There is an opinion about the need for a decent left and the massacre in Israel
The New Shul and the Palestinians: How Israel fought Hamas and Black Lives Matter Chicago on Tuesday, September 11. A New York Synagogue
On Tuesday evening, I was drinking on the porch of my friend and neighbor Misha Shulman, the Israel-born rabbi of a progressive New York synagogue called the New Shul. He was talking to congregants distraught over the massacres and mass kidnappings in Israel. Of all the people he spoke to, he said, those most devastated were either people who had lost close friends or family, or young Jews “completely shattered by the response of their lefty friends in New York,” who were either justifying Hamas’s atrocities or celebrating them outright.
By now, you’ve probably seen examples. The message on the national committee of Students for Justice in Palestine said they saw a historic win for the Palestinian resistance across land, air and sea. The Connecticut chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America promoted a rally, where speakers applauded the attacks. The president of N.Y.U.’s student bar association wrote in its newsletter, “I will not condemn Palestinian resistance,” leading to the withdrawal of a job offer. Over the otherwise benign slogan “I stand with Palestine,” Black Lives Matter Chicago posted a photo of a figure in a paraglider like those Hamas used to descend on a desert rave and turn it into a killing field.
The Israeli–Palestinian War: What Has Happened in Gaza and How Will We Live on the Edge of Heaven? A Dialogue of Israel and Palestine
“I think what surprised me most was the indifference to human suffering,” said Joshua Leifer, a contributing editor at the left-wing magazine Jewish Currents and a member of the editorial board at the progressive publication Dissent.
Over 2,200 Israelis and Palestinians have been killed so far. I am saddened by the killing of all civilians. I know the pain of an Israeli parent can be similar to the anguish of a mother or father in Gaza. Yet I’m not surprised that we have found ourselves at this bloody point of no return.
No electricity means no internet or connection to the outside world. Raw sewage is seeping into Gaza’s streets; waste treatment facilities require electricity. The water supply was cut. I passed five UN schools that were used to shelter people that had been displaced from their homes. I am in dread, as I know the worst is yet to come.
Many of the fighters who broke those walls were born in the second intifada, and are just a few years older than Ali. Unemployment and poverty rates in an enclave of 140 square miles have been associated with the Israeli military occupation, siege and devastating military assault upon assault. The conditions in Gaza are not a justification for the many conflicts that have occurred there. These fighters were created by Israel who gave them hope, dignity and a future.
I am now going to defend my country against enemies who want to kill my people. Our enemies are the deadly terrorist organizations that are being controlled by Islamic extremists.
Palestinians aren’t the enemy. Millions of Palestinians live next to us between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan, so they are not our enemy. Like the majority of Israelis, Palestinians want a peaceful and dignified life. Palestinians and Israelis have both been under the control of a religious minority for decades. On both sides, there are intractable positions of a small group that have dragged us into violence. It doesn’t matter who is more cruel, or more ruthless. The conflict has led to the deaths of innocent civilians due to the ideology of both.
The war will end sooner or later, like before it. I am not sure I will come back from it alive, but I do know that a minute after the war is over, both Israelis and Palestinians will have to reckon with the leaders who led them to this moment. We must wake up and not let the extremists rule. Palestinians and Israelis must denounce the extremists who are driven by religious fanaticism. The Israelis will have to oust National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and their far-right circle from power, and the Palestinians will have to oust the leadership of Hamas.
