Me: I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happening in Israel/Palestine, but I’m not sure what to say. I haven’t been saying much about it.
Me 2: But who are you to say anything? You’re not Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian? Why should anyone care what you think?
Me: I don’t know, honestly. Obviously, I relate to this issue differently and less personally than people more directly affected by it, or by the recent rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia here in the US. I guess maybe writing this is a way to figure out what I think? Maybe it could help others? Or they could tell me where I’m wrong?
Me 2: But isn’t that the problem, especially on social media? Did we learn nothing from the hellscape of social media in 2016? Do you really want people “telling you where you’re wrong”?
Me: No. Not like that. But I feel like it’s maybe not quite as bad, at least among people I tend to interact with these days. My problem was never that people disagreed with me (that’s just life), but that there seemed to be so little understanding.
Me 2: And then there are the people who think that if you’re not posting all your thoughts on social media 24/7, then you must not care about the issue at all.
Me: But I did write to my Senators and Congressperson about it, asking them to work toward a ceasefire. I gave money to charities working in Gaza. I did do something. I do think about it all the time. Just not publicly on social media. Like I said, there’s so little room for understanding on social media. Or nuance. You have to be over-the-top bombastic all the time. It’s exhausting. Not to mention the rampant misinformation.
Me 2: Remember in 2016 when that person on Facebook told us Snopes was coopted by George Soros and shouldn’t be trusted?
M: Yeah. That was the day my faith in any sort of reasonable discourse on social media died.
M2: And then there’s the “leftister than thou” crowd... Not as bad, of course. And we often agree. But they’re annoyingly smug and dismissive on social media.
M: True. So nowadays I’m mostly posting memes. It’s a good life.
M2: You mentioned George Soros, whose name is often used as an antisemitic dog whistle.
M: Right. And there has been a huge increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents here in the US. I can’t imagine how traumatic this moment is for Muslims and Jews here in the US and in many other places.
M2: You’re right. We can’t imagine that. But we can worry about it. And try to do something about it. Maybe that’s a reason to say something?
M: Maybe. In the week or so after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, it was clear to me that Islamophobia and antisemitism are both bad. Also bad: Hamas and the current Israeli government, which has continued to look even worse given the civilian death toll in Gaza. But on the “not bad” list: Palestinian and Israeli people, Muslims and Jews in general.
M2: So maybe what we’re worried about is the blurring and erasing of some of these lines? Or in another sense: that things are ossifying into two separate camps – pro Israel vs. pro Palestine, where these camps conflate certain ideological positions, certain leadership, and large groups of people? In reducing something this complex to two monolith and opposing sides, we all suffer for this delusion.
M: I think so. And this in turn relates to my other concerns about antisemitism and Islamophobia. The world doesn’t seem to be making much progress in dissolving various bigotries and prejudices. Things seem to have gotten worse.
M2: Or maybe it just seems that way against the background of things more generally getting better? Nobody bothered to complain when they expected things to be terrible all the time. So maybe your disappointment itself is a sign of progress?
M: I don’t know. Some things do seem to be getting genuinely worse.
M2: I guess we’ll let historians in 50 or 100 years argue about that. If anyone survives the climate crisis, anyway. The early 21st century is going to be a weird time to study.
M: So back to the current war. It all started with the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Can we agree that was bad?
M2: Yes! They killed over a thousand Israeli civilians. And there are the hostages.
M: Okay. Let’s start there.
M2: But can we really start there? I mean, we have to look at the last decade of how Israel has treated Palestinians, if not back to 1948. Not to mention the very real costs of Islamophobia in places like the US and Europe. Look at recent attacks here in the US. Let’s not forget how bad it was after 9/11.
M: And then we can look at what happened to Jews in the Holocaust and for centuries before that. Remember when we went to Auschwitz a few years ago?
M2: Yeah. Horrifying. Sobering. Worth it in a weird way even if we were supposed to be having fun in Poland. I do worry people are forgetting the historical context of the Holocaust.
M: So, we can agree it’s a larger issue, historically speaking.
M: But the recent history of Palestine doesn’t justify what Hamas did.
M2: No. But maybe there’s a historical context that could explain it a bit.
M: Nor does the historical context of centuries of antisemitism justify killing over ten thousand Palestinian civilians, many of them children.
M2: Wait. Are we “both sides-ing” this?
M: Maybe? But I think the problem with “both sides-ing” is when you use it to diminish the legitimate harm on one side. But I think we’re just saying it’s all bad, not necessarily equally. I mean, just look at the death tolls. It’s clear this war is far worse for Palestinians in that sense, but this doesn’t erase the larger global dangers of antisemitism or the harm for people in Israel. But the leaders of both sides are the ones doing all this.
M2: Think of our favorite bit from that Kevin Costner movie. What was it?
M: The Postman, based on the novel by David Brin. I think the line was something like, “Wouldn’t it be nice if wars could be settled by the assholes that started them?”
M2: Hamas knew how the hardline rightwing Israelis would respond. And they counted on a brutal military response from the Israeli government, according to some reports. They offered up the Palestinian people as sacrifices toward their political goals.
M: Right. And let’s not forget the Israelis sacrificed to this cause. The Israeli government may have known about the Hamas plot ahead of time. The Israeli government seems to be reacting like a person who physically abuses their family because their family makes them mad. They seem to talk as if Hamas is making them do this. As if they have no choice in the matter. And regular Palestinians suffer for it.
M2: The real victims in all this: just regular people, including Israelis who demonstrated against the Netanyahu regime.
M: Not to mention Palestinian children who weren’t even born when Hamas was elected in Gaza.
M2: But wait: what are Palestinians supposed to do? They’ve suffered a lot in recent decades from the policies of the Israeli government. Will a sit-in or nonviolent demonstration do anything?
M: I don’t know. I don’t have the answers. But this war isn’t a good answer. It breaks my heart. And not in a cheesy liberal white guilt sort of way. It’s a deep heartrending, a fracture in my soul. The human cost is just … too much. (starts crying)
M2: Well, that’s dramatic. But I think I know what you mean. But what is Israel supposed to do? They can’t just let Hamas keep doing this, can they?
M: No. We agreed we’re no fan of Hamas. I read that Hilary Clinton article “Hamas Must Go.”
M2: Me, too. But at what cost? How many children must we sacrifice for this goal? My reaction to the Clinton piece was that all the same arguments would apply to the Netanyahu regime. It must go, too.
M: Who’s “both-sides-ing” now?
M2: But something has to change. The current war is the worst possible outcome for everybody, especially the people of Gaza.
M: At least we had the temporary cease fire. And some hostages and prisoners are free.
M2: But the ceasefire didn’t last. Will the hostages all go home? And what happens after this war does finally end?
M: The US has been proposing a two-state solution for decades.
M2: Sure, but we could also talk about the US support for Israel: our tax dollars are going toward killing people in Gaza. And there’s Iranian support for Hamas. As for the two-state solution, will the current Israeli government agree to that? Will Hamas?
M: I don’t know. There have been some misinformation issues, too. Remember the debate about who bombed those hospitals? And the civilian death tolls come from the Hamas-run health authority, so some Israeli officials have said it’s not as bad as it seems.
M2: But it’s bad whether it’s 10,000 or 15,000. A lot of innocent people are dead. And for what? It all seems so pointless, this loss of life. People’s hopes, dreams, loved ones … obliterated by bombs and bullets. And for what? (starts crying)
M: Who’s heartbroken now?
M2: …
M: …
M2: Can we agree that on the ground in the middle east, this is generally worse for the Palestinians? What do we think about the calls to refer to this as a genocide? Settler colonialism?
M: I saw this article with a clickbaity headline, something like “Why Do People Hate Israel”?
M2: Such clickbait!
M: Sure, but the article made an interesting point about the narratives of genocide and settler colonialism, that it makes the situation morally clear-cut and digestible, especially on social media. And once you frame it this way, there can be no nuance. Only action. Maybe even by any means necessary.
M2: Sure. But is there something to it? What nuance do you need when it comes to leveling Gaza and killing thousands of innocent children? Don’t some Israeli officials talk in a sort of genocide-y way? We deeply respect Angela Davis, and she’s been making this case for decades.
M: We agreed the war itself is terrible.
M2: We did. But now we’re getting into the larger goals of the leadership on both sides.
M: Right. So, what is the goal of Hamas?
M2: I think they want Palestine for Muslims eventually. But what is the goal of some hardline right-wing Israelis?
M: To remove Palestinians from Israel, I guess.
M2: So if we leave it to the hardliners on both sides—
M: Here we go with our “both-sides-ing” again!
M2: Sure, but what other way forward is there? Remember what we read somewhere? At this point there’s no practical way to force either Israelis or Palestinians to leave. The hardliners are chasing phantasms, trampling on the lives of innocent people as they do so. The only way forward is peace. Coexistence has to be the goal.
M: But not now?
M2: Maybe there will be another ceasefire?
M: I hope so. But where do we go from here, as MLK said in that book of his that we love so much? How many innocent people have to die for the sake of short-term political goals? What is the long-term political goal for that part of the world? For the region? For humanity as a whole? Quoting King again: where do we go from here: chaos or community?
M2: I don’t know. But then again, nobody should take advice from us! Neither of us claims to have the answers.
M: Maybe it’s not up to us to have the answers anyway. For too long, people have been telling the middle east what to do, under the assumption that “those people” don’t know what’s good for themselves. Or that they’re essentially barbaric and prone to war. We’ve been seduced in the last 50 years into thinking war and violence in the middle east is inevitable.
M2: Right. It’s Orientalism. We’ve read Edward Said. But remember: we were trying to figure out what we think, not pretend we have all the answers for everybody. Still.
M: How about this answer? We can’t do this anymore. War, I mean. And not just in Israel/Palestine, but in Yemen, Ukraine, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Syria, and so many other places that don’t get regular news coverage …
M2: Let’s add gun violence here in the US, cartel violence in Mexico... Sexual violence around the world. I’d like to end all that. I really would. I’d also like to see the reallocation of wealth and resources that could make it happen, the reorientation of values. I want a Star Trek future. But it’s not realistic, is it?
M: Maybe not. But how well is the status quo working for us? For humanity?
M2: Maybe time to try something different?
M: We just can’t keep doing this. We’ve got to find a better way. We should choose community over chaos. It won’t be easy. But I have to believe we can, which is, of course, different than believing we will. Because the alternative…
M2: I know.
M: So, I guess we agree on something then?
