It’s happening again.
As of this writing, Israel has dropped 800 tons of explosives on Gaza, a strip of land roughly the size of Detroit. The official death toll currently stands at 81, the majority of whom are civilians and half of whom are women and children.
Yes, it’s happening again, and like the similar military onslaughts in 2008/9 and 2012, we’re hearing the same tired talking points from Israeli politicians, the US State Department spokespeople and the American Jewish communal establishment – all variations on the theme of “Well, they started it.” And like before, the suggestion that we examine the larger context of this carnage is tragically lost amidst the noise of the literal and figurative bomb-throwing.
But of course, anyone who is truly interested in seeking a real and lasting solution would do well to look at root causes. In the most immediate sense, that means reckoning seriously with what Forward Editor-at-Large JJ Goldberg has called the “foundation of politics and lies” propagated by Israeli politicians and military leaders that led straight to a “war that nobody wanted – not the army, not the government, not even the enemy, Hamas.”
In the larger context, it means recognizing that this war is but the latest instance of Israel’s “mowing the lawn” in Gaza – a strategy in which Israel shows Hamas who’s boss by way of massive military onslaughts every few years. The most unguardedly honest expression of this strategy was expressed by Israeli journalist Gilad Sharon (son of Ariel) back in 2012:
There is no justification for the State of Gaza being able to shoot at our towns with impunity. We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.
And in the ultimate sense, it means admitting that this latest injustice is irrevocably connected to an injustice that occurred decades ago, when scores of Palestinians were driven from their cities and villages in the coastal plain and lower Galilee and warehoused in the tiny Gaza strip. By all accounts, most were simply too overwhelmed to realize what was happening. The ones who tried to return to their homes were termed “infiltrators” and were killed on sight. Others resisted by staging raids in the newly declared state of Israel. Sometimes they succeeded, more often they did not. Either way, Israel decided early on that it would respond to each of these reprisals with a overwhelming military show of force.
In some sense, you might say Israel has been “mowing the lawn” ever since. If there could be any doubt, just read this famous 1956 eulogy given by General Moshe Dayan for a young kibbutznik named Ro’i Rotenberg, who was killed by Gazans who had crossed over the border into Israel:
Do not today besmirch the murderers with accusations. Who are we that we should bewail their mighty hatred of us? For eight years they sit in refugee camps in Gaza, and opposite their gaze we appropriate for ourselves as our own portion the land and the villages in which they and their fathers dwelled…
This we know: that in order that the hope to destroy us should die we have to be armed and ready, morning and night. We are a generation of settlement, and without a steel helmet and the barrel of a cannon we cannot plant a tree and build a house. Our children will not live if we do not build shelters, and without a barbed wire fence and a machine gun we cannot pave a road and channel water. The millions of Jews that were destroyed because they did not have a land look at us from the ashes of Israelite history and command us to take possession of and establish a land for our nation. (Translation, Michael Shalom Kochin, 2009)
Those who are ready and willing to reckon with root causes must not be content to simply accept these bi-annual military onslaughts as simply the price of Jewish nationhood. Israel will never become, as its national anthem would have it, “a free people in its own land” until it deals squarely with the injustices that led to its birth – and have tragically continued until this very day.
In this regard we can take heart in the small but intrepid cadre of Israelis who have the courage to shine a bright light on this larger context. Take a look at this clip from the modest, yet courageous rally in Tel Aviv, in which protesters stood down angry motorists while holding up a large banner that read “The Occupation Murders Us All.” Read this powerful post by Israeli blogger Noam Sheizaf entitled “Why I Object to This Military Campaign, Even as Missiles Fall on My City,” in which he compares the West Bank to a “minimum security facility” and Gaza to “a maximum security prison.”
And finally, read and consider signing on to this recent Open Letter released by Jewish Voice for Peace that urges us to “face the root cause of this crisis”:
In this time of tremendous suffering and fear, from Jerusalem to Gaza, and from Hebron to Be’er Sheva, we reaffirm that all Israelis and Palestinians deserve security, justice, and equality, and we mourn all those who have died.
Our unshakeable commitment to freedom and justice for all compels us to acknowledge that this violence has fallen overwhelmingly on Palestinians. And it compels us to affirm that this violence has a root cause: Israel’s illegal occupation.
We are united in our belief that:
The denial of Palestinian human rights must end.
Illegal settlements must end.
Bombing civilians must end.
Killing children must end.
Valuing Jewish lives at the expense of others must end.
Only by embracing equality for all peoples can this terrible bloodshed end.
Brant, thanks so much for this clear-eyed post. It’s unbelievable how much the mainstream media are presenting the Israeli military response as a proportionate or understandable response to the rockets — which have not killed a single Israeli. I hope this post will travel far and help set the picture straight.
You know, thankfully Iron Dome is doing it’s job. Hundreds of missiles should otherwise would have found their way to their targets, including a number shot an an operating nuclear reactor. Imagine if the reactor was hit, the whole region would have paid a huge price, Palestinians included. israel has EVERY right to protect its population and strike back. But for the sake of fairness, should Israel kill 1 of their own for every Palestinian casualty. I mean we need proportion. I don’t want anyone killed, but I want those rockets to stop, plain and simple. Dumping on Israel for defending its people, I mean your own people is wrong.
Dear Brant
This article was obviously written from your comfortable little suburb somewhere in the US and not from Tel Aviv, Ashdod or Beersheva. You seem to forget very quickly why this whole round of violence started. Three Israeli youths were kidnapped and killed by Hamas, remember? Israel didn’t start this. The media, and obviously you want to make out these thugs as noble “freedom” fighters, brave underdogs in the face of the Israeli Goliath. This beggars the question, whose “freedom” are they fighting to preserve? Muslim women’s rights? Homosexual rights? The right to religious freedom? The human rights of civilians behind who they hide in order to be able to accuse Israel of murdering civilians. They are only fighting to preserve the freedom of a few fanatical Muslim clerics and thugs to make the lives of the citizens of Gaza a living hell.
In the meantime, thanks in part to thoughtless missives such as yours, a great part of the world sees Israel as the bully against those poor ragged Palestinians.
An interesting comparison to this scenario would be the fire bombing of Dresden in WW2 by the British, in which hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed. The pretext was that germany was bombing English cities. i don’t remember that there has been any world condemnation of that.
Its just when Jews defend themselves that the world gets angry. I wonder why?
Stan
You have to live here in order to realize whats going on. Considering the pressure the Israeli army is under from the media both at home and abroad they are one of the most ethical of any army in the world. i should know. I served in the army at the time of the first intifada in the 1980s. What is happening now to Israel at the hands of Hamas and its like is a forerunner of what will happen to first Europe and then Asia and finally the US. The Book of Revelations even says that towards the end of days the world will turn against Israel. Looks like that prophecy might be just coming true!
All people are his people. He is the rabbi to the world. Perhaps pastor is a more accurate title.
Really, Sam? Your evidence supporting your remark about Rabbi Rosen, if you have any, is . . . ?
Evidence for what?
The iron dome is already stopping the rockets and making them ineffective. There is no need for Israel to bomb and kill Palestinians because no Jews are being killed by these rockets. What the Jews can do is spend more money to improve iron dome. The Israeli government is being abusive. This is the same as collective punishment and has no place among civilized people.
And when evil Israel has been wiped off the face of the earth, will you be happy then? When Islam takes over the world you will then have free choice…..The choice of converting to Islam or be put to death. Vive le free choice!!
It is a truly hopeless situation….the Palestinians keep fighting in the same way over all these years ..with the killing and hurt on their population…they never learn…the Israelis are no better ..always the same ..fear of the international community…so they pullback then giving Hamas time to reload ..what’s to be done?..three options..the Hamas leaders decide to step away…Israel decides once in for all to finally destroy Hamas ..or it stays the same ..a truce then a war in two or three years….of course the third one…both sets of leaders really have no real choice…of course they could make peace…fat chance of that…
Alana, the rockets have not killed a single Israeli b/c of Iron Dome, not b/c they are some play thing that Hamas is sending over the border to say hello. The civilian deaths in Gaza would be much fewer if Hamas and Islamic Jihad were interested in protecting their civilians rather than using them as statistics to support their cause.
Brant, can you and JVP explain how “this violence has a root cause: Israel’s illegal occupation”? How is the occupation the cause of the missiles?
And it sounds like you think the real cause is the existence of the state of Israel. What is the solution you propose for that “cause”?
Rabbi Rosen,
Go. Go, please. Go now to Gaza. There you will find reasonable people who share your post-Enlightenment worldview. Tell them they just have to be more understanding of the benighted Israelis who are stuck in their first millennium religious tribalism. They should encourage the Jews to follow the example of Muslims the world over, united in brotherhood among themselves and with all other peoples, nations and faiths. Unfortunately, you have not been able to convince your Jewish brethren that you possess the key to making peace among nations. At least your synagogue stands united behind you. Maybe they’ll pay your airfare?
Dear Sirs
This article was obviously written from your comfortable little suburb somewhere in the US and not from Tel Aviv, Ashdod or Beersheva. You seem to forget very quickly why this whole round of violence started. Three Israeli youths were kidnapped and killed by Hamas, remember? Israel didn’t start this. The media, and obviously you want to make out these thugs as noble “freedom” fighters, brave underdogs in the face of the Israeli Goliath. This beggars the question, whose “freedom” are they fighting to preserve? Muslim women’s rights? Homosexual rights? The right to religious freedom? The human rights of civilians behind who they hide in order to be able to accuse Israel of murdering civilians. They are only fighting to preserve the freedom of a few fanatical Muslim clerics and thugs to make the lives of the citizens of Gaza a living hell.
In the meantime, thanks in part to thoughtless missives such as yours, a great part of the world sees Israel as the bully against those poor ragged Palestinians.
An interesting comparison to this scenario would be the fire bombing of Dresden in WW2 by the British, in which hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed. The pretext was that germany was bombing English cities. i don’t remember that there has been any world condemnation of that.
Its just when Jews defend themselves that the world gets angry. I wonder why?
If there were no occupation there would be no Hamas and there would be no rockets flying into Israel. Hamas was a creature of the occupation, born after 20 years of brutality, of the killing and jailing of Palestinians, of the destruction of their homes, of the confiscation of their lands. Whether or not one likes Hamas it must be acknowledged that a people under occupation have the right to resist. Remember that when the British occupied Palestine there were the Jewish terrorist groups of the Irgun and the Stern Gang. Israel doesn’t even want non-violent opposition. When there are demonstrations in various villages against the theft of the village land for either the Wall or for settlement expansion these demonstrations are invariably met with tear gas and either rubber or metal bullets. Many of the demonstrators have been injured or killed and many are arrested.
Killing the Palestinians will not kill their dream for freedom.
Israel got out of Gaza a few years ago and we still have Hamas there! Israel in various peace talks has offered the palestinians 95% of what they asked for and still they don’t want to make peace. Wake up Jan, they won’t be satisfied till they’ve wiped out Israel!
You cannot win on a website that promotes anti Semitism and promotes replacing Israel with an Islamic Palestinian state. The great rabbi of Berkley, California supports these efforts even though he pretends to promote peace and justice
I gathered that they enforce rigorous censorship on this site as my first letter did not appear. Let the great Rabbi of Berkley come and live in Israel before he starts promoting his Islamic state of Israel. I don’t tell him how to run California!
Yes this site definitely practises CENSORSHIP. Several of my posts have disappeared. Very disappointing.
I find it noteworthy that Rabbi Rosen’s congregation stands behind him 100%.
Rabbi Rosen…although I don’t know him personally ..must be a fine leader for his congregation..he is very active in the liberal efforts to help the downtrodden ,which is good work..however I will bet anything you like his folks do not agree with him regarding Israel…no where near 100pct…of course he is in evanston..Berkeley in Illinois..
Kind of interesting that a Jewish congregation is in agrees 100% with its rabbi. Typically if your get 10 Jews in a room, they will present 100 opinions, This met be a congregation of a rare sect of lemming Jews. In any case, it will not take long to realize that the good rabbi is wrong on most accounts in his narrative.By his own admission, even President Abbas disagrees with claims of some of the injustices allegedly poured on the Palestinians. He places the blame squarely on his own people and the Arab world for their failure to recognize the 1947 partition. They have rejected any accommodation of Israel many decades later
.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/us-palestinians-israel-abbas-idUSTRE79R64320111028
IN the meant time, it has become more apparent that Hamas is using human shields.
Don’t be a lemming misled my a misguided rabbi , be a critical Jew.
Jews. In any case, it will not take long to realize that the good rabbi is wrong on most accounts in his narrative.By his own admission, even President Abbas disagrees with claims of some of the injustices allegedly poured on the Palestinians. He places the blame squarely on his own people and the Arab world for their failure to recognize the 1947 partition. They have rejected any accommodation of Israel many decades later
.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/us-palestinians-israel-abbas-idUSTRE79R64320111028
IN the meant time, it has become more apparent that Hamas is using human shields.
Don’t be a lemming misled my a misguided rabbi , be a critical Jew.
Actually, they go out of their way to support him publicly, especially on the Palestinian issue.
I was speaking this morning with one of Rabbi Brant’s congregants at JRC in Evanston, IL, (which has a new LEED-certified building!) and there is a move afoot to hire an assistant rabbi so that Rabbi Brant can devote more time to activism on behalf of the Palestinian cause. More congregations should consider such affirmative support of causes in support of world peace …!
I am not Jewish. I live in New Zealand, a multlicultual society where the intrinsic, human rights of everyone, including our Maori (The people of the land who owned the land before we immigrants did) are protected and have full human rights. I am puzzled and disturbed that in the 21st century, a people like yours who were driven from their homes, ethnically cleansed, discriminated against, imprisoned in open air ghettos behind walls, killed and not given even basic human rights, can treat another ethnic/religious people such vileness!
The world is also puzzled and looks on in horror at your racism. So horrified that increasingly Israel is becoming a pariah state amongst nations and increasingly becoming the target of criticism,boycott and sanctions.
Abram or Abraham has a lot to answer for. Amazing how those ancient nomadic tribes ending up with the ability to cause so much mayhem.
I notice a lot of hatred on this site. Shalom to you all, from far away New Zealand.
Ms. O’Sullivan.
Perhaps I misunderstood your
“Abram or Abraham has a lot to answer for. Amazing how those ancient nomadic tribes ending up with the ability to cause so much mayhem.”
but if I haven’t you do have some nerve.
You come to a Jewish site and you complain about Jews?
Then again I have been to New Zealand.
Lovely landscape stolen by white Christians.
Would that the invading people — i.e. white from Great Britain — had less sense of superiority and more self-awareness.
This is THE Jewish site for complaining about Jews! The home for ASHamed Jews, a la Jacobson’s “The Finkler Question,” a book that provides an incisive description (if not explanation) of the phenomenon that this website, Mondoweiss, JVP, etc., represent. I call them the BIFAs – Blame Israel First and Always. It’s so much easier than acknowledging the complexities of the situation. The ASHamed Jews are mostly frightened of being tarred with the same brush as other Jews by their non-Jewish friends and colleagues. They are embarrassed when people bring up Israel at work. It’s just easier to say, “No, no, I’m Jewish but I’m not like those other Jews that you don’t agree with. I’m a good Jew, you see. I don’t like those Jewish troublemakers any more than you do. In fact, I like them even less than you do. I’m Jewish by religion, you see, not tribal affiliation. In fact, I don’t believe in tribal affiliations. Why, I’m practically Presbyterian!”
I think Kath O’Sullivan is right on the money. I am a Jew and I agree there is so much hatred here. And by talking about Abraham, the father of Jews and Muslims I believe Kath is talking about both sides here. Abraham did not deal well with the situation between Sarah and Hagar. I am not assuming it’s literally true, but if not, it has symbolic meaning.
We Jews have had a history of being the not first-born and doing so well (sometimes with trickery as shown with Jacob and Esau) that it breeds hate and envy. Jacob suffered for his trick against Esau (who had his own faults and arguably did NOT deserve the birthright. However, that did not make Jacob morally blameless for his manner of taking the birthright. Again, these have great symbolic meaning.
Joseph also behaved poorly and evoked envy and hatred from his brothers. These themes are right in the bible of the way siblings relate to each other and the poor judgments of the parents in handling it.
As for getting on Kath for her superior attitude that is another big time problem we Jews have who think that we are better than everybody else – and at the same time we think we are worse than everybody else.
Traumatized brothers – that’s what we are – hating each other. And in fact that is really just an extreme representation of the whole human race.
It probably even is true in New Zealand.
Jews. In any case, it will not take long to realize that the good rabbi is wrong on most accounts in his narrative.By his own admission, even President Abbas disagrees with claims of some of the injustices allegedly poured on the Palestinians. He places the blame squarely on his own people and the Arab world for their failure to recognize the 1947 partition. They have rejected any accommodation of Israel many decades later
.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/us-palestinians-israel-abbas-idUSTRE79R64320111028
IN the meant time, it has become more apparent that Hamas is using human shields.
Don’t be a lemming , be a critical Jew.
His congregation prides itself on its provocative rabbis who spend more of their time promoting their personal agendas through activism than spending time at home doing the work usually done by congregational rabbis. That’s a difficult and often boring job and rarely leads to national exposure. Many of its members did not grow up in Jewish homes and prefer to see Judaism as Protestantism with an ethnic flavor, so I imagine they don’t really know the the difference.
I meant to say “history of provocative rabbis” …
So why don’t they just become…Protestants?
Wake up, David Coddington, and realize that Jan is 100% correct…Israel is traumatized and creates an enemy thru perceived fear, then acts on that PERCEIVED fear with your exact words “they won’t be satisfied till they wipe out Israel”..Those are words of a paranoid, fear based country living in the past 24/7 who projects their traumatized fear onto a population of people and continues to see an enemy where there is none…What you call “wiping out Israel ” is Palestinians defending their families, homes, children against terrorism and murder..Israelis need to address their decades old PTSD that blinds them and keeps them stuck in the past 24/7 like a proverbial deer in the headlights before any progress in this conflict can be made..Attitudes like yours show me that the traumatization and fear based thinking of Jews is the real block to peace…The Jews of Israel need mass cognitive behavioral PTSD trauma psychotherapy.
Are those rockets aggressively fired over Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, Sderot, Ashdod, Ashkalon, Jerusalem, Herzlia, Netanya, Ben Gurion Airport and the Dimona nuclear reactor all an illusions, a figment of the imagination? When Hamas engaged in this latest aggression, did they take any measures to “defend their own people. Are Hamas’s actions defensive in nature? Funny thing is, thee are few in the world who are taking sides with Hamas. One group that chose to side with Hamas marched in Paris and attempted to assault worshipers in a synagogue. Stephanie, when you lives under the whistle of rockets, tell Mr. Coddington how he should feel.
Are those rockets aggressively fired over Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, Sderot, Ashdod, Ashkalon, Jerusalem, Herzlia, Netanya, Ben Gurion Airport and the Dimona nuclear reactor all an illusions, a figment of the imagination? When Hamas engaged in this latest aggression, did they take any measures to “defend their own people. Are Hamas’s actions defensive in nature? Funny thing is, thee are few in the world who are taking sides with Hamas. One group that chose to side with Hamas marched in Paris and attempted to assault worshipers in a synagogue. Stephanie, when you lives under the whistle of rockets, tell Mr. Coddington how he should feel.
Your analysis is very appropriate , and if there is a Sane Israel supporter on this site, they will take your advice to heart. I mean that in a very positive way. Most Israelis and the majority of Jews have been blinded by their pre traumatic stress syndrome ! That means they live in the fear they created before anything happens,and practice projection of their own sentiments on the Palestinians. Great article ,very realistic and logical ,that I have not seen for a long time. There is a great article in Haaretz, which recommends the RE- education of all Israel society to become less combatant and more humane in order for them to actually be able to understand and make peace with the Palestinians. Its a good reading. If you resist such a good advise ,you then indicate that is your nature that has been exposed for the last sixty some years and you are content with who you are? That’s also says something.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/history.html
. If you seem to project your own sentiments on all those whom are around you? That must be very difficult to live with!
Btw, I just came up with how to solve the tragedy in Gaza:
Hamas stops sending rockets to Israel.
Or is that too complex?
I thought Tikkun was objective. Your CENSORSHIP is not acceptable. I am unsubscribing from your site immediately.
Anti Semitic comments usually ease their way on to this site.
As a member of his congregation and a great admirer of Rabbi Rosen, I feel honor bound to respond. There is a difference between supporting the rabbi and agreeing with his views. There is great diversity of opinion at our synagogue over Israeli/Palestinian issues, and trust me, we have plenty of vocal congregants who are not happy with Rabbi Rosen’s public stance. However, the vast majority of us totally and unreservedly support him as our rabbi, precisely because he IS so dedicated to the difficult (but he would never say “boring”) job of congregational service: ministering to the grieving, bringing joy and simcha to weddings and bnai mitzvah celebrations, hanging with our teens, leading adult education programs, and generally being an all around mensch and community leader. We have an Israel Task Force that works to provide a balance to programming about Israel, in the form of speakers, films, panel discussions and library/curriculum content. And, not that I think it really matters, be assured that although we have plenty of converts, (and I freely admit to being one) the vast majority of our members grew up in Jewish households: Reconstructionist, Conservative, Reform and even Orthodox. We are certainly not looking for ” Protestantism with an ethnic flavor” and given that Jews can be of any ethnicity, what would that even mean?
If I were Rabbi Rosen and JVP, these are the folks I would go to to ask for funding. There’s only so much publicity you can get when your base of operations is a small havurah in Evanston, IL, even if they are LEED -certified. 😉 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4543634,00.html
Shmuel, as a member of his congregation and a great admirer of Rabbi Rosen, I feel honor bound to respond. There is a difference between supporting the rabbi and agreeing with his views. There is great diversity of opinion at our synagogue over Israeli/Palestinian issues, and trust me, we have plenty of vocal congregants who are not happy with Rabbi Rosen’s public stance. However, the vast majority of us totally and unreservedly support him as our rabbi, precisely because he IS so dedicated to the difficult (but he would never say “boring”) job of congregational service: ministering to the grieving, bringing joy and simcha to weddings and bnai mitzvah celebrations, hanging with our teens, leading adult education programs, and generally being an all around mensch and community leader. There is NO movement to bring in an assistant rabbi, (I would love to know where you got that from) because he is doing a great job. We have an Israel Task Force that works to provide a balance to programming about Israel, in the form of speakers, films, panel discussions and library/curriculum content. And, not that I think it really matters, be assured that although we have plenty of converts, (and I freely admit to being one) the vast majority of our members grew up in Jewish households: Reconstructionist, Conservative, Reform and even Orthodox. We are certainly not looking for ” Protestantism with an ethnic flavor” and given that Jews can be of any ethnicity, what would that even mean?
An Israel Task Force whose purpose is to “provide a balance,” that is, to provide a perspective that is not blatantly and unashamedly anti-Israel. Other congregations should consider this novel idea. I repeat my earlier assertion: Only your congregation/havurah’s unusual demographic mix could enable and underwrite Rabbi Brant’s quest for recognition. Glad you’re happy there, though. You should read Howard Jacobson’s “The Finkler Question.” If your havurah has a book club, it would be the perfect choice.
I’m not an economist, but I can just imagine what could have been built in Gaza if all of the material and human capital and resources that went into building the tunnel infrastructure after Israel left in 2005 would have been used instead to build the infrastructure of a modern nation. It is Hamas alone that has kidnapped and enslaved the people of Gaza and confined them to their prison. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4550063,00.html
This is the world we live in, on one side we have USA, the champion of double standards, on the other side we have Israel, unstoppable.
Think about Israel 50 years ago, where in Palestine 96% of the people were Muslim and Christian, now look what they are doing in a land which they stolen and more important, imagine how it will be in more 50 years.
I think it’s the time for the ordinary people to step up and demand for changes.