A note to those justifying Israel's current bombardment of Gaza
I see you on my Facebook page. I read with horror as you write words justifying the killing of children and babies. Here is what I have to say about that.
As of this writing, Israel has killed 400 Palestinians over the past two days, including some 100 babies and children.
I am absolutely devastated and infuriated by this. Israel knowingly and intentionally violated this ceasefire, has demonstrated complete disregard for human life, and is sending Israel back on a war path.
AND Ben Gvir is now back in the government.
AND the cries of the hostage families have been completely ignored. Hostages have been knowingly sacrificed by their so-called leaders.
AND Israeli families trying to hang on to some normalcy are now being pulled back into reserve duty. Again.
I'm holding space for the people of Gaza. For the families of the dead. For the families of the hostages still in Gaza whose lives are now in serious danger, too. And for the people of Israel who have had enough of war and bloodshed and being used by the government as instruments of war and violence in the name of political survival.
Bibi Netanyahu is trying to spin all this as “saving the hostages”. But he is lying. How do we know Bibi Netanyahu is lying when he says that he is interested in "saving the hostages" and that's why he broke the ceasefire and resumed killing hundreds of Gazans? How do we know for sure?
Because the freed hostages are the most vocal opponents of bombing gaza!!! They are the ones most vociferously urging Israel to stop the bombing and make a ceasefire deal RIGHT NOW.
Don't listen to Bibi's lies.
I posted some of this on Facebook this week, and while many people agree with these ideas, some don’t. Disagreement is okay, to a certain extent, but I’m still shaken by how easily some people continue to justify mass killings, even of babies. And also how twisted the rationales are.
for all those who are cruelly justifying Israel's current bombardment of Gaza including the killing of babies and children, those who in my earlier feed are writing things like, "Well, think of the hostages" or "Think about the terror" or "What else are we supposed to do?", I want to say this clearly. Again. For those who haven't been paying attention.
(1) Military action does NOT save hostages. Endless bombing actually ENDANGERS hostages. Sometimes killing them. (Along with many other people in Gaza.)
(2) You know what DOES end war and bring back hostages and make people safe? Negotiated cease fires. Like the one ISRAEL just violated. ISRAEL.
(3) Here are some facts:
You know how many hostages came back via military rescue during this war?
8.
You know how many hostages came back via negotiated agreement?
141
And you know how many hostages have been killed by IDF fighting?
35.
You know what makes us all safer? Negotiated peace settlements.
(4) You know who saved us from Iran? Jordan. Yeah, remember the 400 rockets sent by Iran last year, (on Bibi’s watch, btw, Mister Save-you-from-Iran bullshit?) How did Israel become safe despite the Iranian attack?
Because of JORDAN. That’s right, Jordan saved us. Jordan knocked down a lot of those rockets headed our way.
You know why? BECAUSE WE HAVE A PEACE TREATY WITH JORDAN.
So, yeah, the only thing that ends war and keeps us safe is NEGOTIATED AGREEMENTS
(5) You know why else we shouldn't be supporting the bombing of Gaza that within a day killed 400 people including 100 children?
Because that makes us brutal monsters.
Yeah, I said it.
If you are opposed to Hamas terrorists coming into Israel and randomly killing Israeli babies, then you should ALSO be opposed to the Israeli army coming into Gaza and randomly killing Palestinian babies.
Yes, you should. Babies are babies. Children are children. Understanding that makes you a human being.
(6) If you think it's okay to kill OTHER PEOPLE’s babies and other innocent people but not your own, well.... well... let's think about that....
If you think it's wrong to kill YOUR people's babies, but it's perfectly fine to kill the babies of 2.2 million people of another ethnicity...what are you suggesting? Do you think your ideas sound familiar?
(7) If you think it's okay for 2.2 million Palestinians to die because, well, some of their people did bad things, well....you are supporting killing innocent people as an act of collective punishment....
Try this thought experiment:
What do we do about the fact that there are some jews in the world doing bad things, too? Some very bad things? DO you think all Jews therefore deserve to die? Should we all be punished for the actions of Bernie Madoff, Harvey Weinstein, Ben Gvir, Baruch Goldstein.....? Collective punishment?
If you think collective punishment of 2.2 million Gazans is okay, the violent and relentless attack on 2.2 million people including babies, then I have some bad news for you: You are supporting ethnic cleansing and genocide. So, if these are your views, as some people on my FB page suggested this week, then go ahead and have your views, but then don't go crying when people accuse you of supporting genocide and ethnic cleansing. Because if those are your views, then your critics are right about you.
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What else should we do?
Anything but this.
And, oh yeah, stick to the cease fire.
Agree on a long-term negotiated agreement for the region.
Make peace.
That's what we should do.
You know what else we can do? Dialogue. Talk to your so-called enemy. Listen to Carolina Frimer of Interfaith Dialogue and be inspired.
You know what else you can do? You can stand up for justice. Listen to Amira Musallem talk about the role of non-violent actors in stopping injustice.
You think there are no partners for peace? Watch this interview with Nivine Sandouka of ALLMEP. They have 170 organizations that are partners.
As my friend Becca Strober says, hope is a choice.
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I love you