It’s 126 days since October 7 which disproves David Baddiel’s hypothesis that Jews Don’t Count. Every Jew I know is counting : we know exactly how long our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and cousins have been held in the terror tunnels, have been laying dead in the ground, have had life changing mental and physical injuries as a consequence of what started that day.
We know how many hours Israel was viewed as the victim and now how many months they are seen as the perpetrators.
We know how many people have been killed and how many hearts have been broken in Gaza.
We know the number of innocent lives lost. On both sides.
We know how many people have been forced out of their homes on both sides – with 60, 000 displaced Israelis being the lesser-talked about casualty of war figure.
We know how many rockets have continued to be fired into Israel – even during the last pause in fighting. We know the number tells us Hamas are alive, well and burning on all cylinders.
We are horrified by the numerous accounts of sexual violence that occurred on 7 October and yet can count on one hand the public voices condemning rape as a weapon of war
We can’t put an exact figure on the number of hate posts on social media calling for our destruction, saying we brought this on ourselves and that we are white imperialist colonisers. Whatever the precise number, the almost-empirical evidence points towards us losing one impossible war. The ongoing battle to validate the Jewish experience and the need for a Jewish state.
We know how many FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA protests there have been. Where the ceasefire banners peek their optimistic but ironic heads. If you are calling for the former, you won’t get there with the latter. We also know which universities have, best case scenario, turned a blind eye to anti Israel sentiment on campus rallies. We can also know the number who have actively encouraged protests to “REMOVE ZIONISTS”.
We don’t know how many people know the definition of a zionist – A person who believes in the development and protection of a Jewish nation.
At my daughter’s college they have had a number of discussions about identity politics and inclusion. If someone identifies as a cat, they are to respect them and not to let them feel isolated. Cats are cool. Zionists however…
We also don’t know the exact number of people who currently think that, despite Israel being an internationally recognised country, that its legitimacy is up for debate. If you don’t think the Jews need a homeland then you are denying our pain and our experience. Which makes you a gaslighter and when gas and jews share space it doesn’t end well.
We can count the two sides required for cessation and are left wondering why can’t our detractors? Why is any balanced and educated person marching with only half of the one critical message to FREE PALESTINE? The full banner needs to read FREE PALESTINE FROM HAMAS. If Hamas goes, the ceasefire is a given. Why are you putting 100% responsibility on Israel ? It takes two to make peace like it takes two to make war. Israel’s public intention is to remove Hamas for its security. Hamas’ public intention is to remove Israel from the map. And yet it is Israel that so many think has genocidal desires.
Why treat Israel like the big bad dad and Hamas like the beleaguered toddler ? Hamas knows its own mind – look what it is capable of. The content shared from October 7 isn’t fake news – they didn’t just kill over a thousand and capture over 400 innocent civilians but they also captured on body cams and shared some of the vilest, most inhumane content ever shown. They are strong, they are smart and they are very well armed – continuing to cause serious harm on both sides of the border. Even their bodacious demands to agree a ceasefire reflect the impossible position they have put Israel in and that they continue to be an enormous threat to Israel’s very existence. They’ve made the price of peace extortionate and Israel can’t afford to make any more compromises on its security. Israel wants its kidnapped 140 civilian hostages back. In exchange Hamas wants its 3000+ convicted terrorists back. So at the time that the world is demanding that Israel puts down its arms, it’s also expected to put trust in a peace process with a ‘partner’ who is demanding its destruction publicly. Whilst asking for the foot soldiers, who have already shown their commitment to kill Israelis, have their sentences for terrorism and murder cut.
Israel has had enough. There has been 20 years of rockets starting flying over from Gaza . And 19 years since Israel withdrew from Gaza – removing all Jewish homes and even exhuming jewish graves. 18 years since Hamas was voted into power by Gaza residents. It’s been 17 years since Israel put a blockade around Gaza making the movement of people and products unbearably difficult as response to the stated aim of the Gazan government – the destruction of the Jewish state. Israel monitors two of the three borders and Egypt the other. Neither country keeps the door open for their Gazan neighbours because both are concerned for their own security. In other words, while settlements and Israeli governments on all sides of the political spectrum have come and gone, three factors have remained the same. Hamas, the firing of rockets and the louder calls for the destruction of Israel.
There is another number that is impossible to come up with – the number of deaths and casualties that would be seen as proportionate in response to what happened on October 7? Would the killing of 1400 innocent Palestinian civilians be seen as fair-game? No one seems to be able to answer what Israel should do so in the meantime there is one behaviour that needs to stop – the quest for moral equivalence. It’s impossible. None of my highly educated friends, friends of friends or colleagues seems to have a realistic answer for how Israel can live safely within its borders with heavily armed Hamas just over the fence. Judging by a lot of the content being shared, the answer seems to be implicit. End the blockade, ignore the constant threats and live with the occasional mass killings. ‘If you’re going to keep wearing the short skirt, you are going to keep getting raped.’
When contemplating what the future holds it’s important that the two sides hold up a mirror to themselves and have a good hard look. Israel, when it can see beyond its visceral grief, must accept that Gaza and the West Bank fell too low on their priority list and resolution is key to their long term safety. Israel needs a government who reflects them and more than anything a government they can be proud of. Off you go to jail Bibi and take your ultra right-wing racist bed-fellows with you. May the rhetoric move from jewish supremacy to jewish democracy asap.
And the Palestinian people : vote your government out too. Protest against their actions on October 7 because the entirely predictable consequences have made your lives untenable. This war is killing you because Hamas led you like lambs to the slaughter. There aren’t many countries on this earth that wouldn’t have done what is Israel is doing to protect its population and you have devastatingly got caught up in this Iran-sponsored war.
Israel is one for forgiveness. Look at its strong relationship with Germany. When the time is right, Israelis and Palestinians will have to learn how to put the past behind them. They need to ditch their governments and let go of decades of pain. This people’s land, this person’s house or village. It has to stop. Neither side is going anywhere so dialogue, forgiveness, compromise and future is the only way. But let’s give them time. Meanwhile let’s stop stoking the fire and increasing the division.
If you have have never been to the Middle East, don’t have family or friends there, grow a pair and grow your impartiality. Spray paint your banners with words that make sense and are achievable. Ensure your call to action is one that promotes peace for both sides. Stop turning on victims and making them the perpetrators. Acknowledge the pain, loss and horrors that both populations have experienced because your woke, socialist-baked ideal of simply supporting the underdog is ludicrous. When you shout about the evil of the Israeli government, save some of your breath for the Palestinian government as well. They have proved they are neither weak nor cowering in a corner. More like under a hospital or in a school. Remember the hostages. Remember the rapes. This isn’t a war of numbers, this is a war of actions.
From now on, both sides are counting on you.
thecontentedlady 