I can't put thoughts into language with the same fluidity as the author, so please accept my point form comments:
• the sympathy the West felt for Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack quickly evaporated due to the disproportionate Israeli response.
• Short of stopping the killing, the only counteraction was a public relations campaign. Pictures of hostages were glued to street posts like children's faces on milk cartons. What were we supposed to do – keep our eyes peeled for hostages in downtown Toronto? “Journalists” were invited to view video of the Hamas attack and its aftermath, and articles were written and published. Some even argued that Hamas was responsible for civilian deaths in Gaza.
• Meanwhile, Israeli supporters tried (somewhat successfully) to portray anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters as antisemitic, an old canard. A girl with an Israel flag draped over her shoulder was harassed as she approached a pro-Palestine encampment and the media portrayed her as a Jewish girl. If someone draped a swastika over their shoulders would they be called a German or a nazi?
Capital Pride criticized Israel and a rabbi said Jews felt excluded. The mayor of Ottawa and other prominent institutions and politicians boycotted the Capital Pride Parade, including hospitals whose mandates would surely suggest that 40,000 deaths is at least concerning.
• There are extremists on every side of every issue in every country, so, yes, there are going to be anti-semites in the protests, but using the few as representative of the majority is an age-old technique to influence public opinion.
• This conflict is about more than the survival of a Jewish homeland. In the nineteenth century, after the British gained control of the Suez canal, they wanted a nearby presence without incurring the costs associated with a colony. Contacts were made with a fledgling zionist movement in Europe and formal talks followed the formation of the Zionist Organization. This was all before WWI when “the sick man of Europe” still held the subject lands.
Balfour Declaration, re-drawing the boundaries of Palestine to include an appendage reaching the Gulf of Aqaba, the British Mandate for Palestine, Jewish immigration – all part of the geo-strategic plan. Britain bowing out and their waning global power, and American waxing global power endowed the plan for Israel with American backing.
When you see Blinken et al publicly travelling and dialoguing for peace while the American president privately streams arms and ammunition to Israel even though 40,000 have been killed, infrastructure destroyed and people living in tents, you know that Israel will always exist as long as the U.S. wants it to, regardless of any organic peace movements in Israel, Palestine or the world. De-humanizing the Palestinians by Israeli governments such as Netanyahu’s also serves this purpose.
I can't put thoughts into language with the same fluidity as the author, so please accept my point form comments:
• the sympathy the West felt for Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack quickly evaporated due to the disproportionate Israeli response.
• Short of stopping the killing, the only counteraction was a public relations campaign. Pictures of hostages were glued to street posts like children's faces on milk cartons. What were we supposed to do – keep our eyes peeled for hostages in downtown Toronto? “Journalists” were invited to view video of the Hamas attack and its aftermath, and articles were written and published. Some even argued that Hamas was responsible for civilian deaths in Gaza.
• Meanwhile, Israeli supporters tried (somewhat successfully) to portray anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters as antisemitic, an old canard. A girl with an Israel flag draped over her shoulder was harassed as she approached a pro-Palestine encampment and the media portrayed her as a Jewish girl. If someone draped a swastika over their shoulders would they be called a German or a nazi?
Capital Pride criticized Israel and a rabbi said Jews felt excluded. The mayor of Ottawa and other prominent institutions and politicians boycotted the Capital Pride Parade, including hospitals whose mandates would surely suggest that 40,000 deaths is at least concerning.
• There are extremists on every side of every issue in every country, so, yes, there are going to be anti-semites in the protests, but using the few as representative of the majority is an age-old technique to influence public opinion.
• This conflict is about more than the survival of a Jewish homeland. In the nineteenth century, after the British gained control of the Suez canal, they wanted a nearby presence without incurring the costs associated with a colony. Contacts were made with a fledgling zionist movement in Europe and formal talks followed the formation of the Zionist Organization. This was all before WWI when “the sick man of Europe” still held the subject lands.
Balfour Declaration, re-drawing the boundaries of Palestine to include an appendage reaching the Gulf of Aqaba, the British Mandate for Palestine, Jewish immigration – all part of the geo-strategic plan. Britain bowing out and their waning global power, and American waxing global power endowed the plan for Israel with American backing.
When you see Blinken et al publicly travelling and dialoguing for peace while the American president privately streams arms and ammunition to Israel even though 40,000 have been killed, infrastructure destroyed and people living in tents, you know that Israel will always exist as long as the U.S. wants it to, regardless of any organic peace movements in Israel, Palestine or the world. De-humanizing the Palestinians by Israeli governments such as Netanyahu’s also serves this purpose.