"...hopefully it will mean that Palestinians and Israelis can stop being metaphors for the political fantasies of Western activists and start to rebuild their real lives."
Thank you for another timely and insightful piece that sweeps away ambiguity and the deliberately disingenuous narrative of so much of the current media coverage.
Absolutely, I always advertise the guest writer's email in my foreword. Please DM me with your email, so that we can set up the guest post. Fighting this genocide lie has been my big issue from the beginning so there is a good fit here.
I'm assuming that the COI's report made no references whatsoever to the International Court of Justice's interim ruling on South Africa's application, issued January 26, 2024, which directed Hamas to release all hostages dragged into Gaza on October 7 "immediately and without condition" or that the ICJ has yet to make a ruling on the genocide charge itself.
Thank you for your thoughtful and meticulous analysis. Much here that I find personally troubling, having finally (and without any pleasure) described what has happened in Gaza as a "genocide" in social media commentary, largely on the basis of the reports which you reveal to be so flawed - as well as articles in the New York Times by scholars with apparant credibility (notably Omer Bartov) and the verdict of two Israeli human rights organisations. This is by far the most convincing rebutall of the genocide argument I have read - not in the sense that it proves that genocide has not occurred, but that it reveals, once again, that bad-faith actors have hijacked pro-Palestinian discourse and that institutions which should be neutral arbitrators are anything but. My concern, however, is that the manifest bias and hostility shown towards Israel per se be used as a justification for doubling down on support for a war which has resulted in an appalling amount of death and destruction, and - by the IDF´s own statistics, not mentioned here - a rate of civilian: Hamas fatalities of 5:1, as well as likely prolongued the terrible, unimaginable suffering of the hostages. I know that the purpose of this blog is to analyse the way in which antisemitism has infected public life and distorted commentary on Israel-Palestine, so perhaps it is unfair to expect you to broaden that critique to the conduct of the war itself. But it is extremely hard to conclude that the almost total annihilation of Gaza as a viable society and genocidal pronouncements on the part of Israel´s leadership following the despicable attacks of October 7th (certainly a war crime, possibly genocide itself) are unrelated, especially given what we know about the composition of the government. I would like to see more people who rightly critique the ideologically-driven hatred of so many (putative) supporters of the Palestinians take a more open stance on what you think has been happening in Gaza, without feeling that to do so is capitulate to people whose motivations are suspect. Shalom!
I'd like to be able to say, "Rubbish, who are you fooling, why are you so prejudiced and moronic?" but alas I can't. I have to go on experiencing the horror and trying not to be overcome by it.
"...hopefully it will mean that Palestinians and Israelis can stop being metaphors for the political fantasies of Western activists and start to rebuild their real lives."
This is perfectly put. Thank you.
And it took an 80 year old President to get this far. The UN is an affront to our eyes.
Thank God for Trump.
Thank you for another timely and insightful piece that sweeps away ambiguity and the deliberately disingenuous narrative of so much of the current media coverage.
Another great and sharp article!
Amen 🙏🏻
The Great Genocide Lie is one of the greatest libels of all time. Please can we reproduce this article on Guerre & Shalom.
Thanks Daniel - I'm happy for you to do that with a link to my Substack.
Absolutely, I always advertise the guest writer's email in my foreword. Please DM me with your email, so that we can set up the guest post. Fighting this genocide lie has been my big issue from the beginning so there is a good fit here.
I'm assuming that the COI's report made no references whatsoever to the International Court of Justice's interim ruling on South Africa's application, issued January 26, 2024, which directed Hamas to release all hostages dragged into Gaza on October 7 "immediately and without condition" or that the ICJ has yet to make a ruling on the genocide charge itself.
They and the UN are toast after the hostages are freed.
Thank you for your thoughtful and meticulous analysis. Much here that I find personally troubling, having finally (and without any pleasure) described what has happened in Gaza as a "genocide" in social media commentary, largely on the basis of the reports which you reveal to be so flawed - as well as articles in the New York Times by scholars with apparant credibility (notably Omer Bartov) and the verdict of two Israeli human rights organisations. This is by far the most convincing rebutall of the genocide argument I have read - not in the sense that it proves that genocide has not occurred, but that it reveals, once again, that bad-faith actors have hijacked pro-Palestinian discourse and that institutions which should be neutral arbitrators are anything but. My concern, however, is that the manifest bias and hostility shown towards Israel per se be used as a justification for doubling down on support for a war which has resulted in an appalling amount of death and destruction, and - by the IDF´s own statistics, not mentioned here - a rate of civilian: Hamas fatalities of 5:1, as well as likely prolongued the terrible, unimaginable suffering of the hostages. I know that the purpose of this blog is to analyse the way in which antisemitism has infected public life and distorted commentary on Israel-Palestine, so perhaps it is unfair to expect you to broaden that critique to the conduct of the war itself. But it is extremely hard to conclude that the almost total annihilation of Gaza as a viable society and genocidal pronouncements on the part of Israel´s leadership following the despicable attacks of October 7th (certainly a war crime, possibly genocide itself) are unrelated, especially given what we know about the composition of the government. I would like to see more people who rightly critique the ideologically-driven hatred of so many (putative) supporters of the Palestinians take a more open stance on what you think has been happening in Gaza, without feeling that to do so is capitulate to people whose motivations are suspect. Shalom!
I'd like to be able to say, "Rubbish, who are you fooling, why are you so prejudiced and moronic?" but alas I can't. I have to go on experiencing the horror and trying not to be overcome by it.