from them and when they fight back its called “terrorismâ€. Israel feels they have the right to occupy the land, and when they level a building its called “defenseâ€.
I dont feel any sides retaliation is justified. To me it just causes more anger, hatred and resentment. And allows both sides to justify violence. It’s all wrong.”
The fact that he felt compelled to respond to me is further evidence that he understood his words to be a more representative example of the mindset that I criticized. As far as your point 2) goes, I’ll try to read it in more detail, but it seems that while the paragraph might have been prompted moreso by an interest in disabusing anyone of misapprehensions regarding your politics, it wasn’t really responsive to my point and spends more time going into your own reasons for making the clip – which of course is fine.
Lia, your view that the rocket barrage hasn’t accomplished anything is manifestly incorrect. If this is as idle a strategy as you suggest, would Israel have responded so furiously?
In fact, the rockets are the best strategy Pali radicals have yet devised. Having failed to erase Israel, and posing no threat to do so, Hamas et al. have settled on a more modest objective. They’ve been able to deprive Israel of a normal existence, just as Israel prevents Palestinians from a normal, national life.
You concede Palestinians have unidentified “legitimate grievances”, then immediately repair to the comfy high road of the Zionist take on history. In any relationship– that of neighbors, for example– stated grievances must be acknowledged (not necessarily agreed with), respected, and addressed. Dahlia’s video suggests her priority lies instead in displaying superior moral refinement.
(amidst laughter..)
Very, very cute effort!
I did have to rely on the subtitles to understand what she was saying, though. Sorry, Danielle. 🙂
More seriously:
Do you need see the irony in pounding a country and asking them to “urge your government to stop their violent actions on us”? The obvious response would be “dude, right back at ya’!” don’t you think?
Let me put it this way. No, this video doesn’t help. I hope you feel better about yourself having made it, though, at least someone should get something out of it. But in the context of a madly asymmetric war, where people are rationing themselves for the few Pita breads left and families live in their basements or in the central room of their apartments with no gas, electricity, while drones, F-16 and falling bombs provide the soundtrack to this charming setting, and amidst that you send them a message saying “We’re not happy to see your children cry.. We are your neighbours”?
So, thanks for the comic relief. If you have unused feelings, go call your MK and yell at them.
Mike, you’re right that Palestinians have legitimate grievances. But we shouldn’t patronize them by blowing off their self-destructive and belligerent acts as child’s play. They aren’t infants and they’ve been fighting this war for 100 years; rockets and suicide attacks are strategic choices to weaken Israeli resolve.
Wars have consequences. And the Palestinians are in their wretched situation mostly because of 60 years of terrible decisions. Arab-initiated wars flopped miserably, lost land, and convinced Israel that its borders were not defensible. The Al-Aqsa intifada was a narcissistic, nihilistic, purposeless waste of lives that provoked Israel to reoccupy certain areas defensively and close its borders to Palestinian workers. The rocket barrage never had a prayer of accomplishing anything – Hamas has blamed it on Israeli collaborators precisely because the rockets are indefensible tactically, strategically, and ethically. Even leaving aside the airstrikes, the long-term effect is increasing Israeli hesitance to pull out of the West Bank for fear it’ll be used as an attack staging ground.
So feel sympathy for the Palestinians’ plight but don’t deprive them of agency. The elected leadership and its followers believes they deserve to take whatever idiotic, destructive actions they choose without any consequences.
A few points of clarification:
1) Israel is a multi-party democracy. At present the ruling party is that of Kadima. we may accurately say that everything to the Left of Kadima is Left of Center and everything to the Right is Right of Center. The Left is, often, referred to as “doves” and are known to crave peace. Some parties on the Left are composed of Arabs. If we consider that Kadima and everything to the left is the majority in the government, then we will see that this video does, in fact, reflect the majority opinion of the people of Israel. In addition, some to the Right, including Likud, also believe in the sentiments expressed in this video clip. While Likud would prefer a State without Arabs, this does not translate to hatred. This being the case, more than a simple majority view is expressed in the clip. In a democracy the concept holds that the majority rules (with minority rights). This being said, the majority view is here expressed and thus accurately reflects the views of Israel.
2) There is nothing Leftist about this clip. I consider myself to be Right of Center, though I try to be as unbiased in my writings as possible. To say that Israelis do not hate the “Palestinians” and wish for a life of peace and prosperity is true. When the day arrives in which yearning for peace is not something wished for by both sides of the political spectrum, we shall find ourselves in dire straights, indeed. The fundamental differences between the Left and the Right with regards to peace are a) whether they believe it can be achieved and b) how. Nonetheless, there is still a wanting of peace. Moreover, when one’s views are clouded with hatred one cannot think strategically. Hatred would at times suggest actions which would be detrimental to any objective. I abhore terrorism. I loathe those who employ terrorism. I detest those who support terrorism. People, however, are not monolithic. Once upon a time, not too long ago, Egypt was the sworn enemy of Israel. Now, while relations are not the warmest, there is peace between Israel and Egypt. Moreover, in the recent war, the Foreign Minister of Egypt has made many statements which could, and should, be interpreted as pro-Israeli. Who, 35 years ago, would have ever believed such a thing to be possible? Without getting into politics as to my beliefs on whether the “Palestinians” constitute a people, whether they should have a state, where this state would optimally be, etc., there is no reason for blind hatred. Moreover, craving peace is not leftist; it is smart. I hope that one day in the future (the very, very, distant future) to be a mother. What kind of a mother would want to live in a world knowing that her child will quite possibly die for his/her country? It would be delusional to believe that Hamas and its supporters will actually put down their arms, particularly in response to such a video clip. Unfortunately, it is my belief that the hope portrayed in the clip is not reciprocated on the other side. Nonetheless, we found the concept to be sound, if only for the purposes of hasbarah.
3) Israel is a sovereign state. The Gaza Strip, while being a de facto state, is nevertheless, not a real state. It has not been recognized by ANY country in the world as such (including by their Arab brethren). If the Palestinians wish for a state they ought to build one. However, building a state should not, in its definition and objective, mean the destroying of another. Israel has a right to exist and should not need to constantly defend that right, either by military might or by political oration. One can build infrastructure, a governing body, etc. without firing rockets on one’s neighbors. One cannot defend one’s borders without countering rocket attacks. For those based in America I suggest this imagery. If Tijuana launched rockets onto San Diego, what would you do? What would your government do? Would you want to wait more than 8 years to respond? (For the record, Israel withdrew from Gaza in 1994. The only exception to this was a small settlement known as the Gush Katif. This was fully withdrawn from in 2005, making Gaza fully “Judenrein” for the last 3 years. If a state was wanted, why not establish one?)
4) Terrorism is ofter viewed as the weapon of the weak. However, its use also ensures that one will remain weak. One need not contend with state building, with politics, with reform, and such, while focusing most, if not sole, efforts on employing terrorism. Without a state, one is destined to remain weak.
Yoni, I could care less about Hamas or those running Israel. I find it funny, that people will just blindingly follow who’s in charge. Its what people do best. If Hamas were to topple overnight and say another entity gets propped up with whatever new name they have. The people in the area would just be “pro-whoever’s in charge”, just to keep their heads and the peace. We are all sheep. All of us. Well, most of us.
Montana, I feel some of what you said has merit. But it does cut both ways. No?
There is also a mantra, that the “powerful can’t DO wrong” and they play the “victim” card too.
But over all, I agree with you. The…”I am a victim”…strategy, is a used and abused one. But it works.
I sympathize with the people of Gaza, they have had to deal with quite a bit of carnage since HAMAS ended the peace fire and started firing rockets at Israel.
Hamas needs to put the people of Gaza ahead of the Ayatollahs in Iran.
The problem here is that people need to free their minds from the leftist claptrap that assigns ethical considerations on the basis of an amorphously depicted status of being a “victim”. There are ethical considerations to anyone’s actions regardless of their past and who they are.
The concepts of “victimhood” and ethical propriety need to be decoupled from one another. Better yet, people should just discard the concept of victimhood altogether and address their inferiority complex issues before allowing them to infect their dealings with others. But this won’t happen overnight as their junction is unfortunately too strongly ingrained in Western notions of justice.
I’m sorry to say, but Judaism started it and Christianity made it worse. And the impulse remains strong even where its religious frameworks have drifted away. Even a Europe that is ostensibly “post-Christian” still adheres strongly to the meme of “weakness makes right” but now uses political and secular theories for justifying it.
Its not an attempt to not take sides Yoni. It’s what I feel. I think it’s clear I sympathize with more with the Palestinians.
I feel you think my view is flawed. What your point of view?
Mike, nice attempt to not take sides, but you failed miserably.
I like the effort. I just don’t see this ever really getting to a point where we will see peace between the two regions. I pray everyday for it. The Palestinians have a hard time letting go that their land was and is still being stolen from them. Who in their right mind can just allow their homes to be bulldozed? Not me.
And the Israeli gov’t seems to slam the Palestinians way too hard when they punish them. I just dont see that helping.
You have Palestinians angry and fighting back with peanuts compared to what Israel has for weapons. Each side feels they are the victims, and each side feels they are right. Whos right, whos wrong? It will never stop. Palestinians have a better reason to be mad; their homes are being stolen from them and when they fight back its called “terrorism”. Israel feels they have the right to occupy the land, and when they level a building its called “defense”.
I dont feel any sides retaliation is justified. To me it just causes more anger, hatred and resentment. And allows both sides to justify violence. It’s all wrong.
Good luck with that.
Still, I wouldn’t stop the bombing campaign just yet.
Politically divided that is an understatement G M.At last count there were 32 parties vieing for knesset sets.Like my uncle mort use to If you ask two jews there opinion on something you will get three different answers.Hell Gaza was given to these people with the hope and promise of peace.Just look at the protest all over the world.Especially after Ft.Lauderdale im speaking for myself when i say im done turning the other cheek and hoping for the best.These people do not want peace and from there first breath there children are taught to hate us.
Amen to Tom. And why do people every feel like they have the right to speak on behalf of all the people of a country ESPECIALLY in a country as politically divided and opinionated as Israel?
Qu’elle hubris.
Well, noble sentiments indeed. But promises of “peace” and “peaceful coexistence” have been made before, by actors on both sides of the divide; and Qassam Palestinians may be excused if they eye the non-Qassam Palestinians and ask, what has relations with Israel gotten them?
The video is a worthy vestige of the Olmert era: high-sounding sentiments, but in the end, no prospect of an end to an impasse, to a status quo which Israel, rockets or no rockets, appears prepared to live with for the indefinite future.