As someone who had wrote and demonstrated against the Palestinian occupation for decades (you can read my oped “Pogrom “ earlier this year in this Substack ) I agree with many of your arguments. The Palestinian should have a state and this goal wasn’t pursued by Israeli governments for the last two decades. Having said that , looking at the current situation in which after masacring almost a thousand civilians and kidnappings hundreds of other to Gaza and hiding behind local population, Hamas, a homophobic and racist religious fundamentalist movement , can’t expect Israel not to attack , try and release the kidnapped and to bring the murderers and rapists to justice. Can I accept civilians deaths in Gaza ? No. Can I expect Israel to accept and cultivate a mechnism in which babies and pregnant or elderly women will be kidnapped without Israel retaliating? No. In these circumstances naming one said as evil and ignoring the complexity is simply not helpful, at least from my perspective.
I think that we both agree that the solution is two states , Israeli and Palestinian side by side. To achieve that Hamas and Netanyahu must be replaced by leaders who understand that this is the only way to provide both people a better future.
Michael, I agree that there is no moral equivelncy. Personally, I believe that the moment you try to compare between death of innocents you are in some kind of a dead end. It's strange but When I speak with Pro Israeli's they rightfully like to compare the two sides intentions : Hamas tortured , murdered and kidnapped children while Israel simply trys to get to the terrorists who are using Palestinian children as a human shield. While Pro Palestinans focus more on the number of dead children on both sides. Rationally one can try and calculate which of these deaths are more horrible but emotionally I can't help feeling that what's happening is inhuman and wrong. This is a feeling that goes way beyoond pragmatic analsys. The feeling that I am a part of a conflict in which horror is being unleashed , and that it is something that, to some extent, I'm personally responsible for. My late dad who was a very small scale businessman, told me once that the quickest and most fair negotioations he took part in were when both sides felt a little guilty.
You do realize that Israel has accepted a two state solution multiple times and that this was always rejected by Palestine right? You do realize that every time Israel gained land it was a result of Israel winning after being attacked by Palestine/Hamas.
I understand the emotions behind this piece, but progressive Jewish atheists like me condemn what Hamas did to innocent Israelis as strongly as we condemn what Israelis are doing to innocent Palestinians. The philosophy of an eye for an eye makes both sides blind.
I think this piece is less about the views but about an attitude and about csncel culture and selective empathy. I am a liberal , a lefty and try to be active but while the focus in the old day was more about doing things now it’s mostly of being indifferent and angry.
Excuse me, what the fuck are you talking about? The death toll of 500k in the (absolute maximum) estimate of those killed in the 2003-2011 Iraq War, a war begun by President George W. Bush, not Bill Clinton. But you place the blame on the previous administration? True, his wife voted in support of the invasion, but you're massively distorting the truth here. Colin Powell was the Secretary of State who lied to the UN to justify the invasion, not Madeline Albright. The US supported Israel--a nation with negligible oil deposits--"for the oil"?
I vehemently opposed the Iraq War and criticized the Clintons for their support for it at the outset--but also acknowledge that it would have happened with or without them. I think the United States should be far more critical of Israel and give zero further military aid to them until they remove all settlers from the West Bank and return to 1967 borders. But you can't have this conversation if you use made up facts, exaggerated statistics (200k dead, a staggering figure that doesn't need to be exaggerated, is the consensus for Iraq dead), and think the US intervention in the Middle East is *just* about oil.
Don't you think that in light of what the Left has become (and from this essay it appears that you understand what the Left has become in recent years), there is an imperative for Lefties to revise their political alliances? This doesn't mean at all that they should ally with the Right, but that maybe we should look at the political landscape in a different way. After all, if the ideology of the (new) Left can be summarized as the ideology of "oppressed/oppressor" in which the goal is to eliminate the "oppressor," doesn't this mean that the logic of this ideology is, in the end, genocidal? Doesn't this mean that the entire ideology is based on breeding conflict between individuals by transforming them into reified categories?
That is how I read it as well. Less about this particular horrific situation than about the nature of Cancel Culture and how it has created a black/white lens in a world of grey.
Thoughtful piece Etgar and thank you for sharing it. Let me add that sadly and not ironically, young "progressives" in the US are un-canceling Osama bin Laden. That's how fucked up things are here these days. The complexities of the Israeli/Palestinian situation create significant grey space, however the 9/11 attacks, in my mind like that of October 7th, are pure black and white.
When Israel kills thousands of civilians in their defence against Hamas, what hope there is to stop future terrorists to plot attacks against Israeli civilians? Terrorists whose parents were killed before they learned to speak, terrorists who have lost better half of their families and now are supposed to somehow integrate back into society and live a normal life? Terrorists most of whom never envisioned becoming terrorists, but are now full of anger and hatred.
What happened on Oct. 7 was one of the worst crimes against humanity in recorded history. Unfortunately, people dying now in Gaza, especially pregnant women and children, cannot be justified as well, not like this.
If you’ve ever seen the K-12 antisemitic content of UNRWA schools in Gaza, then you’d know that actually most of the Palestinian death squad members of October 7th have always envisioned themselves being terrorists. They called their parents from the site of the massacre to boast. This has been their curriculum, and part of their culture forever. Palestinian massacres of Jews in 1920, 1921, 1929 were reported the same way - same cruelty, same glee, a hundred years ago when they were the majority still.
Can’t be worse than beheaders of October 7. The rapists. The orgiastic glee in killing Israelis not all Jews. But oh dear they may radicalize. Do you understand how stupid that sounds?
It is sad that you view what Israel is doing as a mere act of revenge. There can be no revenge to get even with what happenned on Oct 7. There is no moral comparison between Hamas and Israel. The objective of Israel is to remove the threat to it's citizens of these horrors repeating themeselves. The tragic high death toll on the Palestinian side is not an objective, it's the outcome of the attempt to demolish Hamas which knowingly chose to embed itself in the population, so this will create the pictures that will send you to the streets to protect them. Calling for a ceasfire before abolishment of Hamas is met, is cancelling Israel. It is parallel to calling for releasing a rapist murderrer from jail and letting him get back to live next to his neighbors.
What is happening in Gaza is not genocide. It is war.
October 7 was a genocide where the terrorists of Hamas intentionally murdered, raped, tortured and abducted civillians just for being Jewish or working with Jews.
Read Etgar Keret's piece once more. You don't have to chose a wrong doer and paint the whole picture in black and white. Reality is complex, and sometimes even the occupier (Israel) can be the victim that needs protection and has the right to defend itself
The ends do not always justify the means, especially when pregnant women, babies, and innocent children are being killed. At some point, the cycle of violence must end and someone has to be the first to rise above it. All that money and intelligence, and Israel can’t find a better way to target Hammas? My heart goes out to all the oppressed and injured, on both sides. But we cannot ignore the historical context this all took place in, the ongoing cycle of abuse and oppression, in which the oppressed eventually evolve into the new perpetrators. When will this cycle end?
Like a good progressive, there is no space (in this case on Substack) where you don’t show up peddling pro Palestinian propaganda. Impressive obsession.
Hi Skull. I’m sorry. The Palestinians in question (I’m talking about the millions, not Hammas) are already unarmed. And already facing a genocide. So I’ll have to disagree with your entire premise.
There is no genocide of the Palestinians. Their population has grown. Hamas has clearly stated that its goal is the destruction of Israel and the killing of all Jews. That would be genocide. The usurpation and abuse of the word “genocide,” a word coined to describe what happened to the Jews of Europe, and its inaccurate use against the Jewish nation, is the height of ignorant Jew-hatred. And it is cynical beyond belief.
Hi Alan. My head is telling me not to respond because most likely anything I say will be read without a sincere desire to understand. Why do I think this? Because your response is inaccurate (the Palestinian population, quite evidently, is not growing), shows lack of discernment between two groups of people - Hammas (those Palestinians who have chosen violence as a response to systematic oppression) and the majority of peace-loving Palestinians - and the misguided assumption that the word “genocide”, though it may have originated from the Holocaust, is race-specific. Is it distressing to think there may be another example of ethnic cleansing going on today? Absolutely. But I’m not trying to be cynical, just honest. Believe me, I wish it weren’t true. I am neither Palestinian nor Israeli. I have no family affected, no biases to defend. I care about humans, regardless of race or religion. So as a human, I call out oppression where I see it. You don’t like the word “genocide”? Replace it with murder. It is my sincere wish that the murders on both sides stop, that a ceasefire be called, and that the people who benefit financially and politically from this conflict, who are doing a disservice to interracial and intercultural understanding and peace, be exposed.
Please explain how Israel should have handled Hamas after the massacre of October 7, but without the progressive delusion of “if we imagine Hamas doesn’t exist and don’t mention it, then it’ll disappear”. Wishful thinking isn’t a solution.
I’m no intelligence agent or political strategist. But in my opinion, Israel should have arrested the perpetrators they caught and used their ultra-advanced intelligence network to pinpoint and capture the others. In a longer term plan, the Israel govt and army should stop treating Palestinians like animals, treat them as equals with respect and dignity, and when that actually happens, the Palestinians will likely turn over Hamas members themselves. Nobody wants a war on their land. In fact, Hamas wouldn’t even have a need to exist. Violent resistance groups don’t emerge out of a vacuum.
Wow, this is so ignorant. You clearly don't understand how biased you are while truly knowing nothing about the situation. And your bias is not about innocent children but a simple anti Israeli one.
After Israel "pinpoints" the terrorists, how can it go about capturing them?
Of course none of this is possible. You also don't seem to have any grasp of how many are they, and of all the weaponry, roquets and tunnels infrastructure.
But of course, there must be a better way to deal with Hamas, Israel just doesn't want to do that because all it wants is to kill Palestinians and treat them like animals right?
And as far as Hamas being a "resistance" group. Yeah, resisting the mere existence of Israel. As long as Israel exists, no matter what it does and doesn't do, they will keep "resisting" in the most horrific ways.
Do you even know that Israel has left the Gaza strip almost 20 years ago? Is that treating Palestinian like animals?
It has been under Hamas' thumb for more than 15 years. And they have been killing, torturing, oppressing, and stilling from their own people all this time. All the aid money just goes to fund terror instead of improving the lives of the people in Gaza. Also, if they didn't do that there would be no blockade on Gaza. There wasn't one before. Some kind of "resistance" group.
But you wouldn't know anything about all that, would you? It is not necessary to actually know things to have opinions. You can just base your opinions on ignorance and lies, that works too.
Thanks however for demonstrating the ignorance of this so called progressive world left. (and as a progressive I'm actually insulted to have to share this nomination right now).
Those of you who are not impacted, who are not suffering, sitting so comfortably far away with no blood in this conflict, in your safe un-menaced countries. You sure know it all, and you are so just!
Only you actually know nothing and you're helping no one, just making it worse.
Apparently giving all of Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 as the second installment of a Palestinian state (after Oslo agreement Area A territories) is some act of violence. Do you have any idea of the history, before you jabber with idiotic pro Palestinian face free sentences? Hamas took over Gaza in 2007 in a violent coup, murdering many Palestinian Authority officials. Israel didn’t force those animals to do any such thing, nor turn Gaza into an artillery base. Not one bomb would be dropping on Gaza if not for Palestinian violence then and now. Check your stupidity and ignorance before opining at length.
Among the unspeakable horrors happening I can't even take comfort in the fact that a writer I love reading ,Etgar Keret, is voicing in his own words exactly what I have been telling to myself , or the other day, to a friend......(if it is not presumptuous to claim that I understood you correctly, but I think I did: How difficult it is for the progressive left to think all those things together at once without joining one side acvording to its national or ethnic identity as if this was a soccer game where you chose sides and instead grieve over the tragedy ......Maybe I do take a little comfort in reading what you share , or why share anything at all really if one isn't allowed to take comfort despite the fact that one constantly keeps "checking her or his privilege " aware that oneself and his family has been spared. Thank you for this.
Progressives figured a way out of this cognitive dissonance - imagine really hard that Hamas doesn’t exist, never mention Hamas or their massacre while making ceasefire appeals, and reframe the war Hamas launched into “Israel versus Palestinian civilians” and they’re right back where they started with bad right wing Israel punishing civilians for apparently no reason, because Zionists are monsters. Totalitarian cults have always operated this way. Rewrite history and facts and self delusion until complexity and facts are forgotten.
At least Leftists are openly Jewish hating racists who celebrate and excuse massacres of civilians by far Right religious Islamist terrorists. They don’t have the mental illness of progressives thinking their kind and compassionate. The far Left is happily not kind nor compassionate, it’s steeped in hate and violence.
As an older lefty who has marched and struggled often with being too binary in my own world view, I am grateful for this nuanced exploration of how destructive the act of choosing a side can be. Initially appalled by the actions of Hamas and cheering on the strong Israeli response, as the days passed, it became clear that the situation is anything but clear. I find myself in the odd place of heartache for all of the people involved in this terrible ordeal...there is simply is no one righteous position here. It seems the struggle to rule the kingdom of heaven will never end because we, all of us, are too human to understand what that will take. My thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
It has little to do with moral fortitude, nor is it simple to take an extreme position when fighting over this land has been ongoing for more than a thousand years. It seems there is significant difference between Israeli Jews who are just trying to live their lives after having been resettled there by other nations following European wars and the Zionists who believe their right to occupation because they are Jews regardless of birthplace; nor has displacement of the Palestinian people ever been satisfactorily addressed; the PLO certainly failed to get any justice. In any case, extreme positions rarely resolve anything for long.
I am neither Jew nor Palestinian, but feel pain for both. I wonder if the more radical leaders of both groups were to actually listen to the people they claim to represent, if there may be an answer. Maybe even an agreement that the land could accommodate the independent governance of two separate nations with reasonable land for each and respect for those who choose to live in either instead of pure annihilation of a people based on tribe or so-called religion. All are sons of Abraham according to their own professed faith.
In a sea of despair, your words are a balm. I’m a Jewish progressive academic from Brazil living in the US. My entire life I had a hard time because while my heart aligned with the progressive left, my mind always lived in and with the contradictions of the world, nuance, and internal debates. The ideological police was always looming behind me. Your text actually helped me grow a bit more empathy for the friends and colleagues whose words now so disappoint and hurt me. You are one step ahead of me in the nuance! Thank you 💛
Perfectly stated. Thank you for sharing this perspective. One day there will be space for moderates again but I fear it won’t be in my lifetime. Especially when children are being taught in school to think this way as well. But it’s a pendulum and it will swing to be more centered. But it’s going to take some time 😔
Moderates are the numerical majority. Reject the false dichotomy of Left versus Right. The moderate democratic center is where sanity and nuance exists.
True. Though I can’t help thinking that something in the social media had distorted our perspective : it makes us feel omnipotent and then when we step outside our feed we immediately begin to feel helpless.
You are one of the world’s most poignant, hilarious, and wise authors, and if the progressives have lost you, that is a dark day for them indeed. Thank you so much for this piece.
Dear Etgar. You did it again. You speak about the ill in the world with such nuance, humanity and... (even!) humour. A progressive/ leftist myself I noticed this trend years ago and had the same thoughts/ problems with it. The world is in a bad place without nuanced, respectful conversations. We must carry on talking, even when talking - especially listening!- is difficult. I always cherish your words and will share them widely. תודה!
You have the uncanny ability to translate some of the thoughts and feelings that roll endlessly around in my head, to paper. I so admire that and wish I was able to do it so eloquently. This is a conversation I have been trying to have with my adult children. I am not sure that they agree with anything I ever say, but I do think they may at least understand my feelings more clearly once they have read this.
Thank you for this. The first answer that comes to one's mind is: It is unfortunate that so often the extreme voices are the loudest. But then, I realized that with your piece and the comments related to it, you have created a precious space for the moderate voices, that many are longing for and that we need so much for our world.
What a terrific piece Etgar. Thanks. Love a bit of complexity. And love the weekly dose of thoughts from you, particularly at the moment, this particular complex moment. I picked up The Seven Good Years again last week. It's one of my favourite books. Sending you love and cheers
A superb piece of writing forged in the deepest reaches of the furnace of art but that seemingly ignores the 3,000 years of Jew- hate behind those who feasted on us so orgiastically that Shabbat shachor, 07 October 2023.
The question is: Can we hold two (or more) realities in our head at the same time? Perhaps one of the greatest human failings is that apparently many of us can’t. Thank you, Etgar, for having the courage to voice your opinions (and always so eloquently) whether you meet agreement or not.
Jen,
As someone who had wrote and demonstrated against the Palestinian occupation for decades (you can read my oped “Pogrom “ earlier this year in this Substack ) I agree with many of your arguments. The Palestinian should have a state and this goal wasn’t pursued by Israeli governments for the last two decades. Having said that , looking at the current situation in which after masacring almost a thousand civilians and kidnappings hundreds of other to Gaza and hiding behind local population, Hamas, a homophobic and racist religious fundamentalist movement , can’t expect Israel not to attack , try and release the kidnapped and to bring the murderers and rapists to justice. Can I accept civilians deaths in Gaza ? No. Can I expect Israel to accept and cultivate a mechnism in which babies and pregnant or elderly women will be kidnapped without Israel retaliating? No. In these circumstances naming one said as evil and ignoring the complexity is simply not helpful, at least from my perspective.
I think that we both agree that the solution is two states , Israeli and Palestinian side by side. To achieve that Hamas and Netanyahu must be replaced by leaders who understand that this is the only way to provide both people a better future.
False moral equivalency. Hamas attacked Israel unprovoked. Israel responded. The high casualties lie at the feet of Hamas, not Israel.
So, then what.
Michael, I agree that there is no moral equivelncy. Personally, I believe that the moment you try to compare between death of innocents you are in some kind of a dead end. It's strange but When I speak with Pro Israeli's they rightfully like to compare the two sides intentions : Hamas tortured , murdered and kidnapped children while Israel simply trys to get to the terrorists who are using Palestinian children as a human shield. While Pro Palestinans focus more on the number of dead children on both sides. Rationally one can try and calculate which of these deaths are more horrible but emotionally I can't help feeling that what's happening is inhuman and wrong. This is a feeling that goes way beyoond pragmatic analsys. The feeling that I am a part of a conflict in which horror is being unleashed , and that it is something that, to some extent, I'm personally responsible for. My late dad who was a very small scale businessman, told me once that the quickest and most fair negotioations he took part in were when both sides felt a little guilty.
You do realize that Israel has accepted a two state solution multiple times and that this was always rejected by Palestine right? You do realize that every time Israel gained land it was a result of Israel winning after being attacked by Palestine/Hamas.
I understand the emotions behind this piece, but progressive Jewish atheists like me condemn what Hamas did to innocent Israelis as strongly as we condemn what Israelis are doing to innocent Palestinians. The philosophy of an eye for an eye makes both sides blind.
I think this piece is less about the views but about an attitude and about csncel culture and selective empathy. I am a liberal , a lefty and try to be active but while the focus in the old day was more about doing things now it’s mostly of being indifferent and angry.
Excuse me, what the fuck are you talking about? The death toll of 500k in the (absolute maximum) estimate of those killed in the 2003-2011 Iraq War, a war begun by President George W. Bush, not Bill Clinton. But you place the blame on the previous administration? True, his wife voted in support of the invasion, but you're massively distorting the truth here. Colin Powell was the Secretary of State who lied to the UN to justify the invasion, not Madeline Albright. The US supported Israel--a nation with negligible oil deposits--"for the oil"?
I vehemently opposed the Iraq War and criticized the Clintons for their support for it at the outset--but also acknowledge that it would have happened with or without them. I think the United States should be far more critical of Israel and give zero further military aid to them until they remove all settlers from the West Bank and return to 1967 borders. But you can't have this conversation if you use made up facts, exaggerated statistics (200k dead, a staggering figure that doesn't need to be exaggerated, is the consensus for Iraq dead), and think the US intervention in the Middle East is *just* about oil.
Don't you think that in light of what the Left has become (and from this essay it appears that you understand what the Left has become in recent years), there is an imperative for Lefties to revise their political alliances? This doesn't mean at all that they should ally with the Right, but that maybe we should look at the political landscape in a different way. After all, if the ideology of the (new) Left can be summarized as the ideology of "oppressed/oppressor" in which the goal is to eliminate the "oppressor," doesn't this mean that the logic of this ideology is, in the end, genocidal? Doesn't this mean that the entire ideology is based on breeding conflict between individuals by transforming them into reified categories?
The left (hard left) has always been genocidal.
That is how I read it as well. Less about this particular horrific situation than about the nature of Cancel Culture and how it has created a black/white lens in a world of grey.
Thoughtful piece Etgar and thank you for sharing it. Let me add that sadly and not ironically, young "progressives" in the US are un-canceling Osama bin Laden. That's how fucked up things are here these days. The complexities of the Israeli/Palestinian situation create significant grey space, however the 9/11 attacks, in my mind like that of October 7th, are pure black and white.
And a heart for a heart makes the world heartless.
When Hamas uses civilians as human shields, how can Israel defend itself and stop future attacks?
When Israel kills thousands of civilians in their defence against Hamas, what hope there is to stop future terrorists to plot attacks against Israeli civilians? Terrorists whose parents were killed before they learned to speak, terrorists who have lost better half of their families and now are supposed to somehow integrate back into society and live a normal life? Terrorists most of whom never envisioned becoming terrorists, but are now full of anger and hatred.
What happened on Oct. 7 was one of the worst crimes against humanity in recorded history. Unfortunately, people dying now in Gaza, especially pregnant women and children, cannot be justified as well, not like this.
If you’ve ever seen the K-12 antisemitic content of UNRWA schools in Gaza, then you’d know that actually most of the Palestinian death squad members of October 7th have always envisioned themselves being terrorists. They called their parents from the site of the massacre to boast. This has been their curriculum, and part of their culture forever. Palestinian massacres of Jews in 1920, 1921, 1929 were reported the same way - same cruelty, same glee, a hundred years ago when they were the majority still.
Can’t be worse than beheaders of October 7. The rapists. The orgiastic glee in killing Israelis not all Jews. But oh dear they may radicalize. Do you understand how stupid that sounds?
I guess we shall see how stupid that sounds.
It is sad that you view what Israel is doing as a mere act of revenge. There can be no revenge to get even with what happenned on Oct 7. There is no moral comparison between Hamas and Israel. The objective of Israel is to remove the threat to it's citizens of these horrors repeating themeselves. The tragic high death toll on the Palestinian side is not an objective, it's the outcome of the attempt to demolish Hamas which knowingly chose to embed itself in the population, so this will create the pictures that will send you to the streets to protect them. Calling for a ceasfire before abolishment of Hamas is met, is cancelling Israel. It is parallel to calling for releasing a rapist murderrer from jail and letting him get back to live next to his neighbors.
What is happening in Gaza is not genocide. It is war.
October 7 was a genocide where the terrorists of Hamas intentionally murdered, raped, tortured and abducted civillians just for being Jewish or working with Jews.
Read Etgar Keret's piece once more. You don't have to chose a wrong doer and paint the whole picture in black and white. Reality is complex, and sometimes even the occupier (Israel) can be the victim that needs protection and has the right to defend itself
The ends do not always justify the means, especially when pregnant women, babies, and innocent children are being killed. At some point, the cycle of violence must end and someone has to be the first to rise above it. All that money and intelligence, and Israel can’t find a better way to target Hammas? My heart goes out to all the oppressed and injured, on both sides. But we cannot ignore the historical context this all took place in, the ongoing cycle of abuse and oppression, in which the oppressed eventually evolve into the new perpetrators. When will this cycle end?
If the Palestinians all laid down their arms, Israel would accept and there would be a lasting peace.
If Israelis all laid down their arms, there would be a genocide and an eradication of an entire nation.
Does that help answer your question?
Like a good progressive, there is no space (in this case on Substack) where you don’t show up peddling pro Palestinian propaganda. Impressive obsession.
Hi Skull. I’m sorry. The Palestinians in question (I’m talking about the millions, not Hammas) are already unarmed. And already facing a genocide. So I’ll have to disagree with your entire premise.
There is no genocide of the Palestinians. Their population has grown. Hamas has clearly stated that its goal is the destruction of Israel and the killing of all Jews. That would be genocide. The usurpation and abuse of the word “genocide,” a word coined to describe what happened to the Jews of Europe, and its inaccurate use against the Jewish nation, is the height of ignorant Jew-hatred. And it is cynical beyond belief.
Hi Alan. My head is telling me not to respond because most likely anything I say will be read without a sincere desire to understand. Why do I think this? Because your response is inaccurate (the Palestinian population, quite evidently, is not growing), shows lack of discernment between two groups of people - Hammas (those Palestinians who have chosen violence as a response to systematic oppression) and the majority of peace-loving Palestinians - and the misguided assumption that the word “genocide”, though it may have originated from the Holocaust, is race-specific. Is it distressing to think there may be another example of ethnic cleansing going on today? Absolutely. But I’m not trying to be cynical, just honest. Believe me, I wish it weren’t true. I am neither Palestinian nor Israeli. I have no family affected, no biases to defend. I care about humans, regardless of race or religion. So as a human, I call out oppression where I see it. You don’t like the word “genocide”? Replace it with murder. It is my sincere wish that the murders on both sides stop, that a ceasefire be called, and that the people who benefit financially and politically from this conflict, who are doing a disservice to interracial and intercultural understanding and peace, be exposed.
Please explain how Israel should have handled Hamas after the massacre of October 7, but without the progressive delusion of “if we imagine Hamas doesn’t exist and don’t mention it, then it’ll disappear”. Wishful thinking isn’t a solution.
I’m no intelligence agent or political strategist. But in my opinion, Israel should have arrested the perpetrators they caught and used their ultra-advanced intelligence network to pinpoint and capture the others. In a longer term plan, the Israel govt and army should stop treating Palestinians like animals, treat them as equals with respect and dignity, and when that actually happens, the Palestinians will likely turn over Hamas members themselves. Nobody wants a war on their land. In fact, Hamas wouldn’t even have a need to exist. Violent resistance groups don’t emerge out of a vacuum.
Wow, this is so ignorant. You clearly don't understand how biased you are while truly knowing nothing about the situation. And your bias is not about innocent children but a simple anti Israeli one.
After Israel "pinpoints" the terrorists, how can it go about capturing them?
Of course none of this is possible. You also don't seem to have any grasp of how many are they, and of all the weaponry, roquets and tunnels infrastructure.
But of course, there must be a better way to deal with Hamas, Israel just doesn't want to do that because all it wants is to kill Palestinians and treat them like animals right?
And as far as Hamas being a "resistance" group. Yeah, resisting the mere existence of Israel. As long as Israel exists, no matter what it does and doesn't do, they will keep "resisting" in the most horrific ways.
Do you even know that Israel has left the Gaza strip almost 20 years ago? Is that treating Palestinian like animals?
It has been under Hamas' thumb for more than 15 years. And they have been killing, torturing, oppressing, and stilling from their own people all this time. All the aid money just goes to fund terror instead of improving the lives of the people in Gaza. Also, if they didn't do that there would be no blockade on Gaza. There wasn't one before. Some kind of "resistance" group.
But you wouldn't know anything about all that, would you? It is not necessary to actually know things to have opinions. You can just base your opinions on ignorance and lies, that works too.
Thanks however for demonstrating the ignorance of this so called progressive world left. (and as a progressive I'm actually insulted to have to share this nomination right now).
Those of you who are not impacted, who are not suffering, sitting so comfortably far away with no blood in this conflict, in your safe un-menaced countries. You sure know it all, and you are so just!
Only you actually know nothing and you're helping no one, just making it worse.
Apparently giving all of Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 as the second installment of a Palestinian state (after Oslo agreement Area A territories) is some act of violence. Do you have any idea of the history, before you jabber with idiotic pro Palestinian face free sentences? Hamas took over Gaza in 2007 in a violent coup, murdering many Palestinian Authority officials. Israel didn’t force those animals to do any such thing, nor turn Gaza into an artillery base. Not one bomb would be dropping on Gaza if not for Palestinian violence then and now. Check your stupidity and ignorance before opining at length.
Among the unspeakable horrors happening I can't even take comfort in the fact that a writer I love reading ,Etgar Keret, is voicing in his own words exactly what I have been telling to myself , or the other day, to a friend......(if it is not presumptuous to claim that I understood you correctly, but I think I did: How difficult it is for the progressive left to think all those things together at once without joining one side acvording to its national or ethnic identity as if this was a soccer game where you chose sides and instead grieve over the tragedy ......Maybe I do take a little comfort in reading what you share , or why share anything at all really if one isn't allowed to take comfort despite the fact that one constantly keeps "checking her or his privilege " aware that oneself and his family has been spared. Thank you for this.
Progressives figured a way out of this cognitive dissonance - imagine really hard that Hamas doesn’t exist, never mention Hamas or their massacre while making ceasefire appeals, and reframe the war Hamas launched into “Israel versus Palestinian civilians” and they’re right back where they started with bad right wing Israel punishing civilians for apparently no reason, because Zionists are monsters. Totalitarian cults have always operated this way. Rewrite history and facts and self delusion until complexity and facts are forgotten.
At least Leftists are openly Jewish hating racists who celebrate and excuse massacres of civilians by far Right religious Islamist terrorists. They don’t have the mental illness of progressives thinking their kind and compassionate. The far Left is happily not kind nor compassionate, it’s steeped in hate and violence.
As an older lefty who has marched and struggled often with being too binary in my own world view, I am grateful for this nuanced exploration of how destructive the act of choosing a side can be. Initially appalled by the actions of Hamas and cheering on the strong Israeli response, as the days passed, it became clear that the situation is anything but clear. I find myself in the odd place of heartache for all of the people involved in this terrible ordeal...there is simply is no one righteous position here. It seems the struggle to rule the kingdom of heaven will never end because we, all of us, are too human to understand what that will take. My thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
It has little to do with moral fortitude, nor is it simple to take an extreme position when fighting over this land has been ongoing for more than a thousand years. It seems there is significant difference between Israeli Jews who are just trying to live their lives after having been resettled there by other nations following European wars and the Zionists who believe their right to occupation because they are Jews regardless of birthplace; nor has displacement of the Palestinian people ever been satisfactorily addressed; the PLO certainly failed to get any justice. In any case, extreme positions rarely resolve anything for long.
I am neither Jew nor Palestinian, but feel pain for both. I wonder if the more radical leaders of both groups were to actually listen to the people they claim to represent, if there may be an answer. Maybe even an agreement that the land could accommodate the independent governance of two separate nations with reasonable land for each and respect for those who choose to live in either instead of pure annihilation of a people based on tribe or so-called religion. All are sons of Abraham according to their own professed faith.
Thsnk you!
I agree! Another older lady.
In a sea of despair, your words are a balm. I’m a Jewish progressive academic from Brazil living in the US. My entire life I had a hard time because while my heart aligned with the progressive left, my mind always lived in and with the contradictions of the world, nuance, and internal debates. The ideological police was always looming behind me. Your text actually helped me grow a bit more empathy for the friends and colleagues whose words now so disappoint and hurt me. You are one step ahead of me in the nuance! Thank you 💛
Perfectly stated. Thank you for sharing this perspective. One day there will be space for moderates again but I fear it won’t be in my lifetime. Especially when children are being taught in school to think this way as well. But it’s a pendulum and it will swing to be more centered. But it’s going to take some time 😔
Moderates are the numerical majority. Reject the false dichotomy of Left versus Right. The moderate democratic center is where sanity and nuance exists.
Agreed, but the anger comes from feeling helpless and unable to influence events.
True. Though I can’t help thinking that something in the social media had distorted our perspective : it makes us feel omnipotent and then when we step outside our feed we immediately begin to feel helpless.
Maybe anger that does not result in making the world more just or kind rots into a helpless indifference.
You are one of the world’s most poignant, hilarious, and wise authors, and if the progressives have lost you, that is a dark day for them indeed. Thank you so much for this piece.
Oh, they never had me. We just shared some opinions . I’m a natural born outsider.
:) :)
Dear Etgar. You did it again. You speak about the ill in the world with such nuance, humanity and... (even!) humour. A progressive/ leftist myself I noticed this trend years ago and had the same thoughts/ problems with it. The world is in a bad place without nuanced, respectful conversations. We must carry on talking, even when talking - especially listening!- is difficult. I always cherish your words and will share them widely. תודה!
You have the uncanny ability to translate some of the thoughts and feelings that roll endlessly around in my head, to paper. I so admire that and wish I was able to do it so eloquently. This is a conversation I have been trying to have with my adult children. I am not sure that they agree with anything I ever say, but I do think they may at least understand my feelings more clearly once they have read this.
Be safe.
Thank you for this. The first answer that comes to one's mind is: It is unfortunate that so often the extreme voices are the loudest. But then, I realized that with your piece and the comments related to it, you have created a precious space for the moderate voices, that many are longing for and that we need so much for our world.
❤️
What a terrific piece Etgar. Thanks. Love a bit of complexity. And love the weekly dose of thoughts from you, particularly at the moment, this particular complex moment. I picked up The Seven Good Years again last week. It's one of my favourite books. Sending you love and cheers
A superb piece of writing forged in the deepest reaches of the furnace of art but that seemingly ignores the 3,000 years of Jew- hate behind those who feasted on us so orgiastically that Shabbat shachor, 07 October 2023.
The question is: Can we hold two (or more) realities in our head at the same time? Perhaps one of the greatest human failings is that apparently many of us can’t. Thank you, Etgar, for having the courage to voice your opinions (and always so eloquently) whether you meet agreement or not.
Thank you. You have very articulately stated what I have been trying to say.
Thank you for this, Etgar! I loved and shared (many times over) your audio interview with the NYT.