1. The Arab goal in 1948 as clearly stated and acted upon was to drive the Jews into the sea. No co-existence. They failed but it wasnt for lack of trying. The status of Jews in the area pre 1917 British mandate, under the Ottoman empire and Arab rule was as Dhimmis. Dhimmi equals Jim Crow, red lining and Apartheid. Not acknowledging this demonstrates malice or stunning ignorance.
2. Ok, let’s set aside history and look at the current government in Gaza. Hamas leads based on a charter that calls for both the destruction of Israel and the destruction of the Jewish people. It does not allow a free press or freedom of religion. Homosexuality is a criminal offense punishable by death. Non Muslims do not have equal rights. Women do not have equal rights. Honor killings for women who are "immodest" is allowed. It does not allow elections. There is no independent court system. It provides luxurious housing and communities for Hamas families both in Gaza and abroad but nothing for the majority of its citizens. It relies on international aid for that. Its leaders are billionaires (Haniyeh and Mashal are worth 4 billion each). As a government its three main allies are Iran, Qatar and Russia.
So, this is the government of Gaza in 2024. I'll take Israel's imperfect democracy.
The examples you list above as proof of a non democratic, irredeemable Israel are laughable and literally disprove your statement by themselves.
Four protesters (two of whom were relatives of hostages) were arrested for blocking a road (look at the Israeli penal code). They were processed and released within 3 hours. The horror…
Judicial reform proposals (nothing has been passed) has been legally protested against by more than 20% of the population. That’s how democracies work.
The rabbi example is not worth refuting.
Governmental lack of vocal support on Ukraine has to do with the geopolitics of the region ie. Russia’s alliances with Syria, Iran, Hamas, etc and the hope to keep Russia from greenlighting attacks from these areas ie. protecting the citizens of Israel. But, you use this as proof of Israeli immorality when the perpetrator of these crimes against Ukraine, Russia, is a direct ally of Hamas.
Man, you are grasping at straws. I dont even know whatever point you are trying to make here but Jews from all over the world, in particular Russia, have been passively and actively rescued and integrated into Israel. I worked in an absorption center in Israel doing just this. Your gaslighting doesn’t work because I lived it. Should we bring Muslims killing other Muslims (Assad killing 500K of his own people in Syria alone) into this talking point of yours?
I’m also immune to your zoom in to obscure the bigger picture propaganda as well. The deaths of the aid workers was tragic but an awful consequence of war. In 2015 under Obama, a Doctors Without Borders trauma center in Kunduz was hit killing 42. It didn’t invalidate US objectives or the US military as a whole.
The system of government (based on miltary occupation) in the West Bank is a result of Palestinian violence and rejection of multiple land for peace offers. Land for peace deals with both Egypt and Jordan have held up. Why do you suppose that is? It is because Egypt and Jordan recognized Israel in word and deed and didnt have/gave up the destruction of Israel as a fundamental guiding principle. Until Palestinians reject this idea, there will be no peace. This includes giving up the right of return to within Israel's border. The Palestinians are the only group in the world that have been given multi-generational refugee status and its own UN agency to reinforce this. It is possibly the most harmful obstacle to peace and literally has no precedent in history. UNRWA is using schools as incubators to keep these ideas alive and we and the rest of the world are financially paying for it while Israelis and Palestinians are physically paying for it.
Back to the system of laws in the West Bank. The West Bank functions in an imperfect and unsustainable variation of Martial Law. Oslo was supposed to help fix this but it ultimately did not. Instead, the worse the violence the more steps have been taken to tighten security/the less freedoms the Palestinians in the West Bank have. I do not agree with a lot of the policies in the West Bank but I also understand how they came to be. Palestinians in the West Bank are not Israeli citizens and are subject to laws that reflect a form of 'wartime' provisions that is harsher and gives less rights than Israeli citizens. I wish Israel had just given the majority of the West Bank back to Jordan after the '67 war and said keep it secure or Israel will. But, as proven by the Arab League (Jordan was a member) the three no's of Khartoum (no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel) that was ot an option at the time.
So, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, history does matter. Causes have effects.
3. American Jews of all ages overwhelmingly support Israel. In the US it’s only the 18-25 demographic, not ethnicity specific, that has been poisoned by Qatari money and other forms of Dawa propaganda where the support hovers around 50%. Americans in general over 30 support Israel at around a 70% margin.
4. That you can try to assert that Israel is not democratic for Jew and Arabs within Israel's border when by every single category you are proved false shows the level of your indoctrination into a specific narrative. Here's Freedom House's score card for you to compare nations.
Freedom House rates people’s access to political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and territories through its annual Freedom in the World report. Individual freedoms—ranging from the right to vote to freedom of expression and equality before the law—can be affected by state or...
freedomhouse.org
5. Hmm, let's see...What is antisemitic about calling for the dismantling of one and only one UN sanctioned country because you dont like the current government's actions. Nothing as long as you equally apply the standards for the dismantling of a country to all. Let's compare some of the countries surrounding Israel that were formed as a result of the same map making decisions in 1917. Should we use the number of civilians the current leaders have killedas a criteria? The current Syrian government has killed 500k of its own citizens in the last 10 years. That's far more than the number of Palestinians have been killed by Israel. In fact its more than the entire number of Israelis and Arabs killed in all wars, terrorist acts, etc since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. What about killing methods. Assad used chemical weapons against his own people. Dismantle Syria or no? Maybe the Israelis you'd displace when you dismantle Israel could go there and try to do better. But maybe the criteria isnt fair. Lets use the Freedom House scores to see who to dismantle first. Syria it is. They scored 1 (not free) on the score. Next comes Egypt, they scored 18 (not free). Jordan's next 33 (not free). Lebanon can make a case to not be dissolved with a score of 42 (partially free). Want to know what Gaza scored, 8 (not free). How about Israel (74) free. So, to reiterate, what is specifically antisemitic about the narrative you and others are spewing about Zionism and Israel is that you hold Israel to a different standard than other nations.
I'll leave with you with a few more thoughts. There is an old Jewish saying:
"The antisemite does not accuse the Jew of stealing because he thinks he stole something. He does it because he enjoys watching the Jew turn out his pockets to prove his innocence."
This is why antisemites accuse Israel of 'genocide' and of making Gaza a 'concentration camp' when these assertions are so easily disproven. They specifically use this terminology because they know it will hurt a Jew because of the association to Jewish trauma.
Looking at the genocide claim for a second. The Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza between 1960 and 2020 grew from 1.1 million to 5.1 million. The average life expectancy of a Palestinian is aproximately 74 years. The world average is 71 years old. The average life expectancy of a Palestinian in 1950 was under 50 years. From the year 2000 to present day it increased from 58 years to the current 74 years. The West Bank and Gaza has a higher GDP per Capita than India and Venezuela and is higher than 55+ of the worlds nations.
The pre holocaust global Jewish population was 16.6 million. It currently stands at just under 16 million. It still hasn't fully recovered in 80 years. That is an attempted genocide. At the peak of the holocaust between August and October 1942, 15,000 Jews a day were murdered, 1.3 million Jews in that time period. That is the systematic killing of people in concentration camps and through death squads.
So, no people are not antisemitic for being critical of Israel's current government or Israel's execution of the war but they are most definitely antisemitic for calling for the dismantling of Israel or wittingly or unwittingly invoking specious claims of genocide, etc...
thehill.com
