Dan Fleshler is feeling lonely because as he points out, there is now a chasm between the two narratives and in forsaking the Israel narrative, Fleshler wants some support from the pro-Palestinian side, to condemn Hamas. He can have it from me: I believe that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, I do think that Hamas is terrorizing southern Israel. (Generally I've found that when there are competing narratives, both narratives are true.) Fleshler quotes me quoting Rashid Khalidi saying at a Nakba event earlier this year that Hamas's rocket attacks are illegal, immoral and stupid. I saw Khalidi today and he was worried about his relatives in Gaza. Though I imagine he feels the same way about the rocket attacks.
I know that in order to build a coalition that can crack the lobby, leftwing/realist Americans are going to have to acknowledge Israeli suffering. I do. When I was in Israel, a Palestinian in the Old City said to me with a bitter smile, "We are miserable. And so are the Israelis." It's partly for this reason that I think, and Henry Siegman thinks, that we need an imposed solution. These people hate each other too much. They have dehumanized each other.
That said, Israel is far more powerful than Hamas. That is of course what makes its attack so grotesque and heinous, and has caused Israel to suffer a p.r. disaster. Which is nothing like the suffering in Gaza.
