Feb 27Liked by Deborah T. Hewitt, Alexander Semenyuk
Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of children, across the entire Middle East. Take your pick: War, torture, and annihilation perpetrated by autocrats, such as Bashar Al Assad; perpetrated by Jihadi terrorists such as Hamas; perpetrated by Islamist states such as Iran. Look beyond the borders of a tiny strip of Mediterranean coast run by a death cult, whose people have been infantilized by the UN. Look north, to the autocrat Putin's indiscriminate bombardment of Ukraine, to satisfy his mad dreams of a greater Russia. Hear the cries of the dead children of Mariupol. There's no end to this, unless people actively choose peace and coexistence. It's a sad truth that, according to the Koran, there is no compromise between the One True Religion and the unbelievers. Muslims must rule over infidels. This little suffering boy in Gaza is being promoted as a martyr for Allah. He has been sacrificed by his own people, who insist on waging a Jihad that they cannot win. It's astonishing that such world truths need to be explained to people in the West. Even so, they stop up their ears, and believe that this is a textbook story about "the oppressors" and "the oppressed." They do not understand Islam.
This story can of course be a symbol for every child who is suffering the horrors of war including in my home country of Ukraine, lots of sorrow around the world no doubt about it.
Among the most hateful comments on substack, misrepresenting the faith of ~2B adherents. Meanwhile the only “Jewish” nation on the planet is carrying out a genocide citing Talmudic verses on the Amalek - “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
To be clear, Jews are people of faith, people who love and respect all humanity. We know this from the Jews who are raising their loud voices against this genocide, standing up for humanity, for the children of Gaza.
Zionists, as the world can now see, are racist supremacists who have been ethnically cleansing Palestinians for 75 years. As Ilan Pape said, Zionists don’t believe in God but they do believe he promised them Palestine.”
The sickness is not Islam, Judaism or Christianity. The sickness is Zionism and other such hateful ideologies.
For the sake of anyone else reading this thread, I offer a response below. I haven't included links to sources for every statement, but the facts can be easily and independently confirmed. However, no representation of facts will alter a mind that has unreflectively swallowed the astonishing propaganda achievements of the KGB/FSB, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the Muslim Brotherhood, and, of course, Fatah, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Stories are powerful drugs, even when they are wrong.
Any student of history and current events can tell you that Muslims have, even in this century, killed hundreds of thousands of fellow Muslims (see Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya), as well as slain thousands upon thousands of people over the course of 1,300+ years of Islamic colonization. This is not a controversial statement. In comparison, the number of Muslims who were killed by Jews is minuscule. Jihad requires the establishment of the right relationship between the faithful and non-believers: non-believers must accept Muslim rule (Sharia) and pay the jizya tax as second class citizens (dhimmi). Those who resist paying the poll tax and will not convert must be put to the sword. If any country has ever been ruled by Muslims, but the Muslim rulers were forced out, then that country must be retaken for Islam. This is stated in the Koran, and many Imams will happily sermonize on these topics. This is the justification for the call to jihad to take back the territory of Israel. This is one important reason (among others) why peaceful coexistence and a 2-state solution has been rejected over and over by Palestinian negotiators. Most Muslims— and many non-Muslims— regard the establishment of the state of Israel as intolerable, despite this tiny sliver of territory being the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.
Civilian deaths are sadly unavoidable in times of war, but Israel has made extraordinary efforts to minimize the deaths of Gazans. According to all measures, even using Hamas's made-up numbers, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths is extremely low. One can compare it with data for civilian-to-combatant deaths in other wars.
In fact, Hamas could end the war right now by surrendering and returning the hostages, but so far they've preferred to let their people become martyrs for the cause.
Israel is a country where it's possible to be a vocal progressive activist in favor of reducing suffering in the occupied territories and Gaza. Equivalent political freedom is suppressed in all other Middle-eastern countries. If you are a Palestinian who supports peace with Israel and a two-state solution, and if you still live in Palestine, you keep your opinion to yourself, because otherwise you put your life and your family at risk.
By the way, the word "Zion" has been used to represent the longing of all people for a better world, for a land where we will live together in harmony. Check out the Rastafari movement and the Bahai religion for another take on "zionism." There are a lot of nationalist movements inspired around the turn of the 19th century, sometimes causing the breakup of empires or finding opportunity in the weakness of an empire, and continuing through today. Some people fought for and achieved their own countries, e.g., Ireland, while others fought and failed, e.g., Catalonia. You can probably think of better examples for both of these categories. Nationalist wars around the world are often bloody. What about Kurdistan? Why single out Jewish nationalism for extra opprobrium? Yes, there is an answer.
I think it's sad that nearly 8 million people want to keep fighting a war they lost, instead of building their society. They are the descendants of ~700,000 refugees who fled or were expelled during the 1948 war of independence; about half the Arab population of mandatory British Palestine. Sort of like some folks in the American south, still waving that Dixie flag to protect the institution of slavery— except that the Confederate States of America declared itself to be a separate country with a real flag before it lost the war. It's not a great analogy. My point is that there are lots of people fighting for lost causes.
The idea of maintaining special refugee status over three generations is unique to the West Bank and Gaza. An enormous amount of aid, financial and otherwise, has been poured into Gaza and the West Bank. Many Arab countries are far poorer and their people suffer worse privations. Where are the activists marching in the streets of London for Sudan? The reality of the Middle East is complex. Israel is not the source of all conflict in the region, but it's a politically expedient scapegoat. To study the history, to acquaint oneself with accurate resources, is eye-opening.
When the Zionist argument is "look, we're killing less muslims than other muslims who kill their own," that's a giant red flag. And I am well aware that is *not* a Judaic value.
I encourage everyone to read, read, read. Here are some resources - and please note every single resource I cite below (except for one) is a Jew:
- Israeli historian Ilan Pape's book "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine."
- "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine," by Columbia Professor Rashid Khalidi
- Miko Peled is an Israeli American who served in the IDF. His father served as a General in the '67 war. Read Miko's book "The General's Son"
- Dr. Norman Finkelstein's book "Gaza, An Inquest into its Martyrdom"
"Civilian deaths are sadly unavoidable in times of war, but Israel has made extraordinary efforts to minimize the deaths of Gazans." - with over 13,000 children murdered, this is a sick statement and a blatant lie, especially when you see videos like this:
Words piercing deep into the soul. Blood spilled under the cover of God’s name. His children’s blood. As each and every one of us is a child of God. May we remember who we are ... and act accordingly ... every day 🙌
Who wants to comprehend that we are ruled by greedy sociopaths willing to mass slaughter children for a land grab? What are we going to do about it is the most disturbing question for myself? Someone has to put and end to this endless war for profit. Now would be good.
Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of children, across the entire Middle East. Take your pick: War, torture, and annihilation perpetrated by autocrats, such as Bashar Al Assad; perpetrated by Jihadi terrorists such as Hamas; perpetrated by Islamist states such as Iran. Look beyond the borders of a tiny strip of Mediterranean coast run by a death cult, whose people have been infantilized by the UN. Look north, to the autocrat Putin's indiscriminate bombardment of Ukraine, to satisfy his mad dreams of a greater Russia. Hear the cries of the dead children of Mariupol. There's no end to this, unless people actively choose peace and coexistence. It's a sad truth that, according to the Koran, there is no compromise between the One True Religion and the unbelievers. Muslims must rule over infidels. This little suffering boy in Gaza is being promoted as a martyr for Allah. He has been sacrificed by his own people, who insist on waging a Jihad that they cannot win. It's astonishing that such world truths need to be explained to people in the West. Even so, they stop up their ears, and believe that this is a textbook story about "the oppressors" and "the oppressed." They do not understand Islam.
This story can of course be a symbol for every child who is suffering the horrors of war including in my home country of Ukraine, lots of sorrow around the world no doubt about it.
Among the most hateful comments on substack, misrepresenting the faith of ~2B adherents. Meanwhile the only “Jewish” nation on the planet is carrying out a genocide citing Talmudic verses on the Amalek - “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
To be clear, Jews are people of faith, people who love and respect all humanity. We know this from the Jews who are raising their loud voices against this genocide, standing up for humanity, for the children of Gaza.
Zionists, as the world can now see, are racist supremacists who have been ethnically cleansing Palestinians for 75 years. As Ilan Pape said, Zionists don’t believe in God but they do believe he promised them Palestine.”
The sickness is not Islam, Judaism or Christianity. The sickness is Zionism and other such hateful ideologies.
https://youtu.be/ph9XF39yjgU?si=V_y-x19GhQgT8tax
For the sake of anyone else reading this thread, I offer a response below. I haven't included links to sources for every statement, but the facts can be easily and independently confirmed. However, no representation of facts will alter a mind that has unreflectively swallowed the astonishing propaganda achievements of the KGB/FSB, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the Muslim Brotherhood, and, of course, Fatah, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Stories are powerful drugs, even when they are wrong.
Any student of history and current events can tell you that Muslims have, even in this century, killed hundreds of thousands of fellow Muslims (see Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya), as well as slain thousands upon thousands of people over the course of 1,300+ years of Islamic colonization. This is not a controversial statement. In comparison, the number of Muslims who were killed by Jews is minuscule. Jihad requires the establishment of the right relationship between the faithful and non-believers: non-believers must accept Muslim rule (Sharia) and pay the jizya tax as second class citizens (dhimmi). Those who resist paying the poll tax and will not convert must be put to the sword. If any country has ever been ruled by Muslims, but the Muslim rulers were forced out, then that country must be retaken for Islam. This is stated in the Koran, and many Imams will happily sermonize on these topics. This is the justification for the call to jihad to take back the territory of Israel. This is one important reason (among others) why peaceful coexistence and a 2-state solution has been rejected over and over by Palestinian negotiators. Most Muslims— and many non-Muslims— regard the establishment of the state of Israel as intolerable, despite this tiny sliver of territory being the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.
Civilian deaths are sadly unavoidable in times of war, but Israel has made extraordinary efforts to minimize the deaths of Gazans. According to all measures, even using Hamas's made-up numbers, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths is extremely low. One can compare it with data for civilian-to-combatant deaths in other wars.
In fact, Hamas could end the war right now by surrendering and returning the hostages, but so far they've preferred to let their people become martyrs for the cause.
Israel is a country where it's possible to be a vocal progressive activist in favor of reducing suffering in the occupied territories and Gaza. Equivalent political freedom is suppressed in all other Middle-eastern countries. If you are a Palestinian who supports peace with Israel and a two-state solution, and if you still live in Palestine, you keep your opinion to yourself, because otherwise you put your life and your family at risk.
By the way, the word "Zion" has been used to represent the longing of all people for a better world, for a land where we will live together in harmony. Check out the Rastafari movement and the Bahai religion for another take on "zionism." There are a lot of nationalist movements inspired around the turn of the 19th century, sometimes causing the breakup of empires or finding opportunity in the weakness of an empire, and continuing through today. Some people fought for and achieved their own countries, e.g., Ireland, while others fought and failed, e.g., Catalonia. You can probably think of better examples for both of these categories. Nationalist wars around the world are often bloody. What about Kurdistan? Why single out Jewish nationalism for extra opprobrium? Yes, there is an answer.
I think it's sad that nearly 8 million people want to keep fighting a war they lost, instead of building their society. They are the descendants of ~700,000 refugees who fled or were expelled during the 1948 war of independence; about half the Arab population of mandatory British Palestine. Sort of like some folks in the American south, still waving that Dixie flag to protect the institution of slavery— except that the Confederate States of America declared itself to be a separate country with a real flag before it lost the war. It's not a great analogy. My point is that there are lots of people fighting for lost causes.
The idea of maintaining special refugee status over three generations is unique to the West Bank and Gaza. An enormous amount of aid, financial and otherwise, has been poured into Gaza and the West Bank. Many Arab countries are far poorer and their people suffer worse privations. Where are the activists marching in the streets of London for Sudan? The reality of the Middle East is complex. Israel is not the source of all conflict in the region, but it's a politically expedient scapegoat. To study the history, to acquaint oneself with accurate resources, is eye-opening.
When the Zionist argument is "look, we're killing less muslims than other muslims who kill their own," that's a giant red flag. And I am well aware that is *not* a Judaic value.
I encourage everyone to read, read, read. Here are some resources - and please note every single resource I cite below (except for one) is a Jew:
- Israeli historian Ilan Pape's book "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine."
- "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine," by Columbia Professor Rashid Khalidi
- Miko Peled is an Israeli American who served in the IDF. His father served as a General in the '67 war. Read Miko's book "The General's Son"
- Dr. Norman Finkelstein's book "Gaza, An Inquest into its Martyrdom"
- Read this substack:
https://infinitejaz.substack.com/t/infinite-occupation
If you prefer acquiring information via video, watch:
- the documentary "Israelism" - it was released before 10/7. You can rent it for $5 directly from its website:
https://www.israelismfilm.com/
- the documentary "Tantura" - a film by Zionist Alon Schwarz
- I just came across this video of Kohan Killetz, a Jewish American:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYjlmcshYDg
- Miko Peled is all over youtube. Here is one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI2K5ZnOHUg
- Norman Finkelstein:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GgHsSrNb2k
And other very important Jewish voices:
- Gabor Mate
- Aaron Mate
- Daniel Mate
- Max Blumenthal - thegrayzone.com & youtube
- Katie Halper
Rabbi David Feldman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSd_eZ5qcbo
Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eye3eOaBGrw&
Matt Leib - a Jewish American who was compelled to start his podcast "Bad Hasbara"; listen from the first episode
After you watch the documentary Israelism, watch this discussion held after a recent screening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TphWlTQFkWE
"Civilian deaths are sadly unavoidable in times of war, but Israel has made extraordinary efforts to minimize the deaths of Gazans." - with over 13,000 children murdered, this is a sick statement and a blatant lie, especially when you see videos like this:
https://twitter.com/resist_05/status/1740203751028441470?
and
https://twitter.com/xx17965797n/status/1727333930662310292?
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading my comment :-)
The situation in Gaza is so horrible. I yearn for peace there, and everywhere.
Heartbreaking storytelling here; well done 🫡
Had it on my mind and had to share
Powerful writing, Alexander. It’s truly frightening to think, to know, that this is happening on a daily basis.
Yes, hard to imagine
Powerful. 🙏🏼
thought’
Glad you though so!
Words piercing deep into the soul. Blood spilled under the cover of God’s name. His children’s blood. As each and every one of us is a child of God. May we remember who we are ... and act accordingly ... every day 🙌
100%
Who wants to comprehend that we are ruled by greedy sociopaths willing to mass slaughter children for a land grab? What are we going to do about it is the most disturbing question for myself? Someone has to put and end to this endless war for profit. Now would be good.
https://youtu.be/fRn4qYAORAE