Say What?

 

The tongue is a  “little member,” the Bible says, but it can do a whole lot of mayhem. At these campus demonstrations, “genocide” is frequently heard to denote what the Israeli military is doing to Palestinians in Gaza. We can all agree that what’s going on is awful, but is genocide what it is? Genocide is usually defined as the deliberate attempt to destroy members of a race or ethnic group. It seems clear to me that Palestinians in Gaza fall under the heading of collateral damage, as the Israeli goal, the government says, is to destroy Hamas in response to the October 7^th attack. The result is the same either way, though: displacement, starvation, and death, and yeah, it may seem like hair-splitting.

Then there is Zionism, which is made to sound like a pejorative term. Zionists are those who believe Jews are entitled to a homeland, the nation of Israel, which seems reasonable, as they aren’t welcome in most other places. There are arguments about who got to the area first in history, Jews or Palestinians. But in reality, being there first doesn’t count for much anyway, as indigenous people often don’t control the land they occupied first. Let’s see, can we think of any other such countries?

Israel isn’t just one thing. It’s a country, of course, but it’s also an administration that’s in power there. And Israel is also a people. Which of these is the real enemy?

The current campus demonstrations are also demonstrations of free speech. Fine. But the organizers of these things have to think about what their goals are and how what they’re saying is landing. For example, if the goal is to pressure the Israeli government to stop doing what it’s doing, then yelling “From the river to the sea!” isn’t terribly productive. Many Jewish students may support the existence of Israel but disapprove of what the Israeli military is doing in Gaza. And some may simply want to feel safe, stay out of the debate and prepare for finals. That’s the freedom not to speak.

I would recommend that student demonstrators take some time out to be students, doing some research about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Research is easy now; it doesn’t have to be done in a dark campus library. It might be useful before demonstrators start raising their voices, to know exactly what they’re raising them for.

Israel, Are You Losing Us?

 

It took a long time - maybe too long - but President Biden laid down a marker for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: allow increased humanitarian aid immediately into Gaza or face possible reassessment of US policy toward Israel. Biden also wants Israel to step up cease-fire negotiations so that Hamas-held hostages can be freed.

These shifts always seem to follow a signal, like the photo of the naked girl burned by napalm during the Vietnam war, the picture of the body of a red-shirted Syrian boy during the uprising in that country, and now, the tears of Chef Jose Andres following the attack by Israeli forces that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers.

There is no question that Israel had a right to respond to the horrific Hamas attack on October 7. There is no question that the perpetrators of that need to be brought to justice. But does Gaza have to be turned into a giant parking lot and more than a million people brought close to famine?

Where is the Israel that specialized in precise surgical responses – the Israel that extracted the Nazi Adolf Eichmann from South America to bring back to trial? The Israel that spent years tracking down those responsible for the Munich Olympic massacre? Or, the Israel that rescued airline passengers held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda?

The main characteristic of relationships is that they evolve. Why would Japan, our World War II enemy, ever speak to us again after we dropped not one, but two atomic bombs there – yet today, Japan is our friend, and a critical ally in Asia. Relationships can also evolve in the other direction; the US is, and always has been, Israel’s friend, but can that alliance stand the current strain?

Another thing to consider is what happens after war ends. Following a world war that took hundreds of thousands of US combatants’ lives, we, as the victors, did not take out wholesale vengeance on the countries we fought. We did try enemy leaders for war crimes, but we also participated in the rebuilding and restoration of Japan and Germany  after hostilities ended.

There isn’t too much left of Gaza, as Israel has blown up most of it. After its war with Hamas is over, will it step up to the plate and help rebuild it, and, unlikely as it may sound now, try to forge healthy relationships with the Palestinians (and vice versa)?

I guess we’ll just have to stay tuned.