I had not been to Israel since June 2023, and during this recent visit I found a different country from the one I had known. Although I have worked abroad for many years, Israel is where I was born and raised. It is the place where my parents lived and are buried; it is where my son has established his own family and most of my oldest and best friends live. Knowing the country from the inside and having followed events even more closely than usual since 7 October, I was not entirely surprised by what I encountered on my return, but it was still profoundly disturbing.
This bit hit hard for me.
Thousands of children were killed? It’s the enemy’s fault. Our own children were killed? That is certainly the enemy’s fault. If Hamas carry out a massacre in a kibbutz, they are Nazis. If we drop 2,000-pound bombs on refugee shelters and kill hundreds of civilians, it’s Hamas’s fault for hiding close to these shelters. After what they did to us, we have no choice but to root them out. After what we did to them, we can only imagine what they would do to us if we don’t destroy them. We simply have no choice.
EDIT:
Another poignant line.
…nothing empowers violence more than a righteous sense of victimhood.
Since I returned from my visit, I have been trying to place my experiences there into a larger context. The reality on the ground is so devastating, and the future appears so bleak, that I have allowed myself to indulge in some counter-factual history and to entertain some hopeful speculations about a different future. I ask myself, what would have happened had the newly created state of Israel fulfilled its commitment to enact a constitution based on its Declaration of Independence? That same declaration which stated that Israel “will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.
this was a devastating read
This was definitely a good read, but to quote something from a leftist friend of the author:
It is not just Hamas, it’s all Gazans who agree that it’s OK to kill Jewish children, that this is a worthy cause … With Germany there was reconciliation, but they apologised and paid reparations, and what [will happen] here? We too did terrible things, but nothing that comes close to what happened here on 7 October. It will be necessary to reconcile but we need some distance.
I’m sorry, are you comparing the Gazans who lived in an open air prison under horrific oppression to the Nazis? Gazans who were themselves refugees from violent expulsion? And how sure are you that so many Gazans agree that it’s okay to kill Jewish children? I’ve seen this insane sentiment so often from Isn’traelis it’s crazy; actually it’s either crazy or just projection, seeing as so many pissraelis have been vocalizing their desire to either kill Gazan children or for them to ‘die’ (the Western media way of telling you ‘murdered by the IDF’).
Also, ‘We too did terrible things, but nothing that comes close to what happened here on 7 October’, ARE YOU DAMN SERIOUS?! IT ONLY DOESN’T COME CLOSE BECAUSE IT GOES THE OTHER WAY INTO FAR, FAR WORSE! PEOPLE HAD TO BE MURDERED FOR YOU TO HAVE THE LAND YOU’RE LIVING ON! THE SURVIVORS OF WHICH MAY ACTUALLY BE INCARCERATED IN THE PRISON OF GAZA! EVEN GAZA ALONE EVERY YEAR HAD HIGHER NUMBERS THAN 7 OCTOBER!
THIS is what accounts for the Israeli left?!
‘It will be necessary to reconcile but we need some distance.’ translated as “Yes, we know things are difficult in Gaza right now, but we need time to get over this” he says while expecting Gazans to wait while bombs rain down on them and snipers shoot their children in the head and heart, double tapping to make sure they’re dead.
Honestly even the author doesn’t seem to acknowledge the horrors of being on the receiving end of settler colonialism.
This was a good read and I’m glad the author can see the horrors of how Israeli society is developing, and I certainly didn’t know so many people in the early 80’s actually wanted a country that made citizens of both Palestinians and Israelis (THIS is genuinely the best solution!), nor did I know that Yitzak Rabin, lauded as the guy who wanted a peaceful coexistence with Palestinians (though let’s not be mistaken here: the peace accords offered terrible conditions to the Palestinians) was the guy who gave the order during the first intifada (the peaceful one) to break the arms and legs of Palestinian youth. Nor did I realize that pirate captain Moshe Dayan was not blind in his one good eye to the injustice that had been done to the Palestinians with the occupation, having lived in Palestine before the Nakba, although clearly aware enough of the importance of propaganda to remove text from his speech that pointed out that Palestinians were victims and were rightfully angry.
but to quote something from a leftist friend of the author
It honestly felt like Bartov’s pointing out the very serious historical and material myopia that exists within Israel proper, outside of very specific and rare circles, that’s developed to such a severe degree that when blowback against the actions of their fascist state occured a la O7 that it completely disorientated them and shattered their fictional worldview.
Like it’s quite possible we’re able to get a glimpse into history of what was happening in fascist Germany with how inundated with propaganda their people were with observing the continued unraveling we’ve been given a glimpse into with the contemporary events occuring.
Also, Israel thinks it’s OK to kill Jewish children. They literally fired on their own people.
Excellent read. Should be a mandatory read for anyone with interest in the current genocide being perpetuated against the Palestinian people.
ctrl + f ‘hannibal’ : 0 results
I really believe this is one of the biggest blindspots of the Israeli public. They are still unable to even acknowledge how many people died on Oct 7th to the military response. This author has family in Be’eri, where the tanks shot houses that were filled with hostages. He has to know about the various documented instances of Hannibal Directive happening on Oct 7th. Just another one of the “it’s Hamas’ fault” denialism that he writes about in other cases, but cannot even mention. The latest genocide campaign really started when the commanders authorized the ‘killing zone’ along the Gaza fence area that included the rave festival grounds.
This denial is critical to keep the big lie of Oct 7th alive, to maintaining some thin veneer of victimhood over the top of continuing genocidal acts through out Palestine.
Hamas wanted hostages. Mass death was not in their interests at all, and in fact runs counter to their goals.
It’s suspicious, is all I’m saying.
