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I've lived in a country marked by terrorism before - though, when I say that, people think I mean Palestinian terrorism, & I do, but I also mean Jewish terrorism, not least the massacre of 29 Muslims at prayer & the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
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In those cases (as in most Jewish terrorism) the terrorists wrapped themselves in religion; the former also wrapped himself in the nation's symbols, by wearing his reservist uniform.
The majority Jewish population was truly shocked & horrified by the massacre in Hebron;
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The majority Jewish population was truly shocked & horrified by the massacre in Hebron;
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Rabin himself said of the terrorist & his fellow travelers that "Judaism spits [them] out." Less than 2 yrs later, one of those fellow travelers killed Rabin.
His assassination absolutely shattered most Israelis. Shattered. We were broken. It was terrible, terrible, terrible.
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His assassination absolutely shattered most Israelis. Shattered. We were broken. It was terrible, terrible, terrible.
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After those two events, Israeli Jews went through a lot of what we've been going through: shock, demands for accountability, arguments about "unity."
But we shouldn't have been shocked, very few people were actually held accountable, & "unity" meant letting ppl off the hook,
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But we shouldn't have been shocked, very few people were actually held accountable, & "unity" meant letting ppl off the hook,
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not least Benjamin Netanyahu, who had incited the violence against Rabin. He's been in power, almost without interruption, since 1996.
Those are far from the only two incidents of Jewish terrorism, & we Israeli Jews have never actually grappled with our own terrorists,
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Those are far from the only two incidents of Jewish terrorism, & we Israeli Jews have never actually grappled with our own terrorists,
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or the politicians who incite, support, wink & nod at them. If we had, Israel/Palestine would be a very, very different place.
There are MASSIVE differences between Israel & the US, but I think for a moment, it's a good idea to look at the similarities.
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There are MASSIVE differences between Israel & the US, but I think for a moment, it's a good idea to look at the similarities.
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We (& here I mean both the nation as a whole, & very specifically the white people in it) absolutely dare not let ourselves ease back into complacency. We dare not let people off the hook bc they look like family or have power in our politics. Like Israeli Jews in 1994 & 1995,
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we should not have been shocked - but now, right now, we have the opportunity to make sure that Americans in 2021 actually hold people accountable, & are not fooled by the kind of "unity" that favors comity over justice.
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If we refuse to learn from our own history & abject failure to hold people accountable after, eg, the Civil War, Watergate, GWB's torture program, etc, maybe we can learn from Israel's.
But we better learn fast.
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But we better learn fast.
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Mr. Fallows knows what's up: https://twitter.com/AdrienneLaF/status/1348402006445142017
"The months ahead may present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix what’s wrong with American democracy — or risk losing it altogether." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/opinion/election-reform.html?smid=tw-share
