The Israel once perceived as brave, liberated and cool is now seen as oppressive and reactionary — the polar opposite. Israeli Jews are once again lonely.
You are not alone in America. I don't care what the ungrateful refugees from the dysfunction of Muslim countries and their children think. I despise the fake intellectuals of the "elite" academic left. I abhor the ignorance of the Tik-Tok revolutionaries. I am dumbfounded by the vicious strain of Jew hate that runs through black radicalism and street thuggery. The last bits of debris among addled brained criminal "Aryans" are beneath contempt- almost beneath notice despite the bleatings of the SPLC scammers.
What I do assert, is that many of us hold with President Washington's promise to the Children of Abraham. Here, you can rest in peace and security beneath your own vines. This is a home for you and yours in absolute equality- not in "tolerance" but in equality with your Christian neighbors.
Dr. Goldberg brought me into the world. I will never forget Max Siegel our impressive and kind principal at P.S. 78 ( the Bronx 1950s-early 60s). I recall fondly those golden summers when Bernstein, Berkowitz, Cohen, joined with the Didanotto, Ristano, Caputo, and Kelly, Fischer, and us, the Brennans to make up my gangs and crews that roamed the streets, parks and schoolyards in imitation of those stereotypical GI squads, platoons, and ship's companies all our dads had belonged to just a decade earlier. ( We had picked up the G.I. habit of calling each other by last names.)
I remember Schechter's kindly old grandfather, a retired tailor, bringing us up on the roof of their house and showing us the stars through his giant telescope, or Slavin's grandpa with his encyclopedic collection of opera recordings and his stories of a teenaged escape from Austrian conscription to find his way to America and a life as a jolly and erudite Delmonico's waiter. The showed us that you could have culture without wealth.
We learned to respect and enjoy each other even as we roughhoused, battled, teased. At mom and dad's work, the Jews covered for the Christians at Christmas and Easter, and the Christians ( Catholics really- Protestants were rare and exotic in our area) covered for our Jewish neighbors at work during the High Holy Days.
My Irish grandma ate her matzos with butter and jam and tea, and chocolate macaroons were a much looked for seasonal treat. The Jewish deli, sat cheek and jowl with the Italian bakery. A knish and a Doctor Brown's, or a Sacher Torte on Sunday from the sweet lady in the Jewish bakery ( in her summer uniform you could see the number on her arm when she handed you that extra cookie). Aunt Minnie ( from Scotland) was the "Shabbos Goy" at the local temple, which meant that the old ladies saved first cut of the toy soldiers that came in at the rummage sale for me.
So, I know you, I love you, I stand with you. From you I got "White Christmas," and "God Bless America." From you I got Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley and Mt. Sinai, Beth Israel, Albert Einstein Medical School, because of you my kids never faced polio. I can see, hear, taste your contributions everywhere. I still cannot find anything that has made my life or my country's life better from that other tradition. I cannot forget the abandoned cars at our local train station waiting for drivers who disappeared on a beautiful September morning nearly a quarter century ago.
So, from this sentimental old Bronx boy, I assure you, if we go, we go together. Not "Ceasefire," but "Return and Surrender."
Never, ever would I have imagined welling up from the comment section. Your words are a much needed salve. How I wish my mother was still alive to read her your lovely, vivid memories. Up here in multicultural Canada, I have many recollections of my younger self trying to convince my grandmother that there was nothing to be afraid of any longer, that the world had changed. We both looked at eachother with pity, for different reasons. Now, this non-religious jew in his 50's, wishes he could go back in time and listen to my sweet bubbie with less arrogance and more empathy.
Thank you for your fearless friendship. We need you, and appreciate you more than you could know. We do feel lonely, and yes, scared. A little less so, knowing there's men like you in this world. "If we go, we go together". Cheers and hugs from Toronto.
This is so beautiful Hugh. Some of what you wrote reminds me of stories my father told us about growing up in Dorchester MA as the son of East European Jewish immigrants. You have a gift of storytelling. Thank you for your words.
Look up Genocide in the Dictionary, speak to the Sooth African and Irish governments and then ask the ICJ….and then you may also understand apartheid to boot..
I enjoy remembrances from the same time. I remember in Washington Heights ,..made famous at the Latino "HEIGHTS" by Lin Manuel Miranda. My neighborhood....every store was "Jewish" except for the supermarket. Or so it seemed. The local Catholic primary school taught Jew Hate....Jews Killled Jesus. Don't associate with Jews. None the less my playmate was Cuban/Puerto Rican. The Irish family punished their daughter for telling my brother she couldn't play with him....as he's a Jew. My mother went to the Father of the school to complain my older brother was being bullied. On my block, it was straight out of famous Stiller Meara routine........the Jews, atheist Jews, half Jews played on the west end of the street.....the Irish kids from the parochial school on the east....we did not mix....ever. We ignored each others existence. I didn't live in fear.... I was not part of a gang, I wandered all over the neighborhood with my friends without a phone and without telling my mom where I was going. as I got older, I watched "white" flight....and the Latinization of the Heights, the Kosher deli closed, the appetizer store, the same. and so on. The doo wop gangs were gone and Salsa was in the air.
I'm sorry to hear of your sad experiences. I can tell you that a St. Philip and James from 1954 to 1962 we never heard any anti-Semitic (Christ-killer) rhetoric. I think our attitudes were more reflective of the attitude in this introduction delivered by our old Mayor Ed Koch shortly before he passed. https://cardinaldolan.org/blog/reflections-on-mayor-koch
Those were the times....I look back at aspects of my childhood with fond memories....we didn't live in fear...but the antisemitism of the local parochial school and Catholic church was very real. It was a given.
why should anyone believe YOUR truth which is no more truthful and probably much less truthful than most, and as relevant as a used tissue. Why would anyone want to watch a video created by obviously evil people who are as stupid & credulous as Qanon and just as dangerous. Messenger Charles my foot. All you are is a maniacal jerk who spreads ugly, libelous comments about what a supposed Jewish, supposed professor says. Or, maybe you are just a russian or muslim bot!
Thank you so much for this piece. It says so much of what I have been feeling, and how I can talk about what is going on with so few people in my life. I feel isolated in my sense of anger and grief, and existential threat. This felt deeply validating. I am grateful for you putting this out there.
Thank you Michael Oren for this essay which beautifully expresses how so many of us are feeling. That said, it strengthens our resolve to be part of the Jew Israel continuum. And we must be grateful to our friends - like Christian Zionists, ICEJ, CUFI, etc. who are right there in the ring with us, spiritually, politically, and practically.
Christian Zionists are in no way in the same ring as Jews who support Israel. These Christian Zionists only support a right wing theocratic Israel as was shown when they bitterly bitterly criticized the Israeli government in 2021 that was more centrist.
Netanyahu has shown no hesitation supporting Hamas pre October 7 nor has he shown as any hesitation in voicing his support for Christian Zion over American Jews.
Distain for American Jews and indeed Jews anywhere outside of Israel is shown by his support for right wing governments around the world many of whom repress Jews.
A very thoughtful moving and humane meditation on Jewish loneliness.
While I am relatively immune from the anti-Semitism expressed by the Gentile left I’m still unable to wrap my head and heart around the unrelenting demonization of Israel with all of its faults by the Jewish far left mostly but not entirely young Jews.
When I see groups like If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace make their political demands for a permanent cease-fire to include the return of not just the hostages held by Hamas but for Hamas to receive the Palestinian ‘hostages’ held by Israel I wonder how people seemingly motivated by the same kind of social justice that so many Jewish people advocate and live their lives towards achieving are so blind, dogmatic and hardened in their hearts to believe and shout out this moral equivalence on the streets and in the halls of Congress.
My acquaintance, writer Dara Horn, talks about the Jews who want to hang out with the “cool kids.” They want to fit in. Whether it was the Jewish Communist apparatchniks who persecuted fellow Jews, or the Hellenized Jews in Ancient Greece, there have always been Jews who have sided with the persecutors. This fits in with what Oren talks about it being lonely to be Jewish; it’s not lonely when you get to hang out with the “cool kids.”
Oh wow, cry me a river. Meanwhile tens of thousands of children are left wounded, forcefully starved, orphaned, traumatised by Israel as a form of collective punishment. But okay, let's focus on the loneliness of the jews who get 14 billion dollars of American tax money and unconditional military support from the U.S. Never mind the double standards the west has towards other radical fascist religious countries. We can all agree that Iran's moral police is completely immoral but somehow Israeli soldiers shooting at children holding white flags is justified because they were "human shields". Someone could convert into judaism tomorrow and suddenly get their ultimate birth right trip, join the IDF so that they can film themselves dance on the mass graves of civilians. That's such an incredibly lonely sight. All these Israelis chanting and mocking the deaths of babies arm in arm together, smiling, twirling and cheering together is the spitting image of loneliness.
Israel's allies gifting them weapons is oh-so-isolating. Poor them, seriously. I wonder how they're going to recover from all this with all the support and money they have.
Nothing ever justifies forcefully starving an entire population. Nothing justifies the use of white phosphorus, bombs and experimental weapons on a densely populated area. How can you justify preventing humanitarian aid to hungry people who are as equal as you and me? Do Palestinians even have human rights? The world is watching them die a slow and painful death the name of Israel's "defence". Is this not torture? Is it necessary to starve everyone to defeat Hamas? That is the worst way to die. Jews should know, given their history in Europe and yet somehow when you see these images that resemble so much of the Holocaust, you still put yourselves in a victim role. Are you starving? Are you losing your limbs? Have you lost your entire family? Your home? Your friends? Your entire country? Have you lost your rights as a human being?
Why are you whining about the world standing against a fascist, religious-obsessed government who does that to innocent civilians? The bullies always try to paint themselves as the victims. This is classic playground psychology. You have failed humanity in your pathetic self-pitying speech. Holocaust survivors would be appalled if they read this.
Funny that the only “religious fascist country” you name is the Jewish one. Most of all of what you post is a lie or taken out of context or both. No word about the Hamas friends who are murdering people in Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria… you just hate it when Jews defend ourselves. So why don’t you cry us a river about your supposed, “starving children” who are bred only to serve as child soldiers or martyrs. Cry us a river about your precious Hamas who have one goal - that is to murder Jews and Israelis. You’ll cry us a river when you and your family are murdered bc. your stupid leftist ideolgy was finally of no use to the Islamists.
Well said Sarah…I’ve been reading the comments spewing from these delusional Zionists on this thread.. Supporting a Fascist psychopathic cowardly Israeli government.. unbelievable. What planet are they living on?
I read your newsletter, and I find myself torn. While I fully believe Israel has a fundamental right to their own state, as a humanitarian and believer in the rights of all humans to live in security and peace, I can't help but feel a deep compassion for the Palestinians. I know you know Palestinians do not deserve to die because of Hamas, the same way innocent Israelis did not deserve to die. It feels like a tit for tat. If you find my struggle a defense of Hamas, you misunderstand my struggle.
The thousands of Gazans cheering and chasing after Shana Nouk's naked body in that pick up truck are typical, not exceptions, of the Palestinian mindset. So is the "renowned" Gazan poet Reefat Alareer, who joked about whether Israeli babies burned alive on Oct 7 had been roasted with or without baking powder: https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1719055385112506822?lang=en
He was killed in an Israeli airstrike a few days later: good riddance.
Nothing of the sort remotely describes the majority of the Israeli mindset, otherwise 5 months of war would have killed most of Gaza's population.
Given that Israel is fighting a just war and that collateral damage to civilians is not unjust, why do you find it necessary to collectively demonize the entire civilian population in Gaza? Isn’t it wiser to simply blame their tragic and unjust deaths on Hamas’s existential threat to Israel and its cynical propaganda strategy?
prove that the entire civilian population in gaza doesn't want to murder every single Jew in the world. that they don't train their children and reward their families for killing Jews.... the civilian population, for the most part, supports the goal of destroying Israel and "reclaiming their land."
Collectively demonizing other groups for being unable to prove their innocence (to the satisfaction of the demonizer) has been the root cause of violent anti-Semitism throughout the ages - from the blood libels of the Middle Ages to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the Age of Reason to Zionism is Racism at the United Nations.
In the 1930s the far right accused all Jews of being communist revolutionaries while the far left accused all Jews of being capitalist oppressors. Those on the right found ample evidence of Jewish communists and those on the left found ample evidence of Jewish capitalists. Does that justify the massacre of all Jews?
Taking revenge on the citizens of Gaza may feel righteous, especially if you find ample evidence of civilian support for Hamas, but adopting the ethical values of the world’s worst anti-Semites is probably not what God expects of us nor will it bring honor to His Great Name
who is suggesting to "take revenge?" The goal is to protect the citizens of the State of Israel. Is Egypt taking revenge on Gaza by blockading them and not allowing them refuge in the Sinai? Funny how no one is accusing Egypt of being complicit in "Israel's genocide." If I had it my way, I'd incentivize all "innocent Gazans" to move to Sinai, Yemen, Syria, or Iran... land is cheap and you know where they speak the same language, customs, religion, and share their same desire to murder all Jews. With the $10B just released to Iran, beautiful communities can be set up for the "innocent Gazans" to become self sufficient and productive members of society. Beautiful! Win-Win!
Please re-read our back and forth from the beginning. I’ve always justified Israel’s war to destroy Hamas in Gaza (including Rafah) because it is Israel’s right and responsibility to protect its citizens from a proven existential threat. I’ve repeatedly argued that civilian deaths caused by collateral damage while tragic is certainly not unjust. It makes no difference to me if those civilians love Hamas or hate Hamas. Our intention is not to harm them but to protect Israel.
For some reason (which I cannot understand) you repeatedly insist on characterizing these civilians— do they hate Jews or do they love Jews? Is there evidence of their guilt or innocence? Should they be treated as guilty until proven innocent or visa versa?
My simple question, which I’ve come back is — Why does that matter? Why does this affect the justness of our war against Hamas or the unintended collateral damage caused to these civilians.
I’d urge you to avoid the temptation to characterize them since it is utterly irrelevant and only bolsters Hamas propaganda war against the Jews
"this is a cowardly Genocide" which leaves 98% of the population alive, unlike the real genocide of the Armenians in Turkey, the Jews in Poland and the Tutsis in Rwanda.
Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention shows that using civilians to protect military assets, as Hamas has done throughout the Gaza Strip, is not permissible and those civilians can legitimately face military attack.
Palestinian journalists? The ones who gleefully documented the rape, torture and murder of Israeli women like Shani Nouk and then went on to win awards for their work? Good riddance to them.
In Gaza, a woman's only goal and worth is in birthing shahids/martyrs. it is an honor to die for their cause. very, very few are innocent. very very few want to co-exist. very very few are innocent of not wanting to murder every Jew in the world. the pictures and the media are either showing photos that are from wars that did not happen in Gaza or a Hamas/Pallywood production. you've been duped. you shouldn't need to struggle so hard. I'm afraid it is you who misunderstands the Palestinians.
Before and after October 7, Hamas has made clear its intent to eradicate Israel and the Jews living there. Hamas is also utterly indifferent -- at best -- to the lives of Arabs living in Gaza. So, if you agree neither Jews nor Arabs deserve to die by Hamas, what is your proposal? Leave Hamas in place to regroup, rearm, and continue to perpetrate more atrocities upon the Jews, all while keeping their oppressive boot on the neck of the Gazan Arabs?
Sadly true and the full story is not being told. Palestinian's gift to the world is radical Islamism based on the Grand Mufti al-Husseini's collaboration with Hitler and Mussolini. It is little wonder why other Arab nations want nothing to do with them.
Couldn’t agree more. The death of civilians in Gaza is an unjust tragedy caused by Hamas’ hatred of Israel and its cynical propaganda strategy.
Israel is fighting a just war in Gaza to eliminate an existential threat to its own survival. Collateral damage suffered by innocent civilians is tragic but it is not unjust.
Utterly unnecessary collective demonization of the entire Gazan civilian population (who have never been met by their demonizers) merely causes an equal and opposite collective demonization of the Jewish population in Israel.
No policy will supercharge Hamas’ propaganda campaign and Israeli’s collective demonization as much as the sight of women and children starving in Gaza. Preventing this should be an urgent humanitarian and strategic priority in the lead up to the just invasion of Rafah (after moving civilians to Gazan safe havens)
hamas stop commandeering food....send it to to Tigrinya who are actully suffering from starvation....or Yemen or the Rohy ga who thise a holes care nothgin about.
These media reports are a gift to Hamas’s propaganda campaign. Even if they are false, why not end this phony propaganda by allowing entry of even unnecessary humanitarian aid? Why should Israel continue to help Hamas by being the “gift that keeps on giving”
As much as I very much like and appreciate Michael Oren and have read most of his books, this article conveys a combination of self-pity and delusion. Here in America, antisemitism is not "rampant." I went to my college reunion last week on a huge campus in a southern state. There were no protests, no signs, no defacement of the Hillel.
One culprit is intense media focus on the vocal minority of anti-Zionists and antisemites and their Tic Toc rantings and ravings, as well as no real outlet for the majority that is supportive of Israel but, like me, dismayed by the brutality of its response to Hamas' horrible pogrom of 10/7.
But the real obstacle is that Israel's leadership is morally and strategically bankrupt. They have no clear goal for the outcome of the war against Hamas. Worse, they refuse to support any of the reasonable proposals for Palestinian self-determination in the future. This is the main reason Israeli Jews and Jewish Americans such as me feel "lonely."
Perhaps yes, at least the media that is shown and makes for lots of YouTube and Tic Toc clicks. However, I met here in Washington, D.C. with a group representing the A Land for All proposal (alandforall.org). These are Israelis and Palestinians from a newer, younger generation who are working hard to build peace for all. The synagogue where they spoke was packed with hundreds of people. Also increasingly active is the organization Standing Together.
Here's a Palestinian from a newer, younger generation, Refaat Alareer, joking about whether Israeli babies burned alive on October 7 were "roasted with or without baking powder":
The videos of Gazans cheering on Oct 7 as Israeli prisoners, and corpses, were brought in shows no two-state solution is possible unless the Palestinian state is ruled by a ruthless dictator who will prevent attacks on Israel. Egypt, Jordan and Syria actually fit that model well.
It is very hard not to get discouraged, given the truth of what you say. As the son of Holocaust survivors and myself a refugee from Soviet brutality in Hungary, my first reaction to 10/7 was rage and a desire for revenge... Kill them all. My reasoning, forward thinking brain then took over and I tried to persuade Israelis that they are playing right into Hamas' hands with a brutal invasion. Better and more effective strategies could have been found and I suggested several. Sadly, the Israeli public is understandably traumatized by 10/7 and not willing to consider better solutions than overwhelming force.
I’m also the son of Holocaust survivors. As Viktor Frankl wrote in “Man’s Search for Meaning” — “all groups include both decent and indecent individuals” (even the concentration camp Nazi guards and even the Jewish prisoners). Not all Israeli are as indecent as Ben Gvir and not all Palestinians are as indecent as Refaat Alareer. As children of survivors we are more sensitive than other contemporary Jews in abhorring the collective demonization of others.
Very true, but it doesn't seem that difficult for any normal human being to hold nuanced views about complex problems, such as: 1. Nothing justifies the brutality of Hamas' assault on 10/7. It was a war crime. 2. However, the scope and focus of the IDF's disproportional response can also be considered a war crime. As you mention, everyone is or can be BOTH oppressor and oppressed, depending on the circumstances. Accepting this truth can be the catalyst to truth and reconciliation between warring groups.
"Better and more effective strategies could have been found and I suggested several"
You might consider a bit more modesty in discussing your strategies.
Henry Kissinger, a truly great strategist and diplomat, had very different ideas in one of his last public interviews. He thought Israel must act very forcefully in Gaza, forget the two state "solution" and place the West Bank Palestinians under Jordan's control. His insightful thoughts are well worth reading in full:
Israel could look at Turkey as an example: despised in the Arab world for its imperial past but still no Arab country dares cross it due to its strength and willingness to use it.
My suggested strategies focused only on Israel's initial response to the Hamas pogrom. It is based on the military idea that you never want to do exactly what your enemy expects you to do. Hamas fully expected and even invited a brutal Israeli response so that it could play the victim role for the world. Instead of an extensive assault on Gaza, Israel should have first taken time to fully secure its border, respectfully bury its dead. At the same time, the Air Force could have conducted very targeted attacks against identified rocket launching sites with the smallest bombs required to do the job. In the meantime, it would have launched an all-out diplomatic campaign to return the hostages. Also, I would have created a humanitarian corridor into Israel itself or some other temporary haven for Palestinian women and children to escape their Hamas oppressors, again demonstrating to the world that Israel's conflict is with Hamas not all Gazans.
"consider better solutions than overwhelming force"
The Nazi Blitz on England killed 40,000 civilians. The Strategic Air Offensive killed over 600,000 German civilians, firebombed every German city over 100,000 and paved the way for 78 years of peace. Don't underestimate overwhelming force.
And I fully realize the need for a harsh enough response such that the world knows it's not a good idea to mess with the Jews... But that understandable emotion must give way to hard analysis and strategy.
True, but the world has changed now in a time of 24-7 media, Tic TOC and furious social media propaganda. This is something most countries understand. War cannot be conducted today as easily "out of sight, out of mind."
No loneliness here.....Jew Hate is off the charts.....and is rampant on college campuses. And we have a government in the USA that is clearly morally bankrupt and pandering to the racist Islamists in the US congress. The Jewish vote still counts and I expect a lot will choose someone other than Biden.
What was the response of America to the sneaky Japanese at Pearl Harbor?? A nuclear bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki!! And so, the Israelis are doing their duty to take out HAMAS!! The rest is collateral damage!
Bring that please, to the attention of the UN as Hamas use them as shields!!
At the same time, keep in mind that the children are groomed to replenish Hamas as they grow up!! Just the reality, cruel as it is. Japanese learned it also the hard way.
The Israelis are groomed to be human shields in the West Bank…stealing, raping, murdering Palestinians for decades. The IdF use children as bomb practice.. 15 000 children murdered so far…
It is very true that the loneliness of Jews was not their choice. It is imposed on us by governments and ideologies. Look at German Jews delusional in their belief that they had assimilated and became an integral part of the German society in the first part of the 20th century. They thought they were accepted because they were successful and talented and appeared gentile. And then boom. I think the same is happening in the US.
In pre-revolutionary Russia Jews were hated and despised because they lived in shtetls behind the Pale of Settlement, could not own land, and were subjected to many restrictions, which was a state law implemented by Catherine the Great who brought Jews from Europe. In the Soviet Union, many Jews thought they had finally assimilated, as all religions were cancelled by Bolsheviks as “opium of the people”, but they continued to be singled out because of the so-called “fifth line” in passports that clearly stated their ethnicity as Jewish. And you had to show passport to get a job or residence. And we could go on. We did not choose the loneliness. The world chose it for us.
You conflate Zionism with being Jewish, which is the most dangerous possible thing to do to Jews in general when Israeli Zionists in particular are livestreaming a genocide and having a jolly good time while they are about it.
If Israeli Jews think they're lonely now, just wait a few months. More and more countries will refuse to trade with, much less arm, a country guilty of a genocide even more efficient than what Himmler pulled off. Eventually, the United States will join them. Israelis will have to either agree to majority rule like the white South Africans did or flee.
It is inevitable. It is the destiny Netanyahu and his pack of ghouls made unavoidable.
The good news is that Jews already have a country to live where they are not persecuted or subjected to things like pogroms. It's called the United States, but supporting a genocide and using Bronze Age myths to justify it isn't the best way to win friends and influence people, not even your fellow Americans.
Ha, you’re a fool if you think the USA is going to protect Jews here. We need to hire armed guards to protect our community centers and places of worship. In some places, we’re told to hide our identity so as not to provoke violence against us. The university and media, financed by Qatar, are spreading blood libels against us. So when the US succumbs to the Islamic takeover, Jews will still have a homeland. Zionism is the right for Jewish self determination in our ancestral homeland. You clearly don’t get it. And guess what…. the Saudi’s are already in agreement with Israel. Investments have not stopped, commerce has not stopped. Go back to sleep.
An historical correction might be appropriate to the discussion. It wasn’t the U.S. Constitution but the Civil War that transformed perceptions and led to an understanding that going forward our destiny was in “the” United States and that the days of “these” united states were gone. To some extent, that remains our aspirational ideal as we are not there yet.
As to loneliness, perhaps on the international stage Israel is the Jew among nations, but it is hard to square the concept of loneliness in the U.S. when 80% of the population supports Israel. The trick is in getting those voices heard in the media and in our political leaders.
While Sen. Schumer’s recent speech was, for most of its 40 minutes, supportive of Israel, the pull quote highlighted in the media (Netanyahu is a problem and Israel needs a snap election - as if that would change how the majority of Israelis feel about the war strategy) should not have surprised him.
It gives Hamas hope in a widening disagreement between the U.S. and Israel and grist for Sinwar’s cynical view that by sacrificing Gazans the international community will demand, not that Hamas surrender, but that Israel stand down. And it is unlikely that U.S. policymakers do not understand this point.
It seems to me that the obsessive focus on Netanyahu, as if it were “his” war and not the Israeli consensus view, suggests this is the revenge of the Obamaites in the Biden Administration who follow the mantra of “never let a good crisis go to waste.”
They want Netanyahu out of power, but must also assume that this won’t irreversibly undermine Israel’s goal to destroy Hamas. That in itself is quite the gamble and our hubristic desire to have Israel turn the war into a vast, targeted counter-insurgency against four battalions of a terror army. If the U.S. were really concerned over minimizing civilian casualties, one would think we would be demanding that Egypt provide refuge for all but combat age men currently trapped in Gaza. Alas, no - which speaks to how the Arab world sees the Palestinians and the West’s continuing blindness on the subject.
More broadly, it illustrates how the West is happy to make it all Israel’s problem, the better to allow them to morally preen from the safety of the sidelines.
Maybe our perceived loneliness is just that of the leader and, if so, then it’s something to embrace rather than bemoan. Let the other nations choose to follow the “light unto the nations” or not. That’s their concern and there’s nothing Israel or Jews can do to affect the outcome.
For many, Netanyahu is the epitome of "never let a good crisis go to waste." But then again his philosophy has always been "poke the bear, so then you can shoot it." This is probably because he blames the Palestinians/Arabs for the Holocaust.
1. Always playing the victim is not a great way to make friends.
2. Denying the facts of IDF genocidal actions as part of the Gaza real estate grab is another good way for no one to trust you. Friends don’t gaslight friends.
3. Equating not liking you or even just disagreeing with you as some sort of moral crime is a trick that only works on the weak minded, and once again, prevents friendship.
4. The. conceit at the center of ever Jews heart (whether they admit it out loud or not) l, that they are the “chosen people” of the Great I Am is ridiculous on its face and provides the blanket excuse for the kinds of collective moral failings that Jews are widely known for.
Hey. I’m thinking it would be a lonely thing to support a state committing genocide whilst the rest of the world wakes up. That would be lonely. Embrace the woe until it becomes unbearable.
I suggest that a sense of loneliness is quite appropriate for you, and others, like you, who support the ongoing slaughter of Palestinian women and children being conducted by the settler state which you represent, apparently quite voluntarily.
However much I would proudly stand with you, and every other Jew in the world, against Antisemitism, I find little sympathy for your self-centred sadness while the government you represent bombards, and subjects to death by starvation, the people who have paid such an enormous price for the success of the state you represent.
The actions of the State of Israel, with the arrogant and oft-stated claim to be acting on behalf of all Jews, in fact, puts them all in danger, as it invites true antisemites to smear them with the crimes of the State of Israel. Soon, the Jews whom you claim to represent will realize this, and they will not thank you.
Your sense of loneliness is bound to increase as Israel becomes the pariah state it deserves to be. I shall not shed a tear for you, nor give you a moment's thought in your self-absorption.
Thank you for your comment. Reading the echo chamber of previous comments was fascinating. Self absorption of this level shouldn’t be political. It really should between these folks and a therapist. I almost feel embarrassed for them, like I shouldn’t have been able to witness so much self delusion right out in the open.
I understand there are Zionist Jews and non Zionist jews, jews who are secular and jews who are hyper religious.
There are Roman Catholic Christians, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Christians and nominal Christians who are secular.
There are even Christian Zionists whose beliefs predate Jewish Zionists.
The various world religions,more than 3000, each one professing their own claim to "truth" and having a "spiritual hotline" to whatever deity they commune with, or not, make life wretched for us heathen, to them, non believers.
You are not alone in America. I don't care what the ungrateful refugees from the dysfunction of Muslim countries and their children think. I despise the fake intellectuals of the "elite" academic left. I abhor the ignorance of the Tik-Tok revolutionaries. I am dumbfounded by the vicious strain of Jew hate that runs through black radicalism and street thuggery. The last bits of debris among addled brained criminal "Aryans" are beneath contempt- almost beneath notice despite the bleatings of the SPLC scammers.
What I do assert, is that many of us hold with President Washington's promise to the Children of Abraham. Here, you can rest in peace and security beneath your own vines. This is a home for you and yours in absolute equality- not in "tolerance" but in equality with your Christian neighbors.
Dr. Goldberg brought me into the world. I will never forget Max Siegel our impressive and kind principal at P.S. 78 ( the Bronx 1950s-early 60s). I recall fondly those golden summers when Bernstein, Berkowitz, Cohen, joined with the Didanotto, Ristano, Caputo, and Kelly, Fischer, and us, the Brennans to make up my gangs and crews that roamed the streets, parks and schoolyards in imitation of those stereotypical GI squads, platoons, and ship's companies all our dads had belonged to just a decade earlier. ( We had picked up the G.I. habit of calling each other by last names.)
I remember Schechter's kindly old grandfather, a retired tailor, bringing us up on the roof of their house and showing us the stars through his giant telescope, or Slavin's grandpa with his encyclopedic collection of opera recordings and his stories of a teenaged escape from Austrian conscription to find his way to America and a life as a jolly and erudite Delmonico's waiter. The showed us that you could have culture without wealth.
We learned to respect and enjoy each other even as we roughhoused, battled, teased. At mom and dad's work, the Jews covered for the Christians at Christmas and Easter, and the Christians ( Catholics really- Protestants were rare and exotic in our area) covered for our Jewish neighbors at work during the High Holy Days.
My Irish grandma ate her matzos with butter and jam and tea, and chocolate macaroons were a much looked for seasonal treat. The Jewish deli, sat cheek and jowl with the Italian bakery. A knish and a Doctor Brown's, or a Sacher Torte on Sunday from the sweet lady in the Jewish bakery ( in her summer uniform you could see the number on her arm when she handed you that extra cookie). Aunt Minnie ( from Scotland) was the "Shabbos Goy" at the local temple, which meant that the old ladies saved first cut of the toy soldiers that came in at the rummage sale for me.
So, I know you, I love you, I stand with you. From you I got "White Christmas," and "God Bless America." From you I got Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley and Mt. Sinai, Beth Israel, Albert Einstein Medical School, because of you my kids never faced polio. I can see, hear, taste your contributions everywhere. I still cannot find anything that has made my life or my country's life better from that other tradition. I cannot forget the abandoned cars at our local train station waiting for drivers who disappeared on a beautiful September morning nearly a quarter century ago.
So, from this sentimental old Bronx boy, I assure you, if we go, we go together. Not "Ceasefire," but "Return and Surrender."
Never, ever would I have imagined welling up from the comment section. Your words are a much needed salve. How I wish my mother was still alive to read her your lovely, vivid memories. Up here in multicultural Canada, I have many recollections of my younger self trying to convince my grandmother that there was nothing to be afraid of any longer, that the world had changed. We both looked at eachother with pity, for different reasons. Now, this non-religious jew in his 50's, wishes he could go back in time and listen to my sweet bubbie with less arrogance and more empathy.
Thank you for your fearless friendship. We need you, and appreciate you more than you could know. We do feel lonely, and yes, scared. A little less so, knowing there's men like you in this world. "If we go, we go together". Cheers and hugs from Toronto.
This is true. I’m a fellow Catholic with Jewish forebears. You said it better than I could. You are not alone.
This is so beautiful Hugh. Some of what you wrote reminds me of stories my father told us about growing up in Dorchester MA as the son of East European Jewish immigrants. You have a gift of storytelling. Thank you for your words.
You are too kind.
Look up Genocide in the Dictionary, speak to the Sooth African and Irish governments and then ask the ICJ….and then you may also understand apartheid to boot..
And the Genocide continues..
Might I ask you to define "genocide" so that we can discuss the term with mutual intelligibility?
Which genocide do you mean? Certainly not of muslims as there are hundreds of millions more than there were 15 years ago.
I enjoy remembrances from the same time. I remember in Washington Heights ,..made famous at the Latino "HEIGHTS" by Lin Manuel Miranda. My neighborhood....every store was "Jewish" except for the supermarket. Or so it seemed. The local Catholic primary school taught Jew Hate....Jews Killled Jesus. Don't associate with Jews. None the less my playmate was Cuban/Puerto Rican. The Irish family punished their daughter for telling my brother she couldn't play with him....as he's a Jew. My mother went to the Father of the school to complain my older brother was being bullied. On my block, it was straight out of famous Stiller Meara routine........the Jews, atheist Jews, half Jews played on the west end of the street.....the Irish kids from the parochial school on the east....we did not mix....ever. We ignored each others existence. I didn't live in fear.... I was not part of a gang, I wandered all over the neighborhood with my friends without a phone and without telling my mom where I was going. as I got older, I watched "white" flight....and the Latinization of the Heights, the Kosher deli closed, the appetizer store, the same. and so on. The doo wop gangs were gone and Salsa was in the air.
I'm sorry to hear of your sad experiences. I can tell you that a St. Philip and James from 1954 to 1962 we never heard any anti-Semitic (Christ-killer) rhetoric. I think our attitudes were more reflective of the attitude in this introduction delivered by our old Mayor Ed Koch shortly before he passed. https://cardinaldolan.org/blog/reflections-on-mayor-koch
Those were the times....I look back at aspects of my childhood with fond memories....we didn't live in fear...but the antisemitism of the local parochial school and Catholic church was very real. It was a given.
just what does that mean, messenger charles?
The irony of hating Jews & worshipping a Jewish "god", jesus! Or should I say, for greater accuracy, idiocy.
Excellent comment. Thank you.
I believe this to be bullshit that a Jew wrote this.
why should anyone believe YOUR truth which is no more truthful and probably much less truthful than most, and as relevant as a used tissue. Why would anyone want to watch a video created by obviously evil people who are as stupid & credulous as Qanon and just as dangerous. Messenger Charles my foot. All you are is a maniacal jerk who spreads ugly, libelous comments about what a supposed Jewish, supposed professor says. Or, maybe you are just a russian or muslim bot!
Thank you so much for this piece. It says so much of what I have been feeling, and how I can talk about what is going on with so few people in my life. I feel isolated in my sense of anger and grief, and existential threat. This felt deeply validating. I am grateful for you putting this out there.
@Dana Grossman Leeman - well said. Me too.
Thank you, Sharon.
Thank you Michael Oren for this essay which beautifully expresses how so many of us are feeling. That said, it strengthens our resolve to be part of the Jew Israel continuum. And we must be grateful to our friends - like Christian Zionists, ICEJ, CUFI, etc. who are right there in the ring with us, spiritually, politically, and practically.
Christian Zionists are in no way in the same ring as Jews who support Israel. These Christian Zionists only support a right wing theocratic Israel as was shown when they bitterly bitterly criticized the Israeli government in 2021 that was more centrist.
Netanyahu has shown no hesitation supporting Hamas pre October 7 nor has he shown as any hesitation in voicing his support for Christian Zion over American Jews.
Distain for American Jews and indeed Jews anywhere outside of Israel is shown by his support for right wing governments around the world many of whom repress Jews.
A very thoughtful moving and humane meditation on Jewish loneliness.
While I am relatively immune from the anti-Semitism expressed by the Gentile left I’m still unable to wrap my head and heart around the unrelenting demonization of Israel with all of its faults by the Jewish far left mostly but not entirely young Jews.
When I see groups like If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace make their political demands for a permanent cease-fire to include the return of not just the hostages held by Hamas but for Hamas to receive the Palestinian ‘hostages’ held by Israel I wonder how people seemingly motivated by the same kind of social justice that so many Jewish people advocate and live their lives towards achieving are so blind, dogmatic and hardened in their hearts to believe and shout out this moral equivalence on the streets and in the halls of Congress.
My acquaintance, writer Dara Horn, talks about the Jews who want to hang out with the “cool kids.” They want to fit in. Whether it was the Jewish Communist apparatchniks who persecuted fellow Jews, or the Hellenized Jews in Ancient Greece, there have always been Jews who have sided with the persecutors. This fits in with what Oren talks about it being lonely to be Jewish; it’s not lonely when you get to hang out with the “cool kids.”
Because the Israeli government are basically war criminals and Genocidal merchants of destruction, committing crimes against humanity…..Are you blind?
Oh wow, cry me a river. Meanwhile tens of thousands of children are left wounded, forcefully starved, orphaned, traumatised by Israel as a form of collective punishment. But okay, let's focus on the loneliness of the jews who get 14 billion dollars of American tax money and unconditional military support from the U.S. Never mind the double standards the west has towards other radical fascist religious countries. We can all agree that Iran's moral police is completely immoral but somehow Israeli soldiers shooting at children holding white flags is justified because they were "human shields". Someone could convert into judaism tomorrow and suddenly get their ultimate birth right trip, join the IDF so that they can film themselves dance on the mass graves of civilians. That's such an incredibly lonely sight. All these Israelis chanting and mocking the deaths of babies arm in arm together, smiling, twirling and cheering together is the spitting image of loneliness.
Israel's allies gifting them weapons is oh-so-isolating. Poor them, seriously. I wonder how they're going to recover from all this with all the support and money they have.
Nothing ever justifies forcefully starving an entire population. Nothing justifies the use of white phosphorus, bombs and experimental weapons on a densely populated area. How can you justify preventing humanitarian aid to hungry people who are as equal as you and me? Do Palestinians even have human rights? The world is watching them die a slow and painful death the name of Israel's "defence". Is this not torture? Is it necessary to starve everyone to defeat Hamas? That is the worst way to die. Jews should know, given their history in Europe and yet somehow when you see these images that resemble so much of the Holocaust, you still put yourselves in a victim role. Are you starving? Are you losing your limbs? Have you lost your entire family? Your home? Your friends? Your entire country? Have you lost your rights as a human being?
Why are you whining about the world standing against a fascist, religious-obsessed government who does that to innocent civilians? The bullies always try to paint themselves as the victims. This is classic playground psychology. You have failed humanity in your pathetic self-pitying speech. Holocaust survivors would be appalled if they read this.
Funny that the only “religious fascist country” you name is the Jewish one. Most of all of what you post is a lie or taken out of context or both. No word about the Hamas friends who are murdering people in Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria… you just hate it when Jews defend ourselves. So why don’t you cry us a river about your supposed, “starving children” who are bred only to serve as child soldiers or martyrs. Cry us a river about your precious Hamas who have one goal - that is to murder Jews and Israelis. You’ll cry us a river when you and your family are murdered bc. your stupid leftist ideolgy was finally of no use to the Islamists.
They are not defending. The Zionists are attacking civilians.
Just say Jews... bc that's what you mean. Stop hiding your hatred behind the safety of the word, Zionist. coward.
send your screed to the racist regime in Iran that runs this war and will fight to the last Gazan.
Well said Sarah…I’ve been reading the comments spewing from these delusional Zionists on this thread.. Supporting a Fascist psychopathic cowardly Israeli government.. unbelievable. What planet are they living on?
Delusional ZIONIST right her... but why not be 100% clear... you don't mean, "Zionists," you mean JEWS. Just say it.
Nothing to do with the Jews..That’s what my Jewish wife and daughter tell me.
Sure they do.
I read your newsletter, and I find myself torn. While I fully believe Israel has a fundamental right to their own state, as a humanitarian and believer in the rights of all humans to live in security and peace, I can't help but feel a deep compassion for the Palestinians. I know you know Palestinians do not deserve to die because of Hamas, the same way innocent Israelis did not deserve to die. It feels like a tit for tat. If you find my struggle a defense of Hamas, you misunderstand my struggle.
3 out of 4 Palestinians approve of the October 7 atrocities, let alone Hamas, as shown by Palestinian polling from a Ramallah-based institute:
https://www.jns.org/three-in-four-palestinians-support-hamass-massacre/
The thousands of Gazans cheering and chasing after Shana Nouk's naked body in that pick up truck are typical, not exceptions, of the Palestinian mindset. So is the "renowned" Gazan poet Reefat Alareer, who joked about whether Israeli babies burned alive on Oct 7 had been roasted with or without baking powder: https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1719055385112506822?lang=en
He was killed in an Israeli airstrike a few days later: good riddance.
Nothing of the sort remotely describes the majority of the Israeli mindset, otherwise 5 months of war would have killed most of Gaza's population.
Given that Israel is fighting a just war and that collateral damage to civilians is not unjust, why do you find it necessary to collectively demonize the entire civilian population in Gaza? Isn’t it wiser to simply blame their tragic and unjust deaths on Hamas’s existential threat to Israel and its cynical propaganda strategy?
prove that the entire civilian population in gaza doesn't want to murder every single Jew in the world. that they don't train their children and reward their families for killing Jews.... the civilian population, for the most part, supports the goal of destroying Israel and "reclaiming their land."
Collectively demonizing other groups for being unable to prove their innocence (to the satisfaction of the demonizer) has been the root cause of violent anti-Semitism throughout the ages - from the blood libels of the Middle Ages to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the Age of Reason to Zionism is Racism at the United Nations.
In the 1930s the far right accused all Jews of being communist revolutionaries while the far left accused all Jews of being capitalist oppressors. Those on the right found ample evidence of Jewish communists and those on the left found ample evidence of Jewish capitalists. Does that justify the massacre of all Jews?
Taking revenge on the citizens of Gaza may feel righteous, especially if you find ample evidence of civilian support for Hamas, but adopting the ethical values of the world’s worst anti-Semites is probably not what God expects of us nor will it bring honor to His Great Name
who is suggesting to "take revenge?" The goal is to protect the citizens of the State of Israel. Is Egypt taking revenge on Gaza by blockading them and not allowing them refuge in the Sinai? Funny how no one is accusing Egypt of being complicit in "Israel's genocide." If I had it my way, I'd incentivize all "innocent Gazans" to move to Sinai, Yemen, Syria, or Iran... land is cheap and you know where they speak the same language, customs, religion, and share their same desire to murder all Jews. With the $10B just released to Iran, beautiful communities can be set up for the "innocent Gazans" to become self sufficient and productive members of society. Beautiful! Win-Win!
Please re-read our back and forth from the beginning. I’ve always justified Israel’s war to destroy Hamas in Gaza (including Rafah) because it is Israel’s right and responsibility to protect its citizens from a proven existential threat. I’ve repeatedly argued that civilian deaths caused by collateral damage while tragic is certainly not unjust. It makes no difference to me if those civilians love Hamas or hate Hamas. Our intention is not to harm them but to protect Israel.
For some reason (which I cannot understand) you repeatedly insist on characterizing these civilians— do they hate Jews or do they love Jews? Is there evidence of their guilt or innocence? Should they be treated as guilty until proven innocent or visa versa?
My simple question, which I’ve come back is — Why does that matter? Why does this affect the justness of our war against Hamas or the unintended collateral damage caused to these civilians.
I’d urge you to avoid the temptation to characterize them since it is utterly irrelevant and only bolsters Hamas propaganda war against the Jews
Why should they move? The land belongs to them…it’s time for the Zionists to move back to Europe..
"collectively demonize the entire civilian population in Gaza?"
I only demonize the 77% of the population that approves of the Oct 7 atrocities, as shown in repeated surveys carried out by Palestinian institutions.
The other 23% are fine, provided they never voted for Hamas.
Why do you find that sticking your head in the sand, oblivious to Palestinian public opinions about Jews, is an effective and realistic strategy?
This is not a war this is a cowardly Genocide…..bombing civilians, journalists UN aid workers, starving children…
If it makes you feel better, call it a war.
"this is a cowardly Genocide" which leaves 98% of the population alive, unlike the real genocide of the Armenians in Turkey, the Jews in Poland and the Tutsis in Rwanda.
Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention shows that using civilians to protect military assets, as Hamas has done throughout the Gaza Strip, is not permissible and those civilians can legitimately face military attack.
Palestinian journalists? The ones who gleefully documented the rape, torture and murder of Israeli women like Shani Nouk and then went on to win awards for their work? Good riddance to them.
War, like WW2, until total victory!
They shouldn’t have to protect it…The land belongs to them!!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C45tp2QoAPP/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
“Nothing of the sort remotely describes the majority of the Israeli mindset…” Except perhaps:
https://x.com/sirclouseau/status/1771253512153829841?s=46&t=y6oNMuRlA05SmDXZA1sw4Q
https://x.com/oopsguess/status/1740430765207511307?s=46&t=y6oNMuRlA05SmDXZA1sw4Q
https://x.com/freethefeather/status/1772427483637338318?s=46&t=y6oNMuRlA05SmDXZA1sw4Q
https://x.com/angeloinchina/status/1771113795680928188?s=46&t=y6oNMuRlA05SmDXZA1sw4Q
https://x.com/angeloinchina/status/1771113795680928188?s=46&t=y6oNMuRlA05SmDXZA1sw4Q
https://x.com/ryanrozbiani/status/1771901310918443488?s=46&t=y6oNMuRlA05SmDXZA1sw4Q
In Gaza, a woman's only goal and worth is in birthing shahids/martyrs. it is an honor to die for their cause. very, very few are innocent. very very few want to co-exist. very very few are innocent of not wanting to murder every Jew in the world. the pictures and the media are either showing photos that are from wars that did not happen in Gaza or a Hamas/Pallywood production. you've been duped. you shouldn't need to struggle so hard. I'm afraid it is you who misunderstands the Palestinians.
Again - why is this relevant to the justness of our war against Hamas?
Before and after October 7, Hamas has made clear its intent to eradicate Israel and the Jews living there. Hamas is also utterly indifferent -- at best -- to the lives of Arabs living in Gaza. So, if you agree neither Jews nor Arabs deserve to die by Hamas, what is your proposal? Leave Hamas in place to regroup, rearm, and continue to perpetrate more atrocities upon the Jews, all while keeping their oppressive boot on the neck of the Gazan Arabs?
How about:
1. Complete destruction of Hamas (including its last stronghold in Rafah)
2. Evacuate civilian population to Gazan safe zones and massively increase humanitarian aid to prevent starvation and minimize collateral damage
3. Insist of ironclad security control by IDF from river to sea for foreseeable future
4. Enact basic laws granting equal rights and full minority protections in all annexed territories under Israeli Sovereignty (after elections l)
5. Create realistic pathway for Palestinian governance and autonomous administration in all territories not annexed by Israel (after elections)
6. Manage threat from extremists on all sides (after elections)
The Palestinians are genocidal. They live to finish Hitler's work and are quite open about it.
Sadly true and the full story is not being told. Palestinian's gift to the world is radical Islamism based on the Grand Mufti al-Husseini's collaboration with Hitler and Mussolini. It is little wonder why other Arab nations want nothing to do with them.
https://johnhardman.substack.com/p/hitlers-grand-mufti
Couldn’t agree more. The death of civilians in Gaza is an unjust tragedy caused by Hamas’ hatred of Israel and its cynical propaganda strategy.
Israel is fighting a just war in Gaza to eliminate an existential threat to its own survival. Collateral damage suffered by innocent civilians is tragic but it is not unjust.
Utterly unnecessary collective demonization of the entire Gazan civilian population (who have never been met by their demonizers) merely causes an equal and opposite collective demonization of the Jewish population in Israel.
No policy will supercharge Hamas’ propaganda campaign and Israeli’s collective demonization as much as the sight of women and children starving in Gaza. Preventing this should be an urgent humanitarian and strategic priority in the lead up to the just invasion of Rafah (after moving civilians to Gazan safe havens)
no one is starving in gaza. that is propaganda and media being complicit with it.
hamas stop commandeering food....send it to to Tigrinya who are actully suffering from starvation....or Yemen or the Rohy ga who thise a holes care nothgin about.
You’re a fucking disgrace!
These media reports are a gift to Hamas’s propaganda campaign. Even if they are false, why not end this phony propaganda by allowing entry of even unnecessary humanitarian aid? Why should Israel continue to help Hamas by being the “gift that keeps on giving”
As much as I very much like and appreciate Michael Oren and have read most of his books, this article conveys a combination of self-pity and delusion. Here in America, antisemitism is not "rampant." I went to my college reunion last week on a huge campus in a southern state. There were no protests, no signs, no defacement of the Hillel.
One culprit is intense media focus on the vocal minority of anti-Zionists and antisemites and their Tic Toc rantings and ravings, as well as no real outlet for the majority that is supportive of Israel but, like me, dismayed by the brutality of its response to Hamas' horrible pogrom of 10/7.
But the real obstacle is that Israel's leadership is morally and strategically bankrupt. They have no clear goal for the outcome of the war against Hamas. Worse, they refuse to support any of the reasonable proposals for Palestinian self-determination in the future. This is the main reason Israeli Jews and Jewish Americans such as me feel "lonely."
If you are for a two-state solution, no wonder you feel lonely. The whole world is chanting “from the river to the sea”. Haven’t you heard?
Perhaps yes, at least the media that is shown and makes for lots of YouTube and Tic Toc clicks. However, I met here in Washington, D.C. with a group representing the A Land for All proposal (alandforall.org). These are Israelis and Palestinians from a newer, younger generation who are working hard to build peace for all. The synagogue where they spoke was packed with hundreds of people. Also increasingly active is the organization Standing Together.
Here's a Palestinian from a newer, younger generation, Refaat Alareer, joking about whether Israeli babies burned alive on October 7 were "roasted with or without baking powder":
https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1719055385112506822?lang=en
The videos of Gazans cheering on Oct 7 as Israeli prisoners, and corpses, were brought in shows no two-state solution is possible unless the Palestinian state is ruled by a ruthless dictator who will prevent attacks on Israel. Egypt, Jordan and Syria actually fit that model well.
It is very hard not to get discouraged, given the truth of what you say. As the son of Holocaust survivors and myself a refugee from Soviet brutality in Hungary, my first reaction to 10/7 was rage and a desire for revenge... Kill them all. My reasoning, forward thinking brain then took over and I tried to persuade Israelis that they are playing right into Hamas' hands with a brutal invasion. Better and more effective strategies could have been found and I suggested several. Sadly, the Israeli public is understandably traumatized by 10/7 and not willing to consider better solutions than overwhelming force.
I’m also the son of Holocaust survivors. As Viktor Frankl wrote in “Man’s Search for Meaning” — “all groups include both decent and indecent individuals” (even the concentration camp Nazi guards and even the Jewish prisoners). Not all Israeli are as indecent as Ben Gvir and not all Palestinians are as indecent as Refaat Alareer. As children of survivors we are more sensitive than other contemporary Jews in abhorring the collective demonization of others.
Very true, but it doesn't seem that difficult for any normal human being to hold nuanced views about complex problems, such as: 1. Nothing justifies the brutality of Hamas' assault on 10/7. It was a war crime. 2. However, the scope and focus of the IDF's disproportional response can also be considered a war crime. As you mention, everyone is or can be BOTH oppressor and oppressed, depending on the circumstances. Accepting this truth can be the catalyst to truth and reconciliation between warring groups.
"Better and more effective strategies could have been found and I suggested several"
You might consider a bit more modesty in discussing your strategies.
Henry Kissinger, a truly great strategist and diplomat, had very different ideas in one of his last public interviews. He thought Israel must act very forcefully in Gaza, forget the two state "solution" and place the West Bank Palestinians under Jordan's control. His insightful thoughts are well worth reading in full:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/12/02/henry-kissinger-interview-israel-hamas-war-00129374
Israel could look at Turkey as an example: despised in the Arab world for its imperial past but still no Arab country dares cross it due to its strength and willingness to use it.
My suggested strategies focused only on Israel's initial response to the Hamas pogrom. It is based on the military idea that you never want to do exactly what your enemy expects you to do. Hamas fully expected and even invited a brutal Israeli response so that it could play the victim role for the world. Instead of an extensive assault on Gaza, Israel should have first taken time to fully secure its border, respectfully bury its dead. At the same time, the Air Force could have conducted very targeted attacks against identified rocket launching sites with the smallest bombs required to do the job. In the meantime, it would have launched an all-out diplomatic campaign to return the hostages. Also, I would have created a humanitarian corridor into Israel itself or some other temporary haven for Palestinian women and children to escape their Hamas oppressors, again demonstrating to the world that Israel's conflict is with Hamas not all Gazans.
"consider better solutions than overwhelming force"
The Nazi Blitz on England killed 40,000 civilians. The Strategic Air Offensive killed over 600,000 German civilians, firebombed every German city over 100,000 and paved the way for 78 years of peace. Don't underestimate overwhelming force.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Hamburg_in_World_War_II#Second_RAF_raid_27/28_July
And I fully realize the need for a harsh enough response such that the world knows it's not a good idea to mess with the Jews... But that understandable emotion must give way to hard analysis and strategy.
True, but the world has changed now in a time of 24-7 media, Tic TOC and furious social media propaganda. This is something most countries understand. War cannot be conducted today as easily "out of sight, out of mind."
Including Messianic Zionists!!! Both Israelis and Palestinians suffer from those claiming to act in God’s name
For example, in response to my comment, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2dK3vV7neY
No loneliness here.....Jew Hate is off the charts.....and is rampant on college campuses. And we have a government in the USA that is clearly morally bankrupt and pandering to the racist Islamists in the US congress. The Jewish vote still counts and I expect a lot will choose someone other than Biden.
What was the response of America to the sneaky Japanese at Pearl Harbor?? A nuclear bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki!! And so, the Israelis are doing their duty to take out HAMAS!! The rest is collateral damage!
You mean cowardly murdering children…
Yes, that is what Hamas does, you filthy Nazi subhuman rat.
How does Hitler's dick taste, Jewkiller?
What does your father’s dick taste like?
Bring that please, to the attention of the UN as Hamas use them as shields!!
At the same time, keep in mind that the children are groomed to replenish Hamas as they grow up!! Just the reality, cruel as it is. Japanese learned it also the hard way.
The Israelis are groomed to be human shields in the West Bank…stealing, raping, murdering Palestinians for decades. The IdF use children as bomb practice.. 15 000 children murdered so far…
It is very true that the loneliness of Jews was not their choice. It is imposed on us by governments and ideologies. Look at German Jews delusional in their belief that they had assimilated and became an integral part of the German society in the first part of the 20th century. They thought they were accepted because they were successful and talented and appeared gentile. And then boom. I think the same is happening in the US.
In pre-revolutionary Russia Jews were hated and despised because they lived in shtetls behind the Pale of Settlement, could not own land, and were subjected to many restrictions, which was a state law implemented by Catherine the Great who brought Jews from Europe. In the Soviet Union, many Jews thought they had finally assimilated, as all religions were cancelled by Bolsheviks as “opium of the people”, but they continued to be singled out because of the so-called “fifth line” in passports that clearly stated their ethnicity as Jewish. And you had to show passport to get a job or residence. And we could go on. We did not choose the loneliness. The world chose it for us.
You conflate Zionism with being Jewish, which is the most dangerous possible thing to do to Jews in general when Israeli Zionists in particular are livestreaming a genocide and having a jolly good time while they are about it.
If Israeli Jews think they're lonely now, just wait a few months. More and more countries will refuse to trade with, much less arm, a country guilty of a genocide even more efficient than what Himmler pulled off. Eventually, the United States will join them. Israelis will have to either agree to majority rule like the white South Africans did or flee.
It is inevitable. It is the destiny Netanyahu and his pack of ghouls made unavoidable.
The good news is that Jews already have a country to live where they are not persecuted or subjected to things like pogroms. It's called the United States, but supporting a genocide and using Bronze Age myths to justify it isn't the best way to win friends and influence people, not even your fellow Americans.
Think, please.
Ha, you’re a fool if you think the USA is going to protect Jews here. We need to hire armed guards to protect our community centers and places of worship. In some places, we’re told to hide our identity so as not to provoke violence against us. The university and media, financed by Qatar, are spreading blood libels against us. So when the US succumbs to the Islamic takeover, Jews will still have a homeland. Zionism is the right for Jewish self determination in our ancestral homeland. You clearly don’t get it. And guess what…. the Saudi’s are already in agreement with Israel. Investments have not stopped, commerce has not stopped. Go back to sleep.
"In some places, we’re told to hide our identity so as not to provoke violence against us."
-How does that work? Not wear a yarmulke?
Well, apparently some reports say that Saudi Arabia has said otherwise, although Israel and the U.S. deny it.
An historical correction might be appropriate to the discussion. It wasn’t the U.S. Constitution but the Civil War that transformed perceptions and led to an understanding that going forward our destiny was in “the” United States and that the days of “these” united states were gone. To some extent, that remains our aspirational ideal as we are not there yet.
As to loneliness, perhaps on the international stage Israel is the Jew among nations, but it is hard to square the concept of loneliness in the U.S. when 80% of the population supports Israel. The trick is in getting those voices heard in the media and in our political leaders.
While Sen. Schumer’s recent speech was, for most of its 40 minutes, supportive of Israel, the pull quote highlighted in the media (Netanyahu is a problem and Israel needs a snap election - as if that would change how the majority of Israelis feel about the war strategy) should not have surprised him.
It gives Hamas hope in a widening disagreement between the U.S. and Israel and grist for Sinwar’s cynical view that by sacrificing Gazans the international community will demand, not that Hamas surrender, but that Israel stand down. And it is unlikely that U.S. policymakers do not understand this point.
It seems to me that the obsessive focus on Netanyahu, as if it were “his” war and not the Israeli consensus view, suggests this is the revenge of the Obamaites in the Biden Administration who follow the mantra of “never let a good crisis go to waste.”
They want Netanyahu out of power, but must also assume that this won’t irreversibly undermine Israel’s goal to destroy Hamas. That in itself is quite the gamble and our hubristic desire to have Israel turn the war into a vast, targeted counter-insurgency against four battalions of a terror army. If the U.S. were really concerned over minimizing civilian casualties, one would think we would be demanding that Egypt provide refuge for all but combat age men currently trapped in Gaza. Alas, no - which speaks to how the Arab world sees the Palestinians and the West’s continuing blindness on the subject.
More broadly, it illustrates how the West is happy to make it all Israel’s problem, the better to allow them to morally preen from the safety of the sidelines.
Maybe our perceived loneliness is just that of the leader and, if so, then it’s something to embrace rather than bemoan. Let the other nations choose to follow the “light unto the nations” or not. That’s their concern and there’s nothing Israel or Jews can do to affect the outcome.
Are the Obamaites and the Biden administration protesting in Israel currently? Trump wasn't really a fan of Netanyahu either, after he got to know/deal with him. https://thehill.com/policy/international/585520-trump-netanyahu-never-wanted-peace-with-palestinians-report/
For many, Netanyahu is the epitome of "never let a good crisis go to waste." But then again his philosophy has always been "poke the bear, so then you can shoot it." This is probably because he blames the Palestinians/Arabs for the Holocaust.
Well said. One note though - it might again be the media, and not the "West".
(I wouldn't argue though that Muslim immigrants from Middle Eastern countries support not right, not left, up or down, but Muslim Arab issues)
1. Always playing the victim is not a great way to make friends.
2. Denying the facts of IDF genocidal actions as part of the Gaza real estate grab is another good way for no one to trust you. Friends don’t gaslight friends.
3. Equating not liking you or even just disagreeing with you as some sort of moral crime is a trick that only works on the weak minded, and once again, prevents friendship.
4. The. conceit at the center of ever Jews heart (whether they admit it out loud or not) l, that they are the “chosen people” of the Great I Am is ridiculous on its face and provides the blanket excuse for the kinds of collective moral failings that Jews are widely known for.
Hey. I’m thinking it would be a lonely thing to support a state committing genocide whilst the rest of the world wakes up. That would be lonely. Embrace the woe until it becomes unbearable.
I suggest that a sense of loneliness is quite appropriate for you, and others, like you, who support the ongoing slaughter of Palestinian women and children being conducted by the settler state which you represent, apparently quite voluntarily.
However much I would proudly stand with you, and every other Jew in the world, against Antisemitism, I find little sympathy for your self-centred sadness while the government you represent bombards, and subjects to death by starvation, the people who have paid such an enormous price for the success of the state you represent.
The actions of the State of Israel, with the arrogant and oft-stated claim to be acting on behalf of all Jews, in fact, puts them all in danger, as it invites true antisemites to smear them with the crimes of the State of Israel. Soon, the Jews whom you claim to represent will realize this, and they will not thank you.
Your sense of loneliness is bound to increase as Israel becomes the pariah state it deserves to be. I shall not shed a tear for you, nor give you a moment's thought in your self-absorption.
Thank you for your comment. Reading the echo chamber of previous comments was fascinating. Self absorption of this level shouldn’t be political. It really should between these folks and a therapist. I almost feel embarrassed for them, like I shouldn’t have been able to witness so much self delusion right out in the open.
Well.....targeting/killing some white folks certainly caused a ruckus, didn't it?
I understand there are Zionist Jews and non Zionist jews, jews who are secular and jews who are hyper religious.
There are Roman Catholic Christians, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Christians and nominal Christians who are secular.
There are even Christian Zionists whose beliefs predate Jewish Zionists.
The various world religions,more than 3000, each one professing their own claim to "truth" and having a "spiritual hotline" to whatever deity they commune with, or not, make life wretched for us heathen, to them, non believers.
"Religion poisons everything".
A pox on you!
Absolutely outstanding Ambassador-
i especially love the final paragraph. thank you.