Gaza

A Response to Accusations of Fighting a Colonialist War

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“…to a large extent the impact of the war, including displacement of Gazans, is due to its urban nature and Hamas’s choice to embed among civilians. It’s true that going into Rafih much earlier would have most likely avoided the length and the scale of the impact, and we hold Bibi accountable for that. But it would not have been avoided entirely.

Regarding colonialism. Israel vacated the Gaza Strip over a decade ago. Despite what a vocal minority of thugs want, there are no plans to return. Even if security and/or political control was retained by Israel, it still wouldn’t be colonialism.

Furthermore. Western Leftists need to stop throwing around colonialism as if they actually understand it in its full ugliness and start seeing the nuanced ways in which their suppositions about the world conflict with it. Islam is foreign to this land and was spread here by colonizers. Despite the influence of the colonized (!) diaspora, Israel’s presence here goes back 3000 years and has been characterized more by an agenda of self-determination and self-defense than one of colonization. We don’t represent a foreign power or culture here and even the military occupation of the West Bank (which followed the Jordanian ethnic cleansing and occupation of the same area) is driven by internal issues, not foreign policy.

Regarding the issues you raised:

1) we already have large reserves of natural gas. This war is not about plunder. The Gaza Marine will most likely be developed by Gulf partners with local Gazan leadership and will hopefully finance much of Gaza’s reconstruction.

2) Putin is definitely involved with Hamas. He is definitely a factor in the war’s prolongation but if you’re assuming he’s on the Israeli side, you’re looking at it upside down.

3) there’s an antisemitic canard about Jews (and/or the Jewish state) having undue influence on American politics. Let’s not go there. The American Left is messed up because of its own problems with theory and praxis (and because Americans are extremely susceptible to propaganda).

…. You know it’s a world of lies. But here’s to Bibi being replaced, Harris beating Trump, Gaza being rebuilt, and the occupation ending. If we have no hope, then we have nothing.”

The Government Needs a Plan

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Neutralizing Hamas’s military capacity is the stated goal of this war (Bibi’s jingoistic propaganda aside).

Achieving that goal is necessary and while I have a lot of Questions, I don’t have access to nearly enough information to armchair quarterback the IDF in this war. So as long as the IDF is aiming to keep civilian deaths to a minimum and unless they actually cross red lines according to international law, I support their effort to achieve the stated goal.

But

Neutralizing Hamas’s military capacity is not a plan to neutralize Hamas’s political standing.

It’s not a plan to neutralize the ideology behind Hamas.

It’s not a plan to address the social, economic, and political factors that draw people to that ideology.

It’s not a plan to address its financial sponsors.

It’s not a plan to prevent Hamas from rising in another five years to continue their genocidal war against Jewish people in Israel.

It’s the first step. It’s a necessary step. But we need a government that is taking the rest of the steps and the clock is ticking.

Equal Rights + Right of Return + Reparations

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Hamas needs to be eradicated and Gazans need to go through de-Nazification.

But from everything I’ve seen, the equation that ultimately solves for both security and peace in this land is

Equal Rights + Right of Return + Reparations

Why do I still think so?

Because I don’t live in a movie and I’m not afraid of democracy or justice… We will not lose our country by doing right by Palestinians (for a change) – we will strengthen it.

(And for those who have decided we need a “divorce,” lemme tell ya, I’ve been through divorce, and it’s a lot messier than you think when kids and a shared home are involved.)

Blood Libel vs The Facts

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If the IDF wanted to genocide Palestinians, the war would have been over within a week. The Palestinian populations of Israel and the West Bank would be gone.

The facts are that while the airstrikes have been devastating for Gazans…

…the death rate (less than 1 out of 100, and that’s INCLUDING Hamas fighters) hasn’t been anywhere near the destruction rate (1 out of 2 buildings in Gaza city and north Gaza).

…the civilian-combatant death ratio (2 civilians lost for every combatant killed) is nearly unmatched in modern warfare DESPITE Hamas deeply embedding their weapons and fighters among civilians.

…the humanitarian corridors are still provided by the IDF DESPITE Hamas continuing to fire rockets from them at Israeli and Palestinian civilian populations across central and southern Israel (including the West Bank).

These are facts, whether they fit your tiktok narrative or not.

What’s going on in Gaza is terrible but calling it genocide is a blood libel.

Thoughts on the Present – and the Future

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Two thoughts for you as the early ground operations are underway in the Gaza strip, after three weeks of continuous airstrikes against military targets embedded in a densely populated civilian area.

Two thoughts. One about the present and one about the future.

Right now I see so many friends and influencers calling for a ceasefire.

Every time I read another call for a ceasefire, my heart leaps – yes, that’s what I want too, an end to all this death, my God yes just stop it now.

Every time.

I don’t want revenge and I don’t want blood – my heart wants peace, now. My heart calls for a ceasefire.

And then my brain kicks in.

A ceasefire? my brain asks, With whom?

The group that broke the last fifteen ceasefires? Most recently with an on-brand genocidal pogrom?

What would they do with another ceasefire? Another genocidal pogrom?

My heart wants a ceasefire but my brain can’t quite make the pieces fit. What is the basis for the ceasefire?

Have the hostages been returned? Have the rockets stopped? Has Hamas renounced genocide?

My brain has questions my heart can’t answer.

Now for tomorrow.

We will win this war.

Hamas will be gone, as a political and militant entity. A new security regime will prevail in the Gaza strip, as the Israeli politburo puts it.

The day will come when we can safely end the siege of Gaza – and we should.

The day will come when we will have the choice to recognize a free and independent Gaza – and we should.

Yes, right now we need to take out Hamas, and yes (due to the political corner into which we’ve painted ourselves) the only effective means to do that right now is with war.

But for over a decade we’ve basically bombed the sh*t out of 2 million Gazans, the majority of whom never supported Hamas.

For decades more we’ve treated Palestinians within our state (let alone the West Bank) as less than citizens deserve.

The day will come when it’s time to give Palestinians a New Deal – and we should.

We need to focus on the present but we can’t lose sight of the future.