op-ed "The Delusion of Moral Superiority Fueling Israel's War on Gaza"

[RockCreek]

From the Times of Israel. Written by an old, dear friend. For thought and discussion.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-delusion-of-moral-superiority-fueling-israels-war-on-gaza/

"Israeli public discourse, and to a significant extent Jewish discourse abroad, reflects the assumption that we as Jews are facing barbaric implacable enemies, and that while we may have committed our share of sins, we are vastly better than they are. The logic goes: Since our lives are endangered by their inhumanity, and since if they were only reasonable like us we could co-exist, radical measures – like the war on Gaza – are justified.

People justify their positions through talk about security and geopolitics. However, if you pay attention, you can hear how the assumption that they are rationally and morally superior to the other side is woven into their thinking. Keep following that thread and you’ll see how it skews their picture of reality and their moral judgement.

It must be admitted of course that the actual barbarity of many of the powers we’re dealing with – such as the regimes of Hamas and Iran – is an important part of the reason Jews see them that way. It cannot be denied that that are powerful forces – both ideological and military – in the Muslim and Arab worlds that are genocidal in their attitude towards Israeli Jews. Their positions are characterized by dehumanization, racism, fundamentalism and militarism and they have murdered thousands of civilians.

It also needs to be acknowledged that important parts of the Pro-Palestinian solidarity movement and “progressive left” share in the politics of dehumanization. This was apparent in the voices that supported or refused to condemn the intentional mass extermination and kidnapping of civilians on Oct. 7. Here we got a chance to hear the Left rehearse its version of militaristic newspeak: Murdering families in their homes became “armed struggle” and “anti-colonial violence”. But just as with the rightwing rendition of these golden oldies (for the rightwing version, replace “armed struggle” with “warfare” and “anti-colonial violence” with “collateral damage”), the rhetoric does not alter the bottom line: If you do not deem it a crime to intentionally exterminate a civilian population, then you do not recognize those people as human beings."

Follow link above for more. No firewall.

[AloeVera]

1. This is so powerful. I couldn't agree more.

Since many of us don’t see Israel’s part in the cycle of violence, we perceive the other side as unhinged and inhuman. Our delusional sense of superiority festers until it so infects our rational and moral faculties that we become indifferent, or even support, the unimaginable cruelty of Israel’s attack on Gazan civilians.

Nothing could justify bombing Israeli cities until all of us are homeless and destitute, mourning the countless thousands of our dead children, siblings and parents lost in the wreckage. Nothing could justify bombing our hospitals and schools, electric systems and desalination plants, leaving us to die of exposure and disease. Nothing could justify closing our borders until we starve, and then gunning us down when we come to seek aid. Nothing could justify these acts because we are human beings, and even in war these acts constitute grave crimes against humanity. If we could liberate ourselves from our twisted picture of reality and consequent delusions, we would be better able to see the war on Gazan civilians for the barbaric atrocity that it is.

Israel’s destruction of Gaza is a response to Oct. 7, but it must also be understood as part of the state’s ongoing dehumanization and dispossession of Palestinians, which began long before Oct. 7. The current regime of starvation and mass killings is the final and most horrific status forced on Palestinians by the State of Israel. The ocean of blood Israel has spilled in Gaza already floods all of Israel-Palestine, and it may yet drown us all. Our delusion of moral and rational superiority not only leads to moral catastrophe, it is also a dire threat to our survival.

[Israeli]

2. Thanks for posting this

Never heard of him before ....he is from tikkun olam ( to fix the world )
Rabbi Michael Lerner is probably better well known
See : https://www.tikkun.org/rabbi-michael-lerner/

Must say it makes a change having an American left wing opinion on here .

Did you read the comments ?

He did well answering them .

[RockCreek]

3. I love his answers to the comments

He is born American, and has dual citizenship. However, he made Aliyah after a year of college in the US. He did a kibbutz ulpan, made aliyah, served in the IDF, and completed higher education in the US. All of these steps were driven by a Jewish connection. He has been "practicing" modern orthodox (or just living what used to be called "traditional" israeli) since moving to Israel over 35 years ago. But Tikkun played a big role early on.

[Israeli]

5. Apologies

I did not realize he was Israeli.
Should have read in more depth but was pushed for time as had
a long journey south to Kibbutz Nir Oz ahead of me to participate in yet another
demonstration against Bibi .

See : https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hk6she4heg

Tomorrow evening back south again to Tel Aviv and Kaplan with all my family .

[RockCreek]

6. well, Israeli-American technically :)

But truly Israeli now of course.
Congratulations on going to that demonstration. I read about that visit and was almost physically sickened. I was very glad to hear it did not go unchallenged. One of my favorite things about Israel is that no matter how bad things are, and how much the country is uniting, there are still people out there standing up for what they believe. The push and hope for the best version of Israel does not get completely buried by "realities" and "practicalities" as it so often does in the US.

[Israeli]

7. After 35 years living here he is Israeli

Where do you get this from " and how much the country is uniting, " ???
We are as divided as America is right now probably more .

[RockCreek]

8. ok, small portions of the country :) Along very divuded lines. point taken.

[Israeli]

9. No idea what

" small portions of the country " you are referring to .

I was referring to political and social and religious divides .

This didnt come from nowhere :

Ex-Supreme Court chief Aharon Barak says he fears Israel headed to civil war

‘The rift in the people is immense, with no effort made to heal it,’ jurist says, adding that if he were still chief justice, he would block PM’s dismissal of Shin Bet chief, AG

Israel’s most revered jurist, former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, said in multiple interviews Thursday that he fears the government’s latest actions, including moves to fire the Shin Bet chief and attorney general, are pushing the country toward civil war.

Speaking to the Ynet news site shortly before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the cabinet to vote on firing Bar, Barak said that “the main problem in Israeli society is… the severe rift between Israelis.”

“This rift is getting worse and in the end, I fear, it will be like a train that goes off the tracks and plunges into a chasm, causing a civil war,” he said.

In another interview, with Channel 12, when asked why he thinks Israel is close to civil conflict, Barak said it is “because the rift in the people is immense, and no effort is being made to heal it. Everyone is trying to make it worse.

“Today there are demonstrations, then a car drives through them and runs over someone,” he said, referring to an incident at an anti-Netanyahu protest in Jerusalem on Wednesday when a driver rammed into a protester, injuring him.

“But tomorrow there will be shootings, and the day after that there will be bloodshed,” Barak continued.

Continued @
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-supreme-court-chief-aharon-barak-says-he-fears-israel-headed-to-civil-war/

[RockCreek]

10. Thank you for the correction

you are absolutely right. And thank you for the article link. It unfortunately makes sense to me. I try to not have much opinion on Israeli politics, as I don't live there and I cannot imagine the pressures that would involve.
I was astounded on a recent trip by the many divisions in the Jewish population just visible in how people dress depending on religious group and political ideology.

[Israeli]

11. Once upon a time

it used to be mainly a secular/religious divide, but these times have changed .

See : .....

'Hope Is a Political Choice': MK Gilad Kariv on the Fight for Democracy and Reform Judaism in Netanyahu's Wartime Israel

Religious extremism and intolerance of liberal Judaism has spread from the ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist parties into the mainstream of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, MK Gilad Kariv said on the Haaretz Podcast.

"This is not the Likud that we knew 10 or 20 years ago," he said. "Any attempt to differentiate the Likud from the Israeli extreme religious right is a false attempt."

Kariv, a rabbi and former leader of Israel's Reform movement, is a member of the Democrats Party. He spoke to podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer shortly after he was ejected from a Knesset committee when he dared to mention that his daughter prays with tefillin – the leather scrolls and straps that Jews wrap around themselves in prayer.

Galit Distel Atbaryan, the Likud member presiding over the session told Kariv, "If you conduct a bar mitzvah for a dog, I will come and celebrate." She then ordered that the "Reform man" be removed because "The Jews here want to continue."

Kariv also discussed growing concerns that Israel's next election may not be fully democratic, pointing to calls in Netanyahu's camp to disqualify Arab parties and weaken judicial oversight.
"We have real reasons to suspect that they may not cancel the elections or physically prevent people from voting, but they have many other tools. The only solution to this danger is to make sure that our political camp is extremely proactive in preventing the use of these tactics."

Kariv rejected the idea that it was Netanyahu's political skills that had helped him stave off threats by the ultra-Orthodox parties – namely, that they would dissolve his coalition if Netanyahu did not pass legislation exempting them from military service.
"If you don't have principles and you're willing to do whatever it takes in order to survive, it doesn't demand political wisdom."

Source : Haaretz

Link : https://archive.md/Tup5p#selection-807.0-1506.0

[RockCreek]

12. Thanks for the Haeretz archive link

I explored a bit, and may get a subscription. It is much better than the free English language news (jpost and Times of Israel) available online.
Is the bar mitzvah for a dog an over-reaction to the "Bark Mitzvah" phenomenon in some "liberal" diaspora congregations?

[Israeli]

13. All English language news websites

are heavily censored
see : https://www.972mag.com/israeli-military-censor-media-2024/

Plus the news is usually 24 hours behind ours in Hebrew which we get mainly from radio and television news , with the exception of YNET breaking news
which pushes the censorship rules sometimes in English

The Jerusalem Post is Right wing .

The Times is Centralist .

YNET is a weird mixture of both with a lot of irrelevant gossip thrown in to the mix .

Haaretz is the only Left wing newspaper left that publishes in both Hebrew and English .

Question :
" Is the bar mitzvah for a dog an over-reaction to the "Bark Mitzvah" phenomenon in some "liberal" diaspora congregations?"

Yes .

[LymphocyteLover]

4. Sounds about right to me