I saw children through the fence playing with an empty tear gas canister. I wonder what my life would have been like if I’d been born on the other side.
It is your dream, Mr. Katz, not theirs. And until it is -- if ever -- there will always be a need for good to stand its ground against evil and to make Never Again a reality for the Jewish people.
I could sit here and stew, eventually allowing the invective in my head work its way through my hands on the keyboard, or I can thank you for just stating the simple truth.
Thanks for your comment & brief history lesson. Isn’t Gaza a concentration camp of sorts? I’m ignorant to much of this and looking for sources to help me understand why the Arabs stayed in Gaza. It’s my understanding that they can’t leave even though they are being told to move from their northern homes. Where are they to go?
Gaza is not a concentration camp at all. This is a lie. Gaza is a separate country. It has delineated borders (one with Israel and one with Egypt). The west border is the Mediterranean Sea. Gaza is made up of Palestinian Arabs, governed by Palestinian Arabs. There are no Jews and no Israelis in Gaza. Gaza is an independent Palestinian state. Hamas is the elected government. Hamas is responsible for providing all services including electricity and water. All the misfortune of the people of Gaza is the fault of Hamas. If you (Hamas) attack your neighbor (Israel), and your neighbor responds and your civilians die, it is your fault.
Thank you David. I appreciate your civil reply to my request for understanding. May I ask why then the border fencing with rolls of barbed wire atop? Who is keeping who in or out? Seems prison-like sadly
Gaza is far from a concentration camp. In the Nazi concentration camps or in Warsaw Ghetto, to which Gaza is sometimes also compared, there were no luxury shopping malls, no universities, no luxury hotels, no swimming pools, etc. Here is an article I wrote showing the Gaza Hamas doesn't want you to see:
Arabs in Gaza are from Gaza. It's why Gaza was a part of the nascent nation of Palestine when the UN voted on the two state solution. Some Arabs, like the author of the other piece who left in 1988 and lives in NJ, didn't stay, however most Arab nations will not accept them. The sometimes too benevolent West does, though.
I’m sorry to say this, but what did you think being a frontline solider was? Dressing up like a GI Joe? The fact that Jews and Israelis are hyper-sensitive to misconduct by the IDF reveals a willingness to see everyone else as our victims--an internalization of antisemitic double standards.
Last week we found out what it'd be like if Hamas patrolled the border fence and innocent Israelis lived on the other side. But, you know, at least they spared us the tear gas.
I don't think the hypersensitivity is about antisemitism as much as it is about the perception of Israel being in a position of absolute power and dominance and enjoying the backing of the evil US. In such a situation, the underdog gets the sympathy from the Left, even when it is undeserved. The Arabs/Iran are counting on a net gain of sympathy for their purposes after provoking a second Nakba through the atrocities we saw, reasoning that the discourse long-term will be about the leveling of Gaza and the killing of thousands of civilians by the IDF, not about what provoked it.
I agree with this assessment, but I was speaking more to a certain subconscious response to antisemitism which is to confirm other people's negative presumptions about Jews in exchange for their approval. Playing the "good Jew," basically. I'm not sure the author quite does that here, but it explains the tendency among a certain sect of Israeli society to obsess over the wrongs of the IDF. Any fair society should monitor its own wrongdoings, but amplifying them to the world to make yourself seem superior really rubs me the wrong way.
The author’s essay is similar to what an American soldiers in Afghanistan would have written. The desire for peace even when it appears absolutely impossible is because they are living or paid the cost of war. The huge difference in culture I.e. in Afghanistan villages women’s hands, ears, and noses are mutilated as punishment and a medic did not offer aid to a woman because his touch could dishonor her. Like the writer guarding the gate, there is behavior one cannot understand and then the immediate connection of two boys improvising a soccer game. Add to this “good Jew” or the “American values” that are the expectation of the people and politicians at home. In the US, it was Afghan girls going to school and democracy. Israel too thought that magically democracy with a two state solution would come to a society that continually demonstrated that they did not want it. Hopefully, soldiers can expect citizens to listen, understand, and appreciate that they served their country and did their duty and in the authors case returning to serve again. Maybe instead of denigrating remarks and demanding more from soldiers, we should expect better from ourselves, civilians and politicians.
What we have here is an inteligence failure, a doozy. Didn't intelligence officers effectively go on strike recently, 'cos Bibi is Beliar Incarnate? 'This House will not fight for King or Country' was worth a Panzer Corps to the Third Reich.
Tzahal pulled out, yanking "settlers" with them, and gave the keys to Gaza's "citizens". They were given their freedom, gave those keys to Hamas, and promptly started rocketing Israel. What concord has Yahweh with Beliar?
That seems very unfair. He was a volunteer lone soldier in Israel. He came back for his education and returned when the war started to help in many ways as he stated. Most men do not volunteer for army service. That is to be admired.
I do, of course, respect him for volunteering for the army in Israel. My first love did the same, way back in the 1970s.
He was not in Tel Aviv raising money for the IDF when he wrote this piece and I commented on it. That was added sometimes later. I have no idea when and I only know about it because of your comment now. I do respect that as well. It still does not change my critique of his essay.
It actually says in the intro to the article that he returned to Israel at the start of the war. Secondly I know this young man and he tried to get back into the reserves when he returned and then stayed to help further. You can criticize whatever part of the article that you want, I am not even sure what you didn’t like - I just took issue with your statement that “he is not doing what he can”. He is doing more than most people.
If you are not sure what I did not like about his article, then I guess you did not read my original comment. In any case, perhaps I did miss the part about his coming back to Israel. And I do respect that. But his article is total fluff. I do not take that back.
The set of two articles, the first to come out of this newletter after the pogrom, was an example of bothsideism that I deplore. And his piece was, as I said, total fluff.
Maybe - just maybe - if they stopped rioting and demonstrating and milling about, and started working and acting like normal, decent human beings, they could be happy and successful and not in a perpetual state of war with a nation that wants only to live in peace.
Kol Hakavod Jacob. Until the Arabs stop educating their children to hate and kill Jews we will need brave soldiers to guard our borders. I lost a son who fought in Gaza in 2014.
"I wondered what my life would have been like if I had been born on the other side of the fence. Would I have agreed with those who told me to wish for the death of another people?"
The answer is most definitely yes, Jacob. In fact, no one would need tell you to wish for the death of Israel and every Israeli. Just as in the case of Nazi Germany's Hitlerjugend, you would have been inculcated from infancy to strive for it, through exposure to Palestinian Authority children's television shows (for merely one example see the clip at https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-childrens-show-criminal-jews-plotting-replace-aqsa-with-temple-defend-until-last-drop-of-blood), and through government schools, much of it paid for by the largess of the EU, the UN, and even the U.S.
Hamas has published photos of the 13 and 14 year olds (and at least one boy looks about 10 or 11) in military training. If they’re dreaming of peace, it’s of the Muslim kind which means a world without non-believers, starting with the Jews
It is your dream, Mr. Katz, not theirs. And until it is -- if ever -- there will always be a need for good to stand its ground against evil and to make Never Again a reality for the Jewish people.
I could sit here and stew, eventually allowing the invective in my head work its way through my hands on the keyboard, or I can thank you for just stating the simple truth.
“They” being …?
Hamas and the majority of Gaza. This is not Quantum Physics.
Read the Hamas Charter, it's not like "they" make a secret of it.
I wanted to see if the commenter distinguishes at all between Hamas and the general population. The snark is unimpressive.
Unimpressive but well-deserved.
Im so confused about history
Where else has it ever happened in world events that those that lose a war they start get to dictate the terms afterwards?
The arabs were a mixed population living in a territory jews living there called land of israel
British / french created different counties from the area ( jordan, syria, lebanon)
Jews were given a sliver for themselves. Arabs went crazy over that because they hate jews in their space
Tooo bad
Thanks for your comment & brief history lesson. Isn’t Gaza a concentration camp of sorts? I’m ignorant to much of this and looking for sources to help me understand why the Arabs stayed in Gaza. It’s my understanding that they can’t leave even though they are being told to move from their northern homes. Where are they to go?
Gaza is not a concentration camp at all. This is a lie. Gaza is a separate country. It has delineated borders (one with Israel and one with Egypt). The west border is the Mediterranean Sea. Gaza is made up of Palestinian Arabs, governed by Palestinian Arabs. There are no Jews and no Israelis in Gaza. Gaza is an independent Palestinian state. Hamas is the elected government. Hamas is responsible for providing all services including electricity and water. All the misfortune of the people of Gaza is the fault of Hamas. If you (Hamas) attack your neighbor (Israel), and your neighbor responds and your civilians die, it is your fault.
Thank you David. I appreciate your civil reply to my request for understanding. May I ask why then the border fencing with rolls of barbed wire atop? Who is keeping who in or out? Seems prison-like sadly
Gaza is far from a concentration camp. In the Nazi concentration camps or in Warsaw Ghetto, to which Gaza is sometimes also compared, there were no luxury shopping malls, no universities, no luxury hotels, no swimming pools, etc. Here is an article I wrote showing the Gaza Hamas doesn't want you to see:
https://www.israeldiaries.com/gaza-potential-singapore-held-hostage-hamas/
Thank you for sharing this and understanding that I’m trying to learn. Much appreciated
Arabs in Gaza are from Gaza. It's why Gaza was a part of the nascent nation of Palestine when the UN voted on the two state solution. Some Arabs, like the author of the other piece who left in 1988 and lives in NJ, didn't stay, however most Arab nations will not accept them. The sometimes too benevolent West does, though.
Hamas rules gaza not israel
Egypt wont open blockade of gaza because they know most of the population are terrorists
Israel left are 17 yrs ago but that would never stop leftists from criticizing them
Mea culpa; mea maxima culpa. I'll own it for England even if others would not.
Thank you.
I’m sorry to say this, but what did you think being a frontline solider was? Dressing up like a GI Joe? The fact that Jews and Israelis are hyper-sensitive to misconduct by the IDF reveals a willingness to see everyone else as our victims--an internalization of antisemitic double standards.
Last week we found out what it'd be like if Hamas patrolled the border fence and innocent Israelis lived on the other side. But, you know, at least they spared us the tear gas.
I don't think the hypersensitivity is about antisemitism as much as it is about the perception of Israel being in a position of absolute power and dominance and enjoying the backing of the evil US. In such a situation, the underdog gets the sympathy from the Left, even when it is undeserved. The Arabs/Iran are counting on a net gain of sympathy for their purposes after provoking a second Nakba through the atrocities we saw, reasoning that the discourse long-term will be about the leveling of Gaza and the killing of thousands of civilians by the IDF, not about what provoked it.
Unfortunately your final sentence above is exactly what's going to happen.
I agree with this assessment, but I was speaking more to a certain subconscious response to antisemitism which is to confirm other people's negative presumptions about Jews in exchange for their approval. Playing the "good Jew," basically. I'm not sure the author quite does that here, but it explains the tendency among a certain sect of Israeli society to obsess over the wrongs of the IDF. Any fair society should monitor its own wrongdoings, but amplifying them to the world to make yourself seem superior really rubs me the wrong way.
The author’s essay is similar to what an American soldiers in Afghanistan would have written. The desire for peace even when it appears absolutely impossible is because they are living or paid the cost of war. The huge difference in culture I.e. in Afghanistan villages women’s hands, ears, and noses are mutilated as punishment and a medic did not offer aid to a woman because his touch could dishonor her. Like the writer guarding the gate, there is behavior one cannot understand and then the immediate connection of two boys improvising a soccer game. Add to this “good Jew” or the “American values” that are the expectation of the people and politicians at home. In the US, it was Afghan girls going to school and democracy. Israel too thought that magically democracy with a two state solution would come to a society that continually demonstrated that they did not want it. Hopefully, soldiers can expect citizens to listen, understand, and appreciate that they served their country and did their duty and in the authors case returning to serve again. Maybe instead of denigrating remarks and demanding more from soldiers, we should expect better from ourselves, civilians and politicians.
So well said.
What we have here is an inteligence failure, a doozy. Didn't intelligence officers effectively go on strike recently, 'cos Bibi is Beliar Incarnate? 'This House will not fight for King or Country' was worth a Panzer Corps to the Third Reich.
Beautifully and humanely written. Thank you.
Oh yes, everything about the invasion and slaughter of Israelis says: "Let me have freedom. Trust me."
Tzahal pulled out, yanking "settlers" with them, and gave the keys to Gaza's "citizens". They were given their freedom, gave those keys to Hamas, and promptly started rocketing Israel. What concord has Yahweh with Beliar?
It is your dream. The dreams of those 8 year olds were to kill you and every other Jew in Israel. And that's why things are as they are.
Thank you for your honest writing. It is a terrible situation. You are doing what you can.
He is not doing what he can. He is in the USA writing fluff stories of dreams and pie in the sky.
That seems very unfair. He was a volunteer lone soldier in Israel. He came back for his education and returned when the war started to help in many ways as he stated. Most men do not volunteer for army service. That is to be admired.
I do, of course, respect him for volunteering for the army in Israel. My first love did the same, way back in the 1970s.
He was not in Tel Aviv raising money for the IDF when he wrote this piece and I commented on it. That was added sometimes later. I have no idea when and I only know about it because of your comment now. I do respect that as well. It still does not change my critique of his essay.
It actually says in the intro to the article that he returned to Israel at the start of the war. Secondly I know this young man and he tried to get back into the reserves when he returned and then stayed to help further. You can criticize whatever part of the article that you want, I am not even sure what you didn’t like - I just took issue with your statement that “he is not doing what he can”. He is doing more than most people.
If you are not sure what I did not like about his article, then I guess you did not read my original comment. In any case, perhaps I did miss the part about his coming back to Israel. And I do respect that. But his article is total fluff. I do not take that back.
The set of two articles, the first to come out of this newletter after the pogrom, was an example of bothsideism that I deplore. And his piece was, as I said, total fluff.
At 13 or 14 those children have likely been brainwashed.
They are brainwashed at 6. Fed hate their whole lives. and they multiply like rabbits. They have created a perfect society of disposable people.
Maybe - just maybe - if they stopped rioting and demonstrating and milling about, and started working and acting like normal, decent human beings, they could be happy and successful and not in a perpetual state of war with a nation that wants only to live in peace.
Jacob - you are doing G-d’s work. May he bless you and protect you as go back to Israel. Am Yisroel Chai!
Kol Hakavod Jacob. Until the Arabs stop educating their children to hate and kill Jews we will need brave soldiers to guard our borders. I lost a son who fought in Gaza in 2014.
I’m sorry for your loss 🙏😢
"I wondered what my life would have been like if I had been born on the other side of the fence. Would I have agreed with those who told me to wish for the death of another people?"
The answer is most definitely yes, Jacob. In fact, no one would need tell you to wish for the death of Israel and every Israeli. Just as in the case of Nazi Germany's Hitlerjugend, you would have been inculcated from infancy to strive for it, through exposure to Palestinian Authority children's television shows (for merely one example see the clip at https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-childrens-show-criminal-jews-plotting-replace-aqsa-with-temple-defend-until-last-drop-of-blood), and through government schools, much of it paid for by the largess of the EU, the UN, and even the U.S.
Very interesting. So part of the indoctrination is to claim certain things never existed, like Solomon’s temple.
Powerful words, “Today, they’re probably 13 or 14. How long does it take for those who were used as pawns to become the people moving the pieces?”
Hamas has published photos of the 13 and 14 year olds (and at least one boy looks about 10 or 11) in military training. If they’re dreaming of peace, it’s of the Muslim kind which means a world without non-believers, starting with the Jews
Very moving essay.
good luck