Sheikh Jarrah
The situation with the Sheikh Jarrah houses is extremely complicated. It's certainly not "settlers driving Palestinians out of their homes" (though it also cannot be dismissed as just "Palestinian squatters being evicted from Jewish homes that they stole"). There are multiple reasonable perspectives. But even if there is a legitimate grievance here against disparate treatment of Arabs, does this justify the deliberate targeting of Jewish civilians for violence and murder? Many in the West are talking as though it does.
Al-Aqsa
Gaza
The situation in Gaza is distorted in much of the Western media, but is actually extremely straightforward: Hamas has fired hundreds of deadly missiles, targeting civilian towns. The only reason why there haven't been massive Israeli casualties is that Israelis take refuge in bomb shelters, and are helped by Iron Dome. The IDF, in a necessary effort to stop Hamas from firing these rockets, has attacked military targets in Gaza, with the inevitable result of civilian casualties, since Hamas operates from civilian areas. Those who protest the "disproportionate" deaths on the Gaza side should be challenged as to the offensiveness of expecting Israel to simply absorb hundreds of incoming rockets without doing its best to protect its citizens. And a "proportionate response" is one that stops the attacks against civilians - which has not yet been achieved.
Lod
The Future
The current situation - and the media coverage of it - makes certain things clear. However terrible the occupation is, any realistic alternative is only going to be worse. Full Palestinian independence in the West Bank would result in the stockpiling and eventually firing of rockets. Israel would be pressured against taking necessary defensive measures, due to the inevitability of civilian casualties.
Long-term peace is only possible when people are held responsible for their actions. Otherwise, the West is simply motivating the Palestinians to incite wars and fire rockets, due to the political capital that is gained.
Very good summary of the current situation.
ReplyDeleteThe situation in Lod did get international coverage. It is the Lead story in the World section of the BBC:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57081848
Actually the headline there is:
Delete"Israel declares emergency in Lod as unrest spreads"
and the article begins with, "Cars were set alight and a father and daughter - both Israeli Arabs - died when a rocket from Gaza hit their car."
It goes on to describe rockets fired by "Palestinian militants" rather than terrorists, and blames the fighting on "rising tensions that were stoked by violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters," with no mention of stockpiling weapons or attacking Jewish worshipers.
And of course, "The international community has urged both sides to end the escalation." Not very unbiased coverage!
I feel that the true issues behind the whole gaza blow up is hiding in plain sight. I think these events are political.
DeleteWhy is it that the day after Netanyahu failed to patch together a coalition, and with the left having 30 days to make their own, did suddenly Arabs start rioting? Was is merely because of some Supreme Court ruling?
I think Netanyahu is doing all he can to make a coalition without him, not possible.
He wants to remain PM. He also has legal issues that can best be avoided if he remains the PM. Stepping down means loss of power and perhaps the slammer.
It's just too perfect. Hamas missles raining down means more people in favor of right wing politicians.
In the current climate people are less inclined toward the liberal agendas.
What's more, one viable method for the left to cobble together a coalition is with the Arab mks.
But missles out of Gaza and riots on temple mount means Arabs are outraged. Both Arabs and Israelis would go bonkers from a coalition at this time.
Again, excellent for Netanyahu. Oh, and just having people watch the Iron dome bust missles out of the sky is good for likud types.
For all we know, Israel needs to clean out tunnels and bombs from Gaza and elsewhere every couple of years, as the stockpiles increase. But the fallout of bombing isn't good, the US will get have to mad and they pump billions of dollars to Israel so good relations are critical.
So first hamas needs to shoot some missles and then Israel gets down to cleaning up the neighborhood. It isn't difficult to have some insiders rile them up due to some Supreme Court decision or some other hot button issue. They riot, Israel responds and cleans up.
All fine and dandy, right? But why now? Why not a month ago? This is where politics gets involved. Connect the dots and write a book. Over and out.
Rabbi Slifkin...
ReplyDeleteSo you believe the media distorts the news about Israel but you totally trust them when it comes to covid and haredim.
ReplyDeleteWhat?
DeleteYesterday, Ilhan Omar screamed that Israel fired rockets (unprovoked) into Gaza. This is just pure nonsense. This stuff is getting out of hand. This is ridiculous. Ilhan Omar is a disgusting anti-semite, racist, bigoted menace who should be deported. These Democrats lie. They have no morals. They lie, cheat, and steal. They just lie about everything. They lie, lie, lie. They just lie.
DeleteTrump made a point. Noticed that they didn’t attack Israel when Trump was in power. They knew he’d kick them out of existence. Now with weak Biden, they want to test him and see if he does anything. They're just testing the waters. It's disgusting.
Correct. Plus Trump hit em where it hurts the Palastinian pocket book. Biden then opens the pocket book and see what happens. Trump succeeded in making peace between some of Israel's long time enemies. ACJA
DeleteYet the same media that hates Israel, hates trump and slants it's coverage against him, and you believe every word.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this as a general right-wing thing, to not really support right-wing causes for other countries. It makes perfect sense, because as a right winger, I am concerned davka about my country, not really the general principle. This is probably why they tend to lose. I know plenty of Trump and Farage voters (Jewish and not) who are left wingers in every country except their own.
DeleteThe Lod riots are on Drudge Report as well.
ReplyDeleteThere is an evolutionary struggle between the two nations and the stronger will prevail. The outcome is uncertain and there is no right or wrong in this struggle.
ReplyDeleteMissing from this blogpost: evidence for the perceived grievance.
ReplyDeleteMost people are saddened to see lumps of metal and explosive chemical fly through the air near densely populated areas, particularly as it affects young children.
I think the word "pogrom" is wrong. Certainly there was no support for the violence from the local or national government!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blogpost, but nearly everyone (or everyone) is missing the most important reality. As important as the existential threats of Gaza and the "West Bank" are to Israel, the real inescapable existential danger is the Arab population of Israel, who have full political and civil rights.
ReplyDeleteIsrael is the "Jewish State" where large swathes of territory WITHIN the country are completely off limits to Jews. And now during a time of war (with Gaza and on the Temple Mount) the Arab citizens are rising up fully supporting Israel's enemies. Israel is in perpetual denial about this.
Fully 25% of the nation is Arab. Twenty five percent of the nation completely opposes Israel's very existence as a Jewish State. And in spite of the relatively high Jewish birthrate in Israel compared to other western countries, the Arab birthrate is higher.
And because of Israel's utterly flawed political system, an Arab Islamist party is being courted into a coalition. This is the first time in Israel's history when it will be impossible to form a government without at least one Arab Party. And even as it stands now, the very same Arabs who want to destroy the country as a Jewish State are a significant part of the Knesset.
What will be the result of the destruction and violence against Jews in Israel? (Did anyone notice that the rioters wear black shirts and pants like uniforms?) It's obvious. The Arabs will demand MORE money. Their political leaders will claim that the violence is the result of their unequal treatment. And of course, Israel will capitulate. The reality is that NO amount of money or power will EVER satisfy them.
Eventually, they will demand that the flag, the national anthem, and most importantly the Law of Return be amended. And that will only be the very beginning. Do we not recall how the Arab political leaders in Israel fully supported the Iran deal under Obama?
World opinion and propaganda will only make their case stronger. Why do the "Palestinians" need a state when they know very well that they only need bide their time. Today they comprise 25% of the population; in 10 years it may very well be 35%. Still a Jewish State? No. It is obviously transforming into a binational state. And as such, Jews will become more and more uncomfortable.
Israel cannot face up to the reality that there is NO difference between the "Arab citizens of Israel" and the Arabs in Gaza or the "West Bank." And the intertwining of the Jewish and Arab populations (including Arabs in Israel and the "West Bank") is becoming irreversible.
The IDF can deliver a missile into the very apartment of a terrorist leader in Gaza, but it is essentially helpless against the Arabs living in Israel. Bring the troops in for a few days to restore order, but the Arabs that burned down synagogues, Jewish homes and cars, and destroyed Jewish stores will go right back to life as usual. They are full citizens of Israel.
We can think about expulsion of the Arabs in Israel, possibly to a state in the "West Bank," but this is almost certainly an impossibility at this point. The time of the War of Independence, during the formation of the state and possibly in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War was the only time where expulsion of most of Israel's internal Arab population was possible.
The long-term future looks bleak, at least to me.
I agree with you. It's a shame Rabbi Meir Kahane didn't win out. Every time a terrorist occurs I say your back to Kahane. Kahane knew what was best. Liberalism will be the fall of Israel and the West.
DeleteAlthough very uncomfortable to hear, your words are very true.
DeleteMost of us are not Kahanaist degenerate hooligans and most of us therefore can distinguish between Arab degenerate hooligans and normal people.
DeleteJohn, yes. I think Meir Kahane was totally right. It is the Arabs or us, you cannot have both. Everyone agrees that homogeneous do the best. Japan is a homogeneous country and they have no crime. It's a fact. The globalists are delusional. Kahane predicted that by the 2020s' there would be about 25% of non-Jews (by this he meant Arabs) in the Knesset. Look, I don't hate Arabs, but I love Jews, and Israel will not be a "Jewish State" if 50% of the population are Arabs. The Arabs have so much land. Why are they so hell-bent here? There were never any Arab in Israel until recently. Then, as if trying to colonize and stop the Jewish growth in population, Egypt sent thousands of Arabs and called them "Palestinian." It's all a lie. The "Palestinians" weren't in the land ever. And Jews lived in Israel since the days of Moses (at least a small minority).
Delete25% Arab does not mean 25% committed to Israel's destruction. Are you aware of the Arab town that one election had the highest rate of voting Likud? Are you familiar with the Arabs of all religions who serve in the IDF?
DeleteNone of that is reason to be blasé about propaganda urging Israel's Arabs to erupt as they did in Lod. By the same token, the Arabs erupting in Lod should not be held against the Arabs who prove their patriotism again and again.
It is called the fifth column, the enemy within. I do not see how Israel survives long term unless the bulk of the Arabs inside Israel support Israel.
DeleteLod incident should be met with an Eye for an Eye. ACJA
Sar, stupid points all around. No Arab praises Israel on her anniversary. No Arab serves in the IDF and no Arab sings Hatikvah with joy. Almost every Arab wants to see the destruction of Israel. It's disgusting. The Arab thinks of one thing and one thing only. They pray every day for the total destruction of Israel. There is no compromise.
DeleteACJA - The Arabs within Israel will never support Israel. Kahane was right. They have to go.
DeleteI spoke with a Muslim yesterday, and he told me that Jews were responsible for 911! They know nothing. Nothing. They are brainwashed. Hopeless. It's just impossible.
DeleteSo it has long been a thing that many Israeli Arabs are glad to be Israeli citizens, are glad to live under the Israeli government and not under Hamas, and are generally positive toward the State.
DeleteThe question is how much of this population is now radicalizing? What subpopulations (age, geography, salary level, etc) are more prone to it? How fast is this happening? Is it becoming a majority or is it "just" a loud minority?
And independent of the above, Shmuel is correct on this: "Palestinian" is indeed a made-up concept. Before 1948, "Palestinian" meant Jewish! The Arabs at that time preferred to be considered Syrian (ie that they were part of "Greater Syria").
Samuel,you are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts. If I wasn't busy preparing for Yom Tov, I could dig up some links to examples. Ever hear of Mohammed Zoabi? Khaled Abu Toameh? Gabriel Nadaf? Abu Ghosh? George Deek?
DeleteOne fact suggesting less support for the state is that there are Arabs in the IDF who have to take their uniforms off when they go home lest they face ostracism or worse.
My friend lives in Ashkelon. They are hit the hardest of missile attacks from Gaza. But a small town nearby gets hit more than they do. I have relatives in Israel whom I am concerned about their safety. The Arab Moslems there who are oppressed under Hamas in Gaza and Moslems who are oppressed in Samaria under Fatah is used by the media to incites them to violence against Jews, who never offended them.
ReplyDeleteHow is it that "the media" are a bunch of liars when it comes to Israel, but were the paragons of truth when it came to Covid?
ReplyDeleteWhatever. You believe what you want to believe. The fact that in 2021 you're still reckoning with "the media" is pretty much all anyone needs to know.
"Long-term peace is only possible when people are held responsible for their actions."
ReplyDeleteThis says it all. Unfortunately we live in a left leaning world that doesnt see things this way. Its all about social justice and not accountability.
The same holds true for Black communities in the US. They simply need to have accountability and responsibility for their actions, condemn lawlessness and stop blaming society for their problems.
You're slightly off base in saying that the media ignore Palestinian denial of the Temple in Jerusalem. They absorb it and produce statements along the lines of "... the Dome of the Rock, where Jews believe they once had a temple."
ReplyDeleteThe mass media in the USA does this over and over again to Israel and the Jews. The mass media very often outright lies and misleads by omission. Trump was right to call mass media FAKE NEWS. ACJA
Delete"... the Dome of the Rock, where Jews believe they once had a temple." That's disgusting. Arabs deny history. This is a war between good and evil. Light and darkness. Us or them. They will not compromise. The Arab believes that Jews are Europeans. That is a damnable lie. Are they not aware that Jews have lived in Israel for thousands of years?
DeleteACJA - We completely agree.
DeleteMake that Arabs deny history and western media accept their alternate history as a valid perspective.
Delete