In conversations about Gaza, I have heard many thoughtful people in the Jewish community lament the loss of Palestinian lives in Gaza but then say, “But Hamas…,” as if that were the heart of the problem. I’d like to suggest that, when we have these conversations about Hamas and Israel’s current bombing campaign, we begin with the necessary context and historical perspective.
Re: The Nakba
1. To create the Jewish state, the Zionist movement destroyed more than 400 Palestinians villages and expelled 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and land. Palestinians who remained in what became Israel were relegated to second-class citizenship, had much of their property confiscated, and, to this day, have fewer rights than Jewish Israeli citizens.
Re: The 1967 Occupation
2. In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem and still occupies them until this day.
Re: Settlement expansion; the apartheid wall; and the siege of Gaza
3. Over the past 47 years of occupation, Israel has illegally confiscated more and more Palestinian land; built an apartheid wall; systematically denied Palestinians basic human and civil rights and engaged in state-sponsored violence; and forced the Palestinians in Gaza to live in appalling conditions that make it increasingly impossible to survive. Israel’s latest bombing campaign, Operation Protective Edge, has killed over 1,900 Palestinians, at least 450 of whom are children, and has displaced hundreds of thousands more.
If those of us in the Jewish community who are committed to justice begin from these facts, I think it would become clearer – regardless of who the Palestinian leadership is – that the underlying problem really is the denial of freedom and basic human rights to millions of people, for decades. And, as a community, it should also become clearer where priorities need to be in order to have any integrity on this issue: addressing the Nakba of 1948 and the responsibility for the Nakba head-on – including the right of return for refugees; ending the occupation; ending the siege on Gaza; and recognizing the right to full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
This article originally appeared on Tikkun Magazine’s website.
On conversing with Jewish Zionists, don’t miss this spectacular video:
http://youtu.be/QLDE4mRwfSQ
(I thought this had already been posted at MW, but I can’t find it at the moment so I’m putting it here. If I missed it, forgive the duplication.)
I was thinking about the issue in the context of Hannity asking guests to his show “Is Hamas a terrorist organization, yes or no?” and throwing them out after they refused one word answer. In the aftermath he was ridiculed on you-tube which somehow damaged his thin skin so he devoted a show to denigrate Russell Brand for his contumely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_m98GAdqKM
There is really no way to respond to Hannity in the confines of his show which is “not set in the most conducive way for a thoughtful discussion”. But in a more relaxed setting, we have to first ask: WHAT it terrorism and WHO are terrorists. These two questions have surprisingly unrelated answers. “What” usually lists attacks on civilians, or “innocent civilians”, which opens room for quibbling who is a civilian and who is innocent. It is not so simple, however: the “most heinous act of terrorism” listed in the context of Hezbollah is the attack on Marine barracks in Lebanon. Attacks on military targets are routinely called “terrorist”. But attacks on civilian targets are not always described as terrorist.
NYT: “Deadly Bombing in Beirut Suburb, a Hezbollah Stronghold, Raises Tensions BEIRUT, Lebanon — The second deadly car bomb to strike the Beirut area in less than a week exploded on Thursday in a southern suburb of residential apartment buildings that is home to top Hezbollah offices and heavily populated with the group’s supporters.
The blast created a black column of smoke visible across the city, shattered windows 11 floors up and hurled debris hundreds of feet.”
Were the perpetrators “terrorist”? We can address the WHO question. No! “In recent weeks, Sunni fighters have said in interviews and video statements that they plan to escalate attacks on Hezbollah interests in Lebanon.” Here you are: they were fighters.
Perplexed? There is the guide for you, oh, the perplexed ones! State Department has a list. Hamas is on the list, and Abdullah Azzam Brigades who claimed the responsibility in the residential Beirut neighborhood is not.
Very recently, President of USA asked Congress to allow him to spend 500,000,000 dollars to support fighters of that kind, promising some kind of screening, uncle Sam would review his list and check it twice to find out which fighters are naughty and which are nice. Or would they subcontract Santa Claus who has rich experience and good delivery capacity?
A totally naive person could try to learn how the State Department compiles its list. Do they have, ahem, criteria? A more experienced person would know that secrecy in such matter is the most basic tool of stagecraft, essential part of the power of the state that protects us against hordes that would otherwise attack us by plane, boat, on foot and through tunnels.
An addendum: the meaning of “terrorist” evolves so quickly that I tried to use only VERY recent examples.
“1. To create the Jewish state, the Zionist movement destroyed more than 400 Palestinians villages and expelled 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and land. Palestinians who remained in what became Israel were relegated to second-class citizenship, had much of their property confiscated, and, to this day, have fewer rights than Jewish Israeli citizens.”
To which I answer that there were quite a number of Jews expelled from their homes as well, that the war was a civil war, that the Palestinians were not innocent, that the Arab armies that invaded Israel were certainly not innocent, that the rhetoric from Arab leaders during the war was genocidal, and that this was 66 years ago and provides no excuse for why the refugee problem has been stoked for years by Arab governments, who have not treated the Palestinians well and no excuse for the expulsion of Jews from Arab countries afterward, in the hundreds of thousands.
“2. In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem and still occupies them until this day.”
After 20 years of terrorism from those places and after a war in which Arab armies massed on their border and threatened to throw the Jews into the sea, and after 20 years in which these places were occupied by others who brought the people no closer to statehood.
“3. Over the past 47 years of occupation, Israel has illegally confiscated more and more Palestinian land; built an apartheid wall; systematically denied Palestinians basic human and civil rights and engaged in state-sponsored violence; and forced the Palestinians in Gaza to live in appalling conditions that make it increasingly impossible to survive. Israel’s latest bombing campaign, Operation Protective Edge, has killed over 1,900 Palestinians, at least 450 of whom are children, and has displaced hundreds of thousands more.”
It built a security fence after years and years of suicide terrorism that came during the time Israel and the Palestinians were engaged in peace negotiations, and blockaded Gaza after it was taken over by a terrorist organization who has fired rocket after rocket at Israeli civilians. The Egyptians are more responsible for the appalling conditions in Gaza than the Israeli are, and there’s little question that with the level of international aid pouring into Gaza, there is no reason the people there should be in appalling conditions.
A large chunk of those 1900 were militants, who purposely fire rockets from civilian areas in order to draw fire that will inevitably kill civilians. Hamas actually used Shifa hospital as a media center during the War. That tells you all you need to know about Hamas.
Try harder, Donna.
Or better yet, particular if you’re addressing Israelis who have spent the last month in and out of bomb shelters, maybe you should just acknowledge that they have a point, and that regardless of justice of the Palestinian cause, Hamas isn’t making things better.