Let me start with the global responses. I won’t harp on the global recognition of Palestine, as I’ve wanted that myself, even though I understand the betrayal many Jews feel, some family members of hostages, over it. I’m more concerned over how gentiles had made this a political football match, declaring open season on Jews and Muslims without appreciating the real lives at stake. What’s worse was the justification used for attacking Jews, with “Zionist” being a codeword for them. The living nightmare of these last two years is something I’ll feel for a while.
The gentile world has lost my trust. After October 7th, I made a declaration, one I’ve reiterated, that Hamas and their supporters gave some really awful people a gold platter to exploit Jewish concerns. We’ve seen this with Project Esther, an initiative to silence criticism of the war even from liberal-leaning Jews. It makes me wonder if progressive “allies” have shame, as they’ve been routinely gaslighting Jewish concerns even within their own circles. It’s not helpful, and it’s disgusting that these same allies only got involved because it meant shaming Jews.
It's also telling that these allies are largely silent in the face of Hamas’s current slaughtering of their own citizens. Wasn’t the point to stand up for Palestinians in Gaza? Why are you now ignoring plans to repeat an October 7th-like event? Is it because Jews aren’t involved? I wish I could be shocked, but I’m not.
Speaking of, the reaction to the hostage situation, as well as October 7th, was appalling. There’ve been attempts at downplaying the pain of Israelis, even claiming that The Nova Festival Massacre was a “psy-op” by The Mossad. True, Netanyahu’s failures to stop it from happening will hurt him in next year’s election, but really? There’s no way a country that disunited before October 7th, 2023 could’ve orchestrated something this grand. It gives Netanyahu, who was trying to “reform” the judiciary, and his coalition too much credit.
This isn’t to let him off-the-hook. Netanyahu bribing Hamas for years was inevitably going to backfire, and dragging out the war to avoid accountability cost Israeli hostages and reservists their lives. The country’s facing a mental health crisis because of that, and I hope that also backfires on him. Even ignoring the Charedi draft issue, he's failed Israelis big time. And he’ll have plenty to answer for when the time comes in the country alone.
I could go on forever about how the world has made my existence a nightmare these last two years, but I’ve already written about that. Instead, I’d like to mention that the current “peace” is fragile. Most of the hostages are back in Israel, but there are still several dead ones that Hamas hasn’t returned. It doesn’t help that they’re massacring their own, either. I know Hamas has fans, but they need to be held accountable if there’s to be lasting peace. Palestinians in Gaza deserve that much.
I do have to give credit to the global Jewish community, however. Jews have often compared themselves to eggs, as they’re tougher under pressure, and I’ve seen that firsthand. There have been Jews who’ve found themselves and become more entrenched in their roots. In Israel, completely secular Israelis have adopted Jewish traditions. Families have reunited after years of not speaking. And the anti-Netanyahu protests have grown. Tragic as it is, this war has brought us closer.
However, it’s come at a hefty price. There’s a PTSD crisis in Israel, one that’ll be hard to resolve. People are broken, and I doubt the country can handle this. On the Palestinian side, an entire generation is also broken beyond repair, with many families missing multiple members. It’s easy to claim one side or the other has “won”, but no one truly wins in a war. All parties are losers. I wish that was understood.
Above all, we need to reconcile how this war has shown how much work we have. Yes, Israel’s on better relations with Syria now. Yes, Palestine’s now a recognized country by much of the world. But those are baby steps. They’re not the long-term picture, and it’ll take re-examining our biases for lasting change. That needs constant work from both sides.
I’m tired. I’ve had many unpleasant discussions with Jews and gentiles, and it’s been draining. I’ll probably have more discussions, and they’ll get heated. But I’m hoping this ceasefire deal eases the burden of Antisemitism, making it safer for Jews. The deal’s late, and I have no doubts Trump sabotaged peace efforts under Biden to inflate his ego, but I want to move on. Isn’t that worth something?
No comments:
Post a Comment