The Pennsylvania governor called Benjamin Netanyahu “one of the worst leaders of all time.” But anti-Israel activists don’t want him on the Democratic ticket.
Like it or not, Israel exists. Much fault can be found with the way it came into existence, and much more with its conduct since, but that doesn’t alter the fact that it does exist, and its citizens are human beings, exactly as deserving of consideration as any other human beings.
As the hard right in Israel so clearly demonstrates repeatedly (and likely cynically deliberately), when one sets about punishing an entire people for the evil of a few among them, one actually empowers those evil few, since the people rightly feel oppressed and rightly condemn you for their oppression, and those evil few are ready and willing to stand forward and promose to lead the people in their just quest for retribution.
The surest way to hamstring those evil few - to eliminate the excuses by which they come to power - is to eliminate the oppression - to recognize and respect the humanity of the many. And that can never be accomplished by proactively declaring the many to be indistinguishable from the evil few.
I get seeing it as current circumstances separate from the past, but its an ongoing situation directly connected to that past. Zionism was started as a goal to retake a holy land and that effort is still underway. The same Jewish National Fund is still buying up land for the ethnostate, kibbutz are still encroaching onto palestinian land, gaza still has no sovereignty of its borders. Israel’s goal is elimination of Palestinians and total control of the land.
Like it or not, Israel exists. Much fault can be found with the way it came into existence, and much more with its conduct since, but that doesn’t alter the fact that it does exist, and its citizens are human beings, exactly as deserving of consideration as any other human beings.
As the hard right in Israel so clearly demonstrates repeatedly (and likely cynically deliberately), when one sets about punishing an entire people for the evil of a few among them, one actually empowers those evil few, since the people rightly feel oppressed and rightly condemn you for their oppression, and those evil few are ready and willing to stand forward and promose to lead the people in their just quest for retribution.
The surest way to hamstring those evil few - to eliminate the excuses by which they come to power - is to eliminate the oppression - to recognize and respect the humanity of the many. And that can never be accomplished by proactively declaring the many to be indistinguishable from the evil few.
I get seeing it as current circumstances separate from the past, but its an ongoing situation directly connected to that past. Zionism was started as a goal to retake a holy land and that effort is still underway. The same Jewish National Fund is still buying up land for the ethnostate, kibbutz are still encroaching onto palestinian land, gaza still has no sovereignty of its borders. Israel’s goal is elimination of Palestinians and total control of the land.
Removed by mod
Removed, unmarked NSFW. Temp banned.