Back during the first Intifada I remember my grandfather telling me that “an Arab gets killed everyday over there.” I remember being startled by what he said, he was a Zionist and was a supporter of certain Israeli organizations after all, and my then 11 year old mind grappled with the basic question of how this was acceptable – and if it was indeed acceptable, then what did it say about Israel, a country that at that time I believed I loved deeply? That was 35 years ago in 1987. By the beginning of the next century I was a firmly converted anti-Zionist who harbored antagonistic feelings towards the so-called Jewish state. But I digress. That same question I asked myself way back then is just as relevant today, if not more so in the sense that it’s clear what the answer is.
The systematic murder of Palestinians by Israel is quite acceptable – if it’s not actual policy. And what this says about Israel, as a state, is clear. Even the reliably liberal-Zionist Israeli newspaper Haaretz can print the abhorrent but basic truth about how the experiment of Jewish nationalism in the Levant is going. Mealy-mouthed professional Israel lobbyists know in their heart of hearts that Israel has failed. But is it time for these American enablers and defenders of Israeli atrocities to say enough is enough? No. And BDS? Not a chance. A Palestinian can be murdered by Israel every day for the next 35 years and it will be okay as far as these people are concerned. Meanwhile, Palestinian-Americans will continue to watch as their government supports and enables a foreign country to discriminate against them and their families while it plans the next stage of its now three-quarters of a century policy of ethnic cleansing. The people who for better or for worse (definitely the latter) have the megaphones and can reach the broad public and inform them about the immense problem festering in the middle east are irresponsibly avoidant.
Everyone learns at some point in his or her life that avoiding problems doesn’t solve them and usually only allows the problem to get worse and worse. Hopefully by the time the world finally decides to deal with Israel once and for all it won’t be too late, not only for Palestinians (and Jews) but for the entire world.
