A Word on Gaza

Today, November 4th, Israel has agreed to daily four hour pauses in their relentless killing of Palestinian people. This comes after a month of devastation in Gaza.

To those of you only now waking up to this 105 year long clusterfuck, welcome. I hope you’re in it for the long haul. And as Maeve from Westworld once said, “If you go looking for the truth, get the whole thing. It’s like a good fuck: half is worse than none at all.”

I’m not a politician. I’m not well-spoken on politics, but as we come up on Democratic Primary, I pray that you do not forget what is going on right now. Rather than Genocide Joe, The Hippie, or even the principled fellow who called for this primary, I would like you to listen to what this guy is saying:

If you agree with these statements, support Cenk for President. He’s only fringe until he gets enough support.

The Israeli government has committed atrocities against their own people, and against the Palestinian people. Hamas has also committed atrocities which I do not support. Scale matters. 10,790 Palestinians died (as of 11/9), hospitals and REFUGEE CAMPS have been bombed because of 240 hostages and 1,400 dead Israelis. I pray that these and other ghoulish actions see their day at the Hague. I do not support U.S. involvement in this conflict. I will never support U.S. involvement in foreign wars. I respect people who feel a different way, but I cannot support Biden.

I have only three other, slightly longer, more nuanced things to say.

1. I beg you, do not get your information from social media.

Misinformation is rampant right now. It is extremely fashionable to share sources that use the right language, and very uncommon for people to engage in fact-finding before reposting. In our post-truth media environment, where rage sells, and high quality, photo-realistic AI images can be made of anything and –contrary wise– anything and everything can be called “fake news” whether it is, or not, we either measure twice, cut once, and show receipts, or lose credibility where it matters most.

Politics, for many, is “a look.” The pressure to post things quickly, because “silence is consent,” causes people whose hearts are in the right place to share sources which are easily proven to be inaccurate.

When your opinion is in the minority (and believe me, that is where I live on most issues) people will lose your thesis and get caught up on some minor side point, and use it to invalidate not only your thesis, but you as a person, and everyone associated with you and your opinion. Please, please, please fact check before sharing. Don’t share that infographic without links. The truth matters. A lot.

2. To help ANYONE, we have to fix our democracy.

This woman says it better than I ever could:

Particularly 1/3, and 3/3.

People have been organizing, contacting legislators, donating, boycotting, and signing petitions for decades. Our nation has not in any way taken notice. Even the protests against the Vietnam war did precious little; instead of hearing anti-war voices, or voices in favor of civil rights, they retaliated.

We see protests around the world, and in many countries, leaders are changing their foreign policy because of the will of their people. But in the U.S., protests have not helped. Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israel Americans are saying and doing all of the same things they did in 2014. The problem has actually gotten worse.

Why?

There are two possibilities.

The first possibility is that activism that works locally isn’t the activism that works internationally. You can make your local cops afraid. You can harass a Hobby Lobby and hurt their bottom line. You can get a whole town to boycott a homophobic sub shop and drive them out of business. It’s actually possible.

There are people who live in Israel protesting Netanyahu. There are Israeli citizens sitting in prison for refusing to serve. Neighborhoods of Jews are being harassed for their peaceful Pro-Palestinian protests. They can do local activism in Israel, but if you live here, you cannot.

Direct action is possible, but only delays the inevitable.

The other answer is harder to swallow: we do not have a functional democracy. We can’t even trust that the candidate who wins the popular vote will become our next president (at least if they’re a Democrat). Our democracy is broken because the power of certain voters is exaggerated, and the power of others suppressed.

I want you –as calmly as you can– to meditate on why Palestinians might be telling us that liberating the Black community is key to helping the Palestinian people.

I want you to think about how gerrymandering, voter suppression laws, and policing practices which may limit access to the polls might change which communities politicians think about when they are deciding foreign policy. Imagine if they couldn’t suppress votes. Imagine if every person permanently living in the United States had equal voice and vote. How would their calculus change?

Fighting gerrymandering, fighting voter suppression, and fighting for voting day being a mandatory national holiday will help give voice and power back to the people who’ve lost it due to systemic injustices in our society.

Our government does not reflect the will of the people, but rather the will of those who make it to the polls, and not even that due to ludicrous districting. I believe that fixing our foreign policies will be greatly assisted by fixing inequalities in this country. I do not believe that they are separate problems.

3. Anti-Israeli Government is not Antisemitism. Don’t let Evangelical Christians use your Jewish neighbors as armor.

I’m not saying that there’s no antisemitism. I mean, I think I already said that, but because I’m talking about THIS issue, it bears repeating.

There is no magic eraser for being Jewish. It’s not just a religion. In fact, non-religious, assimilated Jews often bear the brunt of anti-semitism, being the target of “Zionist Conspiracy” agro, and the “secret Jew” rhetoric. Ashkenazim might just be looked upon by some as just slightly unusual-looking white people with the curious habit of not celebrating Christmas. But to the supremacist, the more we deny our Jewish ethnicity, the more sinister we appear. They have memorized the shape of us. The sound of us.

I’m obviously not religiously Jewish. I’m not out doing things at the JCC. I no longer wear distinguishing cultural dress.

That is no guarantee of safety from anti-semites in this country. Times like these are dangerous for us. They will “notice.” They will hack 23 and me to out us. I have two little kids. I have no clear answers about how to keep them safe at a time like this. And to be blisteringly clear: it is not U.S. Muslims I’m afraid of. It’s the White Supremacists who believe that my children will “replace” them.

There is real antisemitism, global antisemitism, and it is a huge problem.

But why is it, pray tell, that the only time we hear about antisemitism is when someone is criticizing Israel?

Answer: Because they never actually gave a shit about Jews or antisemitism. They only ever cared about a tactical ally in the Middle East, or a landing strip for their awaited Messiah. Don’t let them get away with the intellectual dishonesty.