When I used to do politics in Boston, there was a saying about loyalty. Loyalty isn't about sticking by your friends when they're right. That's easy; mostly, it involves joining the parade. No, loyalty is about sticking by your friends when they need help, when the easy thing to do is turn your back.
I have a lot of wishes.
I wish the people in Gaza had not chosen a terrorist organization to lead the territory.
I wish Israel had no reason to fear for its security, no legitimate security reasons for continuing to occupy the territories.
If you want to make the case that Israel is right to be fearful, nothing proves it like the events of the last two weeks. Upward of 3,000 rockets were fired in the direction of civilian populations in Israel. There were no early warnings. The people sending those rockets aimed to kill as many Israelis as they could -- including women and children and the elderly. That they did not is a measure of their technological backwardness, not any kind of moral superiority.
There are many complicated solutions to the issues plaguing both Israel and the Palestinians. It's not as if any of the Arab countries in the region want the Palestinians. But there is an easy solution to the most pressing issues in Gaza that is entirely in the hands of the people there, not the Israelis.
Get rid of Hamas.
Do not let their leaders hide among the women and children, only to show those pictures to the Western press as proof of Israel's supposed butchery. It is proof that Israel is at least aiming, and that it's offering warnings before bombing Gaza, which is more than can be said of those who launched the thousands of missiles at Israel -- and the people who let them take over.
Don't get me wrong. I am as critical of Israel as anyone, among friends. As a Jew, I want Israel to be better. I have seen firsthand the arrogance and the determination of Israelis to never again be marched to slaughter, or be taken advantage of, for instance by me. I have seen many cases where I thought Israel went too far.
I don't want to be in a position where my best defense is that Israel is no worse.
Because we all know that is simply not true. Israel is far, far better. And that's where the fact of anti-Semitism keeps coming in.
If, in terms of respect for human rights, Israel is far, far better than the rest of the Middle East; most, if not all, of Africa; most of Central and South America; and most of Asia, then what reason in the world is there for the divestment campaigns aimed at Israel?
What reason is there for the angry protests and loud denunciations of the only Jewish state on the planet?
If it's not anti-Semitism, tell my why so many have singled out Israel.
The left in America was the first to point out -- rightly, I think -- that racist rhetoric encourages racist actions.
So what about the denunciations of Israel by the left?
Since when did a terrorist group who oppresses women and gays and transgender individuals become the darling of the American left? I simply do not get it. Or rather, I do. I always have.
My favorite book from my childhood is "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," a collection of art by children in the Terezin concentration camp, who were sent to slaughter while the world stood by. America has lost more than half a million of our neighbors and family to COVID-19, matching the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Now contemplate almost 12 times that many, which is the number of Jews who were lost in the Holocaust. I can't.
Out of the ashes came Israel. You don't have to love it, as I do. But at least recognize that you need a reason to single out Israel in the whole world community, a reason that has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that you singled out the only Jewish state on the planet.
A coincidence of genocidal dimensions?
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"loyalty" - Google News
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Standing by Israel is more than just loyalty to a friend - Chicago Daily Herald
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