We must address a misrepresentation in the note preceding our film. The note falsely implies that we stated Jews were not an indigenous population in that region historically. This is completely inaccurate - we never made such a claim, neither in the film nor in person!.
The factual reality we presented is that for thousands of years, multiple indigenous populations have lived side by side in that land, including Jews, Arabs, Christians, and first and foremost the ancient Canaanites who are considered the original indigenous inhabitants that Arabs and Jews both descended from.
Our film and statements in no way denied or dismissed the indigenous roots of the Jewish people in that region. We explicitly acknowledged that Jews were one of the indigenous peoples who had inhabited that land for millennia alongside other indigenous groups.
The colonial Zionist movement of European Jews settling in historic Palestine and dispossessing the local Arab population and establishing an apartheid state is a separate issue from the indigenous status of Jews and other groups who had already been present.
Perpetuating misinformation on such a nuanced topic undermines efforts towards greater understanding of the complex history and demographics. We want to ensure the factual reality we aimed to convey in our film is properly represented.
Thanks for this comment, Maurizio. I specifically asked the writer about this interpretation before posting it. Having seen the film, which he found very moving, he felt it nonetheless implied that Jews were coming from elsewhere to oppress and colonize the "indigenous people" of the region. Afterall colonization is a strange word to use for what one indigenous group of people does to another. "Civil war" would be a better one. And using the word "apartheid state" -- well, that doesn't lend much to "efforts towards greater understanding of the complex history and demographics" either. Personally, I wish both groups a state of their own. Thus far, neither has shown much interest in that compromise, which was suggested by the British, among other people, in the 1940s.
Thank you Laura! I see now your lack of knowledge on the specific topic and appreciate your comment better based on that. But most of all I am sad you have NOT seen the film and felt the need to a make comment about it. Arab Jews have lived in the area forever, mostly in a balance with the other ethnicities. The Zioninst movement was created in Europe by European Jews and since their arrival in 1948 have dispossessed, abused, killed the local population as they state, according to their founders: "We wish to establish, in the shortest possible time, a Jewish state as America is American and Great Britain in British". There has never been a place for non Jews populations in the Zionist project. Better said, not an EQUAL space. Which leads to the apartheid state comment you made. To deny Israel is an apartheid state is a comment very few people (if any!) that has visited the area can make with a straight face. According to Merriam Webster, apartheid is: "a policy of segregation and political, social, and economic discrimination". I can name you so many facts proving this case, so many. Palestinians in the occupied territories have no right to travel without the Israeli military permission. Water in the West bank costs up to 30 (THIRTY!) times more for a Palestinian than for a settler. Palestinians are incapable, with these costs, to farm the land which is then confiscated by the Israeli government as abandoned land and donated to the settlers which receive, usually in 24 hrs, unlimited water and a road while the army protect them from the Palestinians whose land they have stolen. The occupied territory, specifically area C which comprises about 70% of the West Bank is a MILITARY zone, there is ONLY martial law that is applied but that is ONLY for Palestinians. A settlers has the full right for a trial in case of an issue. Why is that different? Isn't that a discrimination? But my favorite one is the "sterilized road" one. Do you know there are roads, mostly in Hebron, in which Arabs cannot walk on? Really! Is this not, in your book, segregation not to allow people to walk on certain streets in their own town based on their ethnicity???? https://www.eurasiareview.com/02122011-hebron-occupation-and-sterilization-oped/ I can go on and on forever. Please visit or talk to people that visited and, as a start, watch the film! You'll understand a lot if you will have the courage of doing that. Thank you for listening Laura and know i appreciate what you do in our community.
Hi Maurizio - I appreciate how passionate you are about this topic, but you should also know that I already knew every single fact you mentioned in the above comment. That is because I have been reading about this issue in a variety of publications across the political spectrum for the last 30 years. Nothing you have told me about the treatment of the Palestinians has surprised me. It’s a horror show. You left out (in your comment) the purposeful luring out of some Palestinian children to be shot by some Israeli soldiers. (Chris Hedges reportage). Bad things — horrible, wrong, and shameful things for which people need to be held accountable —happen in military situations—and that’s what the West Bank and now Gaza is. FYI I support an immediate ceasefire And a two-state solution. I don’t know how Gaza will ever be rebuilt— perhaps, with more oil state money – money that was previously used to build tunnels and buy guns and train desperate and deluded young men to rape and murder teenagers at a music festival and burn up old women in their homes. Now Israel is the one burning up people in their homes via bombing with US-supplied weapons — more modern, more deadly. What a mess.
Thank you Laura! You said: "And using the word "apartheid state" -- well, that doesn't lend much to "efforts towards greater understanding of the complex history and demographics" either" As you knew already about sterilized roads, water injustice, lack of a legal protection to a specific population will you explain me why the word Apartheid is not correct in this situation?
We are not even talking about Genocide, I am not asking you to admit to that publicly as I look for a common ground of understanding to build upon and not to create futher division. Based on the ( I assume agreed) definition of Apartheid can you agree that Israel is an apartheid state? And if not, can you explain me your reasons why it is not? If we agree on that we can then start building on a common ground, as international AND local communities, to find ways to stop injustice. Thank you again for all you do!
Apartheid and genocide are indeed hot button words. Apartheid suggests to me a form of mistreatment and segregation based on race. I don't think this is the case with Israel, as Arab citizens of Israel have full constitutional rights--in fact more rights than in most other countries of the Arab world. They may face discrimination in society, but that is a different thing than state-sponsored apartheid. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are, to my understanding, not citizens of Israel, therefore they don't have the rights of citizens. They have rights as human beings, however, and I won't defend their treatment by the government of Israel (often in league with right-wing settlers). It has been miserable. But it's not based on race. Israelis come in all races and colors. Therefore the word apartheid, a South African word from a time and a place where discrimination was explicitly based on race, seems to me to be the wrong word. It simply confuses the matter.
Attempts to physically separate Palestinians from Israelis (by walls and separate roads) are also not racially based and have to be seen in historical context. Israel is trying to protect its citizens from people who have often chosen to make political points by blowing themselves up on buses and going on stabbing sprees.
You can argue that Palestinians are doing this for good political reasons, but I ask you, how's that working out for them?
I will never defend the theft of water, the chopping down of orchards, harassment of the innocent--or the kind of total war that Israel is currently perpetrating in Gaza. This is simply evil.
I'll tackle the question of genocide later --- I have to get back to work.
Note, I'm not saying I approve of walls and separate roads. I'm saying I understand the reason. A better solution would be to come to a political solution that provides sovereignty and dignity for both peoples.
Thank you for this conversation. I hope and wish your reader will follow it but I doubt they will have a chance to do that.
You say: “Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are, to my understanding, not citizens of Israel, therefore they don't have the rights of citizens.” But… Why do Palestinians not have the rights of Israeli citizens? The Israeli government claims that these territories ARE Israel and 700,000 Israeli settlers in these territories vote and have all the rights as Israelis… Why is there a difference between a settler and a palestinian person living in the same, supposedly, Israeli, territory? Can only be described with one word: APARTHEID.
But let’s then assume the West Bank and Gaza are NOT Israel but an occupied territory.
If that is the case then, it is the settlers, who happen to be Israeli citizens supported by the army, who are forcing a regime of apartheid on the local population.
Any way you slice it it IS apartheid.
Please tell me where I am wrong or simply admit that Israel is an apartheid state AT LEAST in the occupied territories.
And, by the way, an Arab Israeli CANNOT walk on sterilized roads which makes your point of Arabs being treated equally as Israeli incorrect.
First of all THANK YOU Maurizio & Zaya Benazzo, for making this film AND for allowing your community to view it before releasing it to the world. It is a remarkably moving, and to my mind, accurate representation of what is happening to the Palestinians in the (yes) apartheid state of Israel. And second THANK YOU Maurizio for helping those who don't understand, to see that Zionism and Judaism are NOT the same. There are millions of anti-Zionist Jews in the world and thousands in the US. Many live in this county. I am beyond saddened that our government, aided by all forms of media, perpetuate the falsehoods of this tragic situation. Not to mention funding Israel with billions of dollars and weapons to murder, mostly innocent, Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Why the need for such atrocities from "the most moral army in the world?" Can you speak to that, Laura Hagar Rush? Would you just call it collateral damage? Or might it be genocide in the name of ethnic cleansing? PLEASE watch the film. I hope millions will in the coming weeks/months. While it deals mostly with events in the West Bank before October 7th, its basic premise applies to all Palestinians living in occupied territories. And PLEASE DO BETTER Sebastopol Times. You have the opportunity to present balance in the name of our shared humanity.
Did you watch the film? Wish to make sure this does not get buried as I strongly believe your audience should be informed and most of all that you make clear your position as we need loud voices and not mixed opinions in these important times for humanity.
I did watch your film and I really must commend you: it is gorgeous. The cinematography and the music are fantastic. You are so talented!! I found the message one-sided however--no mention of Hamas, of the Palestinian embrace and endorsement of terrorist violence (otherwise known as "resistance"), of the intentionally antisemitic schooling endured by all those children you captured so beautifully in your film. This didn't bother my husband, who got up and immediately donated money to you. I remain committed to the dream of a two-state solution--though that, like any solution, seems further away than ever at this moment. Do I think what Israel is doing in Gaza right now is genocide? Yes, I do. It is a disproportionate response to the crime of Oct. 7. On the other hand, Hamas is also committed to genocide--against the Jews. Something your film didn't mention.
Thank you for your answer. The film was shot in May 2022 in the West bank. Hamas is NOT present in that part of the world and that was before Oct 7th 2023. Hard to include them as nobody mentioned them. Not sure what you mean by "intentionally antisemitic schooling endured by all those children". Enough of this antisemitic propaganda. Anti ZIONISM is what we are talking about here. You see what the zionist regime is doing, you admitted it is apartheid AND genocide! A right wing Zionist regime is executing a genocide in front of our eyes. It's not the Jews doing it! Zionism has NOTHING to do with antisemitism. Judaism is NOT Zionism. Wanna talk to a local Rabbi???? Do you know who are the zionists in the USA? 11 Millions of them they are Evangelical Christians! Eleven Million!!!!! They are more than the WHOLE jews USA population! And these US zionists are, by definition ANTI jews, white supremacist, right wing people like the Proud Boys. You cannot be so naive or misinformed not to know that. I will be sincerely quite surprised... To say anti zionism means to be anti fascist, anti right wing white supremacy, NOT anti Jews! ONLY a zionist will try to sell you that convenient propaganda story which only a very uninformed and intellectually sloppy person will accept. I am sincerely amazed you are falling for that! Please check your sources! We are talking about really basic fundamentals here... Zionism is not judaism as much as Arabs are not Muslims... You aware of how many christian arabs are in the occupied territories? How many have been killed in Gaza? Heard of Bethlehem? Where is that located???? And these Christian are prosecuted as much as the muslims by the settlers and the IDF... It is not a Jews vs Muslim thing. It's a right wing, patriarcal, fascist regime vs people of color run by capitalistic goals of territorial domination. It is settler colonial capitalism at it's best and if that goes with impunity and will spread thanks to our silence and complacency "we" are next... :-)
And please thank your husband for the donation. :-)))))) ...and sincerely looking forward to our coffee conversation!!!! Love, Maurizio
Let's not pretend that Gaza and the West Bank have nothing to do with one another. I realize that Gaza is run by Hamas, and the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority, but that may be changing. In a recent Palestinian poll, "57% of respondents in Gaza and 82% in the West Bank believe Hamas was correct in launching the October attack." (https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-palestinians-opinion-poll-wartime-views-a0baade915619cd070b5393844bc4514) And Hamas is gaining in popularity in the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority is foundering. (Also I'm not surprised that the approval percentage from West Bank Palestinians is higher than that from Gaza, who have first hand experience of living under Hamas.)
I reject the narrative that this is a colonial struggle by people of color against white supremacists: 1) because Israel is multi-ethnic; and 2) because I don't believe in dividing the world into white and brown and then assigning guilt and innocence accordingly. The world is more complex than that. The Israel/Palestinian conflict is more complex than that.
I believe that the collapse of the Israeli Left is due directly to the ever-present threat of Palestinian violence. It has driven people rightward into a kind of tribal self-defense position.
And I give credit to your "we are next" sentiment, but in a different way than you meant. Islamist terrorist organizations (of which Hamas is an example) are a global threat--in Africa, in Europe, in India, in Indonesia, in America--and most of all in the Arab world, where they have subjugated whole populations (especially the female part of those populations).
One can decry Israel's treatment of the Palestinians (as I do)--both before this current war and during it--without aligning oneself with an Islamist terror organization and chanting, as some deluded college students have, for a global intifada. I'm not saying you do this, by the way. You view the conflict through a classically Marxist lens. I would point out, however, the sad fate of Marxists in Islamist-run societies. They are the first to go.
Also, I am totally clear on the weird turn of events that has the American Right (evangelical Christians in particular) becoming the strongest supporters of Israel. I doubt the Jews are fooled by this, however, since the logic is based on a Christian end times philosophy that has Jews burning in Hell in the end. (With friends like these, who needs enemies?)
OUCH... :-) Looking forward to share a cup of coffee with you but I simply wish to point out to you that your remarks are a bit (to say the least) islamophobic and aligned to western colonial (by Hollywood and media) propaganda depicting the Arabs ready to kill you as you turn your back on them and is, in many circles, considered racist. I am sure you did not mean it that way but let me point that... " 1) because Israel is multi-ethnic" Israel is NOT multiethnic by the definition of their zionist manifest, and all government as it has an agenda to be a fully Jewish society. It is multiethnic IF you are a jews of color and even then you will be treated as a minority. Please explore the Ethiopian jews experience! It has a "facade" of democracy but it is not a multiethnic democracy. Long conversation there... your number 2) actually scares me as well. "2) because I don't believe in dividing the world into white and brown and then assigning guilt and innocence accordingly." Only a white privileged person will state that, as guilt is only a response to the discomfort arising when we look at the inequality and injustice inflicted from our western racist colonial society toward the brown and black bodies.
So, loooooots to say on every angle... I think it is time for coffee to find our common ground ... :-)))) With love, M
You have a bad habit, common on the Left, of name-calling. I am neither racist or Islamophobic or a colonialist, nor do I harbor any prejudiced feelings about Arabs. None. They are just people, like everyone else--a lesson I learned early growing up with people of all colors in Los Angeles. I am not sure we have much common ground, politically at least, because I can tell by your language that you're in a pretty tight ideological box. But still up for coffee.
:-)))))) You'll be surprised by my ideological tightness when we speak... As an Italian I tend to say what i think and personally like to push to expose incongruent thoughts when i feel them as much as i like to receive the same courtesy. Anyway... Will call you in a minute to see if coffee is an option today. We finished our 21 days conversation series and celebrated Ashira's birthday on Sunday at our home. I can now surely share a good minute to finally meet and once more know i appreciate our conversation and look froward to the coffee!
Dear Editor,
We must address a misrepresentation in the note preceding our film. The note falsely implies that we stated Jews were not an indigenous population in that region historically. This is completely inaccurate - we never made such a claim, neither in the film nor in person!.
The factual reality we presented is that for thousands of years, multiple indigenous populations have lived side by side in that land, including Jews, Arabs, Christians, and first and foremost the ancient Canaanites who are considered the original indigenous inhabitants that Arabs and Jews both descended from.
Our film and statements in no way denied or dismissed the indigenous roots of the Jewish people in that region. We explicitly acknowledged that Jews were one of the indigenous peoples who had inhabited that land for millennia alongside other indigenous groups.
The colonial Zionist movement of European Jews settling in historic Palestine and dispossessing the local Arab population and establishing an apartheid state is a separate issue from the indigenous status of Jews and other groups who had already been present.
Perpetuating misinformation on such a nuanced topic undermines efforts towards greater understanding of the complex history and demographics. We want to ensure the factual reality we aimed to convey in our film is properly represented.
Thank you!
Maurizio Benazzo
Thanks for this comment, Maurizio. I specifically asked the writer about this interpretation before posting it. Having seen the film, which he found very moving, he felt it nonetheless implied that Jews were coming from elsewhere to oppress and colonize the "indigenous people" of the region. Afterall colonization is a strange word to use for what one indigenous group of people does to another. "Civil war" would be a better one. And using the word "apartheid state" -- well, that doesn't lend much to "efforts towards greater understanding of the complex history and demographics" either. Personally, I wish both groups a state of their own. Thus far, neither has shown much interest in that compromise, which was suggested by the British, among other people, in the 1940s.
Thank you Laura! I see now your lack of knowledge on the specific topic and appreciate your comment better based on that. But most of all I am sad you have NOT seen the film and felt the need to a make comment about it. Arab Jews have lived in the area forever, mostly in a balance with the other ethnicities. The Zioninst movement was created in Europe by European Jews and since their arrival in 1948 have dispossessed, abused, killed the local population as they state, according to their founders: "We wish to establish, in the shortest possible time, a Jewish state as America is American and Great Britain in British". There has never been a place for non Jews populations in the Zionist project. Better said, not an EQUAL space. Which leads to the apartheid state comment you made. To deny Israel is an apartheid state is a comment very few people (if any!) that has visited the area can make with a straight face. According to Merriam Webster, apartheid is: "a policy of segregation and political, social, and economic discrimination". I can name you so many facts proving this case, so many. Palestinians in the occupied territories have no right to travel without the Israeli military permission. Water in the West bank costs up to 30 (THIRTY!) times more for a Palestinian than for a settler. Palestinians are incapable, with these costs, to farm the land which is then confiscated by the Israeli government as abandoned land and donated to the settlers which receive, usually in 24 hrs, unlimited water and a road while the army protect them from the Palestinians whose land they have stolen. The occupied territory, specifically area C which comprises about 70% of the West Bank is a MILITARY zone, there is ONLY martial law that is applied but that is ONLY for Palestinians. A settlers has the full right for a trial in case of an issue. Why is that different? Isn't that a discrimination? But my favorite one is the "sterilized road" one. Do you know there are roads, mostly in Hebron, in which Arabs cannot walk on? Really! Is this not, in your book, segregation not to allow people to walk on certain streets in their own town based on their ethnicity???? https://www.eurasiareview.com/02122011-hebron-occupation-and-sterilization-oped/ I can go on and on forever. Please visit or talk to people that visited and, as a start, watch the film! You'll understand a lot if you will have the courage of doing that. Thank you for listening Laura and know i appreciate what you do in our community.
Hi Maurizio - I appreciate how passionate you are about this topic, but you should also know that I already knew every single fact you mentioned in the above comment. That is because I have been reading about this issue in a variety of publications across the political spectrum for the last 30 years. Nothing you have told me about the treatment of the Palestinians has surprised me. It’s a horror show. You left out (in your comment) the purposeful luring out of some Palestinian children to be shot by some Israeli soldiers. (Chris Hedges reportage). Bad things — horrible, wrong, and shameful things for which people need to be held accountable —happen in military situations—and that’s what the West Bank and now Gaza is. FYI I support an immediate ceasefire And a two-state solution. I don’t know how Gaza will ever be rebuilt— perhaps, with more oil state money – money that was previously used to build tunnels and buy guns and train desperate and deluded young men to rape and murder teenagers at a music festival and burn up old women in their homes. Now Israel is the one burning up people in their homes via bombing with US-supplied weapons — more modern, more deadly. What a mess.
Thank you Laura! You said: "And using the word "apartheid state" -- well, that doesn't lend much to "efforts towards greater understanding of the complex history and demographics" either" As you knew already about sterilized roads, water injustice, lack of a legal protection to a specific population will you explain me why the word Apartheid is not correct in this situation?
We are not even talking about Genocide, I am not asking you to admit to that publicly as I look for a common ground of understanding to build upon and not to create futher division. Based on the ( I assume agreed) definition of Apartheid can you agree that Israel is an apartheid state? And if not, can you explain me your reasons why it is not? If we agree on that we can then start building on a common ground, as international AND local communities, to find ways to stop injustice. Thank you again for all you do!
Apartheid and genocide are indeed hot button words. Apartheid suggests to me a form of mistreatment and segregation based on race. I don't think this is the case with Israel, as Arab citizens of Israel have full constitutional rights--in fact more rights than in most other countries of the Arab world. They may face discrimination in society, but that is a different thing than state-sponsored apartheid. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are, to my understanding, not citizens of Israel, therefore they don't have the rights of citizens. They have rights as human beings, however, and I won't defend their treatment by the government of Israel (often in league with right-wing settlers). It has been miserable. But it's not based on race. Israelis come in all races and colors. Therefore the word apartheid, a South African word from a time and a place where discrimination was explicitly based on race, seems to me to be the wrong word. It simply confuses the matter.
Attempts to physically separate Palestinians from Israelis (by walls and separate roads) are also not racially based and have to be seen in historical context. Israel is trying to protect its citizens from people who have often chosen to make political points by blowing themselves up on buses and going on stabbing sprees.
You can argue that Palestinians are doing this for good political reasons, but I ask you, how's that working out for them?
I will never defend the theft of water, the chopping down of orchards, harassment of the innocent--or the kind of total war that Israel is currently perpetrating in Gaza. This is simply evil.
I'll tackle the question of genocide later --- I have to get back to work.
Note, I'm not saying I approve of walls and separate roads. I'm saying I understand the reason. A better solution would be to come to a political solution that provides sovereignty and dignity for both peoples.
Thank you for this conversation. I hope and wish your reader will follow it but I doubt they will have a chance to do that.
You say: “Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are, to my understanding, not citizens of Israel, therefore they don't have the rights of citizens.” But… Why do Palestinians not have the rights of Israeli citizens? The Israeli government claims that these territories ARE Israel and 700,000 Israeli settlers in these territories vote and have all the rights as Israelis… Why is there a difference between a settler and a palestinian person living in the same, supposedly, Israeli, territory? Can only be described with one word: APARTHEID.
But let’s then assume the West Bank and Gaza are NOT Israel but an occupied territory.
If that is the case then, it is the settlers, who happen to be Israeli citizens supported by the army, who are forcing a regime of apartheid on the local population.
Any way you slice it it IS apartheid.
Please tell me where I am wrong or simply admit that Israel is an apartheid state AT LEAST in the occupied territories.
And, by the way, an Arab Israeli CANNOT walk on sterilized roads which makes your point of Arabs being treated equally as Israeli incorrect.
Looking forward to your response.
Love, Maurizio
Thanks for emphasizing the Jews are indigenous to the Israeli area.
They are, but AS Arabs and Christians are. Wish to be clear... :-) They are not the only one...
First of all THANK YOU Maurizio & Zaya Benazzo, for making this film AND for allowing your community to view it before releasing it to the world. It is a remarkably moving, and to my mind, accurate representation of what is happening to the Palestinians in the (yes) apartheid state of Israel. And second THANK YOU Maurizio for helping those who don't understand, to see that Zionism and Judaism are NOT the same. There are millions of anti-Zionist Jews in the world and thousands in the US. Many live in this county. I am beyond saddened that our government, aided by all forms of media, perpetuate the falsehoods of this tragic situation. Not to mention funding Israel with billions of dollars and weapons to murder, mostly innocent, Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Why the need for such atrocities from "the most moral army in the world?" Can you speak to that, Laura Hagar Rush? Would you just call it collateral damage? Or might it be genocide in the name of ethnic cleansing? PLEASE watch the film. I hope millions will in the coming weeks/months. While it deals mostly with events in the West Bank before October 7th, its basic premise applies to all Palestinians living in occupied territories. And PLEASE DO BETTER Sebastopol Times. You have the opportunity to present balance in the name of our shared humanity.
Did you watch the film? Wish to make sure this does not get buried as I strongly believe your audience should be informed and most of all that you make clear your position as we need loud voices and not mixed opinions in these important times for humanity.
BTW, we had a panel about journalism in one of our 21 talk on Palestine and this was said: https://www.facebook.com/ScienceAndNonduality/videos/8191151154250761
I did watch your film and I really must commend you: it is gorgeous. The cinematography and the music are fantastic. You are so talented!! I found the message one-sided however--no mention of Hamas, of the Palestinian embrace and endorsement of terrorist violence (otherwise known as "resistance"), of the intentionally antisemitic schooling endured by all those children you captured so beautifully in your film. This didn't bother my husband, who got up and immediately donated money to you. I remain committed to the dream of a two-state solution--though that, like any solution, seems further away than ever at this moment. Do I think what Israel is doing in Gaza right now is genocide? Yes, I do. It is a disproportionate response to the crime of Oct. 7. On the other hand, Hamas is also committed to genocide--against the Jews. Something your film didn't mention.
Thank you for your answer. The film was shot in May 2022 in the West bank. Hamas is NOT present in that part of the world and that was before Oct 7th 2023. Hard to include them as nobody mentioned them. Not sure what you mean by "intentionally antisemitic schooling endured by all those children". Enough of this antisemitic propaganda. Anti ZIONISM is what we are talking about here. You see what the zionist regime is doing, you admitted it is apartheid AND genocide! A right wing Zionist regime is executing a genocide in front of our eyes. It's not the Jews doing it! Zionism has NOTHING to do with antisemitism. Judaism is NOT Zionism. Wanna talk to a local Rabbi???? Do you know who are the zionists in the USA? 11 Millions of them they are Evangelical Christians! Eleven Million!!!!! They are more than the WHOLE jews USA population! And these US zionists are, by definition ANTI jews, white supremacist, right wing people like the Proud Boys. You cannot be so naive or misinformed not to know that. I will be sincerely quite surprised... To say anti zionism means to be anti fascist, anti right wing white supremacy, NOT anti Jews! ONLY a zionist will try to sell you that convenient propaganda story which only a very uninformed and intellectually sloppy person will accept. I am sincerely amazed you are falling for that! Please check your sources! We are talking about really basic fundamentals here... Zionism is not judaism as much as Arabs are not Muslims... You aware of how many christian arabs are in the occupied territories? How many have been killed in Gaza? Heard of Bethlehem? Where is that located???? And these Christian are prosecuted as much as the muslims by the settlers and the IDF... It is not a Jews vs Muslim thing. It's a right wing, patriarcal, fascist regime vs people of color run by capitalistic goals of territorial domination. It is settler colonial capitalism at it's best and if that goes with impunity and will spread thanks to our silence and complacency "we" are next... :-)
And please thank your husband for the donation. :-)))))) ...and sincerely looking forward to our coffee conversation!!!! Love, Maurizio
Let's not pretend that Gaza and the West Bank have nothing to do with one another. I realize that Gaza is run by Hamas, and the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority, but that may be changing. In a recent Palestinian poll, "57% of respondents in Gaza and 82% in the West Bank believe Hamas was correct in launching the October attack." (https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-palestinians-opinion-poll-wartime-views-a0baade915619cd070b5393844bc4514) And Hamas is gaining in popularity in the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority is foundering. (Also I'm not surprised that the approval percentage from West Bank Palestinians is higher than that from Gaza, who have first hand experience of living under Hamas.)
I reject the narrative that this is a colonial struggle by people of color against white supremacists: 1) because Israel is multi-ethnic; and 2) because I don't believe in dividing the world into white and brown and then assigning guilt and innocence accordingly. The world is more complex than that. The Israel/Palestinian conflict is more complex than that.
I believe that the collapse of the Israeli Left is due directly to the ever-present threat of Palestinian violence. It has driven people rightward into a kind of tribal self-defense position.
And I give credit to your "we are next" sentiment, but in a different way than you meant. Islamist terrorist organizations (of which Hamas is an example) are a global threat--in Africa, in Europe, in India, in Indonesia, in America--and most of all in the Arab world, where they have subjugated whole populations (especially the female part of those populations).
One can decry Israel's treatment of the Palestinians (as I do)--both before this current war and during it--without aligning oneself with an Islamist terror organization and chanting, as some deluded college students have, for a global intifada. I'm not saying you do this, by the way. You view the conflict through a classically Marxist lens. I would point out, however, the sad fate of Marxists in Islamist-run societies. They are the first to go.
Also, I am totally clear on the weird turn of events that has the American Right (evangelical Christians in particular) becoming the strongest supporters of Israel. I doubt the Jews are fooled by this, however, since the logic is based on a Christian end times philosophy that has Jews burning in Hell in the end. (With friends like these, who needs enemies?)
OUCH... :-) Looking forward to share a cup of coffee with you but I simply wish to point out to you that your remarks are a bit (to say the least) islamophobic and aligned to western colonial (by Hollywood and media) propaganda depicting the Arabs ready to kill you as you turn your back on them and is, in many circles, considered racist. I am sure you did not mean it that way but let me point that... " 1) because Israel is multi-ethnic" Israel is NOT multiethnic by the definition of their zionist manifest, and all government as it has an agenda to be a fully Jewish society. It is multiethnic IF you are a jews of color and even then you will be treated as a minority. Please explore the Ethiopian jews experience! It has a "facade" of democracy but it is not a multiethnic democracy. Long conversation there... your number 2) actually scares me as well. "2) because I don't believe in dividing the world into white and brown and then assigning guilt and innocence accordingly." Only a white privileged person will state that, as guilt is only a response to the discomfort arising when we look at the inequality and injustice inflicted from our western racist colonial society toward the brown and black bodies.
So, loooooots to say on every angle... I think it is time for coffee to find our common ground ... :-)))) With love, M
You have a bad habit, common on the Left, of name-calling. I am neither racist or Islamophobic or a colonialist, nor do I harbor any prejudiced feelings about Arabs. None. They are just people, like everyone else--a lesson I learned early growing up with people of all colors in Los Angeles. I am not sure we have much common ground, politically at least, because I can tell by your language that you're in a pretty tight ideological box. But still up for coffee.
:-)))))) You'll be surprised by my ideological tightness when we speak... As an Italian I tend to say what i think and personally like to push to expose incongruent thoughts when i feel them as much as i like to receive the same courtesy. Anyway... Will call you in a minute to see if coffee is an option today. We finished our 21 days conversation series and celebrated Ashira's birthday on Sunday at our home. I can now surely share a good minute to finally meet and once more know i appreciate our conversation and look froward to the coffee!