Thanks you Matt. That exactly captures my thoughts.
The idea that ever escalating violence and massacres will help the Israelis' cause in any way flies in the face of history, as you have written yourself elsewhere. The closest parallel I can think of is Sri Lanka where the Sinhalese government set out to massacre the Tamil separatists with no regard whatsoever for the wider population. A good friend was a lead in the group attempting conflict resolution there, who effectively gave up when they realised that the Sinhalese government, also deeply ethno-nationalist, would not change and the outside world was not interested. That is the Israeli state today.
Similarly the West wrings its hands whilst the USA continues to pour supplies of the most damaging and murderous kinds of weapons into Israel. The indiscriminate use of 'bunker busting' bombs being the most obvious. Is every block of flats, hospital, school, hospital, refugee camp that has been destroyed in Gaza, with 10s of thousands of civilian casualties a 'Hamas' stronghold as Israeli spokespersons claim? And now being repeated in Lebanon. Israel's deliberate, conscious policy of accepting enormous civilian casualties has been exposed, and is of course a war crime. They claim 'precision targeting'. Precisely causing the level of damage, death and mutilation we have seen? Is it any wonder that the non-Western world sees the hypocrisy, the racism towards Palestinians, and even undertones of colonialism? As a result support for the US and Europe leaks away, in the direction of other malign actors. Israel is no friend of the democratic West. It has gone rogue.
Meanwhile the reporting and discussions we hear entirely ignores what has been happening in the West Bank and Gaza leading up to October the 7th. As though that terrible event came totally out of the blue, rather than after decades of brutal oppression. We hear all about Israelis who have had to leave their homes on the Northern border. Nothing about Palestinians in the West Bank who have been killed by Israelis, their homes and land trashed, as they are driven away so that Israelis can steal their land and property from them. This over decades but getting steadily worse. Israeli Jewish civilians armed and supported by Israeli armed forces. Unpunished. Ignored by the outside world.
As I listen to the reporting and the ever more outlandish claims of Israeli spokespersons, I'm struck by the amount of projection going on. So much of what the Israelis claim about others can equally be said about Israelis. Starting with the claims about desires for the destruction of Israel whilst Israel has itself been busy brutally destroying any possibility of a Palestinian state. Keeping Gazans locked away in a ghetto, patrolled by drones 24 hours a day. Warsaw in the 1940s springs to mind. An Israel that chooses to inflict outright terror on the non-Jewish population of the area whilst accusing others of terrorism. A state that was of course founded through Jewish terrorism. The Stern Gang, Irgun, Levi, Haganah. Conveniently forgotten today
The Holocaust was of course a great horror of the 20th century, but does that really entitle Israelis and their Jewish supporters elsewhere to use it as some kind justification for Israel's behaviour? Are the Ukrainians entitled to uncritically massacre and brutalise millions of Russians after the millions of Ukrainians starved to death or killed by Russians? Are Armenians entitled to grab the chance to slaughter Turks? Israel's actions are deeply undermining efforts to challenge the cancer of anti-semitism, as Jews in Israel show themselves to be capable of the same kinds of racism and genocide. The gloating and celebration of Palestinian and other casualties amongst Israelis and their media is utterly despicable. Meanwhile I deeply sympathise with that small section of the Jewish community inside and outside Israel who see what is happening and are profoundly offended, whilst being attacked by the Israeli state and their supporters elsewhere. Israel's drift to align itself with far-Right politicians and governments around the world, sharing their Islamophobia, will not end well. They are after all historically the real anti-semites.
Elegantly expressed exposition of the out-of-control rogue state which seems determined to ensure its own destruction in the long term by destroying all its neighbours in the short term. It is dificult to imagine a future for Israel if we think a 100 years from now. Knowing they have nuclear weapons I can only envisage a sort of final act of Samson style suicide in which they take as many of the rest of the middle east's people with them as they can. All those countries that pretend to be their 'friends' are encouraging this insanisty.
Superb writing, Matt. You effortlessly give voice to my thoughts much more eloquently than I am able to. I think the point by Gen Patraeus is highly pertinent - what will the peace look like? From my position, all I can see is the reproduction of generations of Palestinians, Lebanese and their allies hyper-focused on revenge for martyred mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers etc. If a lay-person like me can come to this conclusion then it certainly has already swam around inside the brains of any number of highly intelligent foreign policy advisers in governments across the Global North. So why persist in blind support of Israel's genocidal campaign? Perhaps it's an approval of what is looking increasingly like a settler-colonialist land-grab. There's plenty of untapped fossil fuels and rare earths to exploit from the geology of West Asia. Perhaps it's because Israel learned something from the Eisenhower affair and through its development of AIPAC and its variants in European countries (eg Labour Friends of Israel) it has neutered the possibility of large-scale party political opposition with the weaponisation of accusations of anti-semitism, financial incentives and, very likely, embarrassing kompromat. Perhaps it's because the arms companies need 'forever war' to keep their share dividends plump.
Thats a tough read but rings true. Having checked out the sources I can recognise their viewpoint but none the less, hard to argue with the points they make. And very hard to see what will stop Israel diving into the abyss and taking others with it. Nothing less than cutting off the supply of offensive weapons and the removal of Netanyahu. The relations of Israel with the rest of the Middle East have been set back 30+ years.
Thanks you Matt. That exactly captures my thoughts.
The idea that ever escalating violence and massacres will help the Israelis' cause in any way flies in the face of history, as you have written yourself elsewhere. The closest parallel I can think of is Sri Lanka where the Sinhalese government set out to massacre the Tamil separatists with no regard whatsoever for the wider population. A good friend was a lead in the group attempting conflict resolution there, who effectively gave up when they realised that the Sinhalese government, also deeply ethno-nationalist, would not change and the outside world was not interested. That is the Israeli state today.
Similarly the West wrings its hands whilst the USA continues to pour supplies of the most damaging and murderous kinds of weapons into Israel. The indiscriminate use of 'bunker busting' bombs being the most obvious. Is every block of flats, hospital, school, hospital, refugee camp that has been destroyed in Gaza, with 10s of thousands of civilian casualties a 'Hamas' stronghold as Israeli spokespersons claim? And now being repeated in Lebanon. Israel's deliberate, conscious policy of accepting enormous civilian casualties has been exposed, and is of course a war crime. They claim 'precision targeting'. Precisely causing the level of damage, death and mutilation we have seen? Is it any wonder that the non-Western world sees the hypocrisy, the racism towards Palestinians, and even undertones of colonialism? As a result support for the US and Europe leaks away, in the direction of other malign actors. Israel is no friend of the democratic West. It has gone rogue.
Meanwhile the reporting and discussions we hear entirely ignores what has been happening in the West Bank and Gaza leading up to October the 7th. As though that terrible event came totally out of the blue, rather than after decades of brutal oppression. We hear all about Israelis who have had to leave their homes on the Northern border. Nothing about Palestinians in the West Bank who have been killed by Israelis, their homes and land trashed, as they are driven away so that Israelis can steal their land and property from them. This over decades but getting steadily worse. Israeli Jewish civilians armed and supported by Israeli armed forces. Unpunished. Ignored by the outside world.
As I listen to the reporting and the ever more outlandish claims of Israeli spokespersons, I'm struck by the amount of projection going on. So much of what the Israelis claim about others can equally be said about Israelis. Starting with the claims about desires for the destruction of Israel whilst Israel has itself been busy brutally destroying any possibility of a Palestinian state. Keeping Gazans locked away in a ghetto, patrolled by drones 24 hours a day. Warsaw in the 1940s springs to mind. An Israel that chooses to inflict outright terror on the non-Jewish population of the area whilst accusing others of terrorism. A state that was of course founded through Jewish terrorism. The Stern Gang, Irgun, Levi, Haganah. Conveniently forgotten today
The Holocaust was of course a great horror of the 20th century, but does that really entitle Israelis and their Jewish supporters elsewhere to use it as some kind justification for Israel's behaviour? Are the Ukrainians entitled to uncritically massacre and brutalise millions of Russians after the millions of Ukrainians starved to death or killed by Russians? Are Armenians entitled to grab the chance to slaughter Turks? Israel's actions are deeply undermining efforts to challenge the cancer of anti-semitism, as Jews in Israel show themselves to be capable of the same kinds of racism and genocide. The gloating and celebration of Palestinian and other casualties amongst Israelis and their media is utterly despicable. Meanwhile I deeply sympathise with that small section of the Jewish community inside and outside Israel who see what is happening and are profoundly offended, whilst being attacked by the Israeli state and their supporters elsewhere. Israel's drift to align itself with far-Right politicians and governments around the world, sharing their Islamophobia, will not end well. They are after all historically the real anti-semites.
With its actions in Lebanon, Israel confirms all that I said above. Truly rogue.
It really does. An absolute calamity.
Elegantly expressed exposition of the out-of-control rogue state which seems determined to ensure its own destruction in the long term by destroying all its neighbours in the short term. It is dificult to imagine a future for Israel if we think a 100 years from now. Knowing they have nuclear weapons I can only envisage a sort of final act of Samson style suicide in which they take as many of the rest of the middle east's people with them as they can. All those countries that pretend to be their 'friends' are encouraging this insanisty.
They really are
A very perceptive piece that asks all the right questions, questions that so far have no answer.
Tactics and strategy defined clearly
Superb writing, Matt. You effortlessly give voice to my thoughts much more eloquently than I am able to. I think the point by Gen Patraeus is highly pertinent - what will the peace look like? From my position, all I can see is the reproduction of generations of Palestinians, Lebanese and their allies hyper-focused on revenge for martyred mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers etc. If a lay-person like me can come to this conclusion then it certainly has already swam around inside the brains of any number of highly intelligent foreign policy advisers in governments across the Global North. So why persist in blind support of Israel's genocidal campaign? Perhaps it's an approval of what is looking increasingly like a settler-colonialist land-grab. There's plenty of untapped fossil fuels and rare earths to exploit from the geology of West Asia. Perhaps it's because Israel learned something from the Eisenhower affair and through its development of AIPAC and its variants in European countries (eg Labour Friends of Israel) it has neutered the possibility of large-scale party political opposition with the weaponisation of accusations of anti-semitism, financial incentives and, very likely, embarrassing kompromat. Perhaps it's because the arms companies need 'forever war' to keep their share dividends plump.
Jewish Currents - worth following as a reminder that there are humane Jews who see just what Israel is doing. It is not an excuse for anti-semitism
https://jewishcurrents.app.neoncrm.com/track//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=jewishcurrents&emailId=535c7d39edbd10db2f35174e0e3184675m2333399535&&linkId=21324&targetUrl=https://jewishcurrents.org/newsletter/must-the-sword-devour-forever
A really powerful piece, Robin. Thanks for sharing. This is really good too: https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/israels-state-authority-is-breaking-down/?mc_cid=ce0a3977b5&mc_eid=a4e19ce089
Thats a tough read but rings true. Having checked out the sources I can recognise their viewpoint but none the less, hard to argue with the points they make. And very hard to see what will stop Israel diving into the abyss and taking others with it. Nothing less than cutting off the supply of offensive weapons and the removal of Netanyahu. The relations of Israel with the rest of the Middle East have been set back 30+ years.
Just arrived in Crete, a place I know quite well. A line of US airforce on the tarmac including AWACS. One can
Imagine why.
In a very small place we know - where most of the staff are from a cross section of ME countries. Syria, Uraq, Egypt, Tunisia, Afghan plus Albania.
At last, somebody willing to stand up. Thank you Matt Carr.