Dear FB friends, Over the course of the next several days or weeks, depending on how long the current war in Gaza continues, Ill be posting links about the conflict that I know many of you will find offensive. These links will be to sites like mondoweiss and electronicintifada and middleeastmonitor and al-Jazeera and the FB page Gaza TV News. These sites provide an alternative to the coverage in the mainstream media (which, alas, will offend some of you right off the bat). Unfortunately, they also contain a lot of antisemitic and pro-jihadist rhetoric (usually from the readers of the sites in the comments section, but sometimes from the sites’ writers themselves), which I assume will offend all of you as much it offends me. Despite these comments, which I find disgusting, I’ll still be linking to stories that I think provide a necessary added dimension to the coverage I see in places like the Times, BBC News, and CNN, because I believe the latter venues are fundamentally misrepresenting the conflict in Gaza as a clash of equals between sovereign states, when it is in fact a government oppressing a subset of its population in the name of religious and ethnic hatred. Gaza and the West Bank are no more independent states than the Soviet Socialist Republics were, and Palestinians are no more free than non-whites under apartheid. The apartheid state in South Africa existed for a “mere” forty-six years. The apartheid state in Israel-Palestine has persisted for sixty-six, with much support from my government. As a citizen, I consider it my duty to speak out against actions taken in my name with which I fundamentally disagree. I’ve noticed that when people post links to stories that oppose the current Israeli offensive, they are often hit with comments like “Why this war and not the war in Syria, or Iraq, or Ukraine?” with the implication or direct accusation of antisemitism. Such comments, made without proof, are ridiculous, and only weaken the cause of anti-antisemitism, of which there is still far too much in the world. I don’t know why other people are noticing or commenting on this conflict more than others, but speaking for myself I’ll say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a fundamental component of my political consciousness literally for as long as I can remember. I’m not saying that the war in Israel-Palestine is more important than what’s going on in other places, only that it’s more important to me. If you think that’s antisemitic, well, that’s your right. I’m not going to say that I’m not an antisemite, because such a statement is every bit as meaningless as calling someone antisemitic. I’ll let you make up your own minds. This is not an apology. I’m not going to apologize for something said by someone else, nor am I going to apologize for free speech, even when I vehemently disagree with what’s being said. (As my friend Gary says, if you think someone else has the right to tell you what you can and cannot say, move to Cuba—you’ll fit right in.) What’s more, I find the idea of trying to conduct a meaningful discussion on social media to be ridiculous—any conversation seems to reduce to soundbite and dogma and vitriol almost immediately. For that reason (and also because I have a job) I don’t plan on getting into lengthy back and forths with people. I’m merely posting links to information. What you do with that information is up to you. Feel free to denounce me, unfriend me, or post links to stories of your own.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 17:28:08 +0000
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