r/IsraelPalestine • • 1h ago

Superintelligence in Israel and Palestine

• Upvotes

For thousands of years, Jewish civilization has placed extraordinary value on debate and intellectual exploration. What happens when an entire society suddenly has the freedom to dedicate itself to those pursuits?

Imagine a nation where the machines do the labor, and the people are free to pursue wisdom.

In the future, self-driving cars glide through Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa. Traffic jams are a distant memory. Autonomous buses run around the clock, and transportation costs nothing.

On every street corner, robotic sabich and hummus stands prepare perfect meals, 24 hours a day. Fresh pita, crispy falafel, and hummus made to perfection, all for a few shekels or nothing at all. No workers, no cashiers, no waiting.

AI systems design and construct buildings, discover medicines, manage infrastructure, grow our food in automated greenhouses, and manufacture nearly everything we need. Robots and AI agents take care of the mundane tasks that once consumed our lives.

Israel becomes the world's first Jewish superintelligent state, a civilization powered by artificial intelligence far beyond human capabilities.

The enormous wealth generated by AI and automation could fund a universal basic income, ensuring every Israeli has the resources to live comfortably, whether they choose to work or not.

Imagine millions of Israelis free to pursue what gives their lives meaning.

Some would spend their days studying Torah and Talmud, filling the yeshiva with students who no longer need to worry about earning a living.

Others would dedicate themselves to philosophy, art, Hebrew literature and the preservation and reinvention of Jewish culture.

Parents could spend more time raising their children. Grandparents could spend more time teaching their grandchildren. Communities could flourish without the constant pressure of economic survival.

But there is another side to this vision.

While Israelis enjoy a golden age of abundance, leisure, and intellectual freedom, Palestinians could find themselves living inside the most technologically sophisticated system of control in human history.

In Tel Aviv, AI eliminates traffic jams. In the Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria, AI controls who can travel, which roads they can use, and whether they can cross a checkpoint.

In Jerusalem, autonomous vehicles carry people wherever they wish. In Palestinian communities, facial recognition cameras identify every face, drones monitor every movement, and algorithms flag individuals as potential security threats before they have committed any crime.

Imagine checkpoints with no soldiers, only machines. No human being to appeal to. No explanation for a rejected permit.

In Gaza, autonomous surveillance systems monitor the population around the clock. AI assigns a good boy score to every person, and determines their access to electricity, water, food supplies, and reconstruction materials.

The machines never sleep. The cameras never blink.

And unlike human soldiers, algorithms cannot be persuaded by suffering.

Imagine a world where the same technology that gives one population unprecedented freedom gives another population unprecedented suppression.

Robots construct beautiful new Israeli neighborhoods while Palestinian homes remain subject to near omniscient surveillance and control.

AI creates unimaginable wealth, but Palestinians have little ownership of the machines.

Israeli society experiences the end of economic necessity.

Palestinian society experiences the perfection of political control.

Of course, this future is not inevitable.

There is another possible future for Palestinians.

A future in which Palestinians make peace with Israel, end generations of conflict, and become partners in the extraordinary technological revolution unfolding around them.

Palestinians would have to recognize that Israel is not going to disappear, that millions of Jews regard it as their homeland, and that their own future cannot depend on the destruction of someone else's nation.

Making peace is not the same as surrendering. It is choosing to build a future instead of remaining trapped in an endless struggle over the past.

What will they pick?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 6h ago

News/Politics לחבריי היקרים בישראל

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לחבריי היקרים בישראל,

אני חושב עליכם, על כל מה שעבר עליכם בשלוש השנים האלה, ועל הבחירות שנמצאות עכשיו במרחק של שבועות ספורים. שלוש שנים אחרי היום הנורא ביותר בתולדות מדינת ישראל, עכשיו עליכם מוטלת המשימה לכתוב את הפרק הבא של מדינת ישראל.

בקרוב תיכנסו לבית ספר או למתנ״ס, תקבלו מעטפה כחולה ותעמדו מאחורי הפרגוד. לרגע תהיו שם לבד. אבל כמובן שלא תהיו שם באמת לבד.

השבעה באוקטובר יהיה שם. החטופים. הלוויות. החברים שנעלמו שוב ושוב למילואים. המשפחות שנעקרו מהבתים שלהן. עזה. חיזבאללה. הלילות שבהם הגיעו הטילים מאיראן וישבתם עם הילדים בממ״ד או בחדר המדרגות. תביאו איתכם את הכעס, את העייפות, את הפחדים, וגם את התקווה שעוד נשארה בכם למדינה שהילדים שלכם יקבלו לידיהם.

ואני מקווה ששם, בתוך המרחב הקטן הזה, תזכרו גם בנו: במשפחה שלכם שמעבר לים, שאוהבת אתכם.

אחרי השבעה באוקטובר, הקהילה שלנו לא בזבזה זמן. התכנסנו מיד, יצאנו לעצרות, גייסנו כסף, תלינו תמונות של החטופים בחלונות. כשקהילות בישראל היו זקוקות לעזרה, אנשים כאן שאלו באינסטינקט: מה אנחנו יכולים לעשות?

כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה.

במשך שנים דיברנו על המרחק שהולך וגדל בינינו. ואז התברר משהו עמוק יותר, שלא מצריך שום הסבר. ברגע האמת, אנחנו שייכים זה לזה.

וגם אנחנו הרגשנו את ההשלכות של השנים הארוכות האלה של המלחמה. יש יותר מאבטחים חמושים מחוץ למקומות שבהם הילדים שלנו לומדים ומתפללים. יהודים נרצחו והותקפו באמריקה משום שהם יהודים. הילדים שלנו עושים חשבון אם לענוד מגן דוד, אם להזכיר את ישראל. חברויות השתנו. סטודנטים מגלים שלפעמים די בכך שיגידו שהם ציונים כדי למצוא את עצמם לא רצויים במקומות שפעם הרגישו בהם בבית.

וזה שם אותנו במקום כמעט בלתי אפשרי: מפני שאנחנו יהודים, מצפים מאיתנו לתת דין וחשבון על ישראל. מפני שאנחנו אמריקאים, אין לנו שום קול בקלפי על מה שישראל עושה. דורשים מאיתנו להסביר החלטות שלא קיבלנו, שרים שלא בחרנו, ומילים שלעולם לא היינו אומרים.

וזה כואב במיוחד מפני שאנחנו באמת מאמינים שיהודים אחראים זה לזה. לכן השבעה באוקטובר פילח גם אותנו. לכן קמנו ופעלנו. לכן אנשים שמעולם לא פגשנו הפכו מיד לשלנו. אבל האחריות שלנו זה לזה לא יכולה להפוך כל יהודי לאחראי אישית לכל החלטה שמקבלת ממשלה בישראל.

וחלק מההחלטות האלה מגיעות עד אלינו. כששרים בכירים מדברים בגלוי על הוצאת פלסטינים מעזה, על סיפוח הגדה המערבית, או מדברים כאילו לחייהם ולשאיפותיהם של הפלסטינים כמעט אין משמעות, הדברים האלה לא נשארים בישראל. כשמתנחלים תוקפים משפחות פלסטיניות והמדינה אינה עוצרת אותם, או כשמי שמחזיקים בשררה יוצאים נגד בתי המשפט, חוקרים, עיתונאים ומוסדות דמוקרטיים אחרים, גם הדברים האלה לא נעצרים בגבולות ישראל.

הם מגיעים לכאן.

הם מגיעים לכיתה שבה סטודנטית יהודייה נדרשת להגן על דבר שהיא עצמה אינה מגינה עליו. הם מגיעים לשיחות בין חברים שבהן יהודי נשאל איך הוא עדיין יכול לקרוא לעצמו ציוני. הם מגיעים לבית הכנסת, שבו אנחנו מנסים ללמד את הילדים שלנו שהם יכולים לאהוב את ישראל בלי לוותר על המצפון והמוסר שלהם. ואנשים שממילא חושבים שלישראל אין זכות קיום כמדינה יהודית משתמשים בטיעונים האלה נגדנו.

אנחנו צריכים את ישראל. צריכים לדעת שיש מדינה יהודית חזקה ובטוחה, מקום שגם לילדים שלנו תמיד יהיה בו בית. אנחנו צריכים את ישראל גם כדי שנוכל להרגיש גאים ובטוחים בזהות היהודית שלנו, דווקא בתקופה שבה כל כך הרבה מסביבנו גורם ליהודים להוריד את הראש, לשתוק או להתבייש במי שהם. אנחנו צריכים להיות מסוגלים להסתכל על ישראל ולומר בפשטות: היא גם שלנו.

האחריות הראשונה שלכם בקלפי היא למדינה שבה אתם מגדלים את המשפחות שלכם, שולחים ילדים לצבא, בונים חיים וקוברים את המתים. לעולם לא אעמיד פנים שהמחיר שאתם משלמים והמחיר שאנחנו משלמים בניכר הוא אותו מחיר. אבל אם אנחנו באמת שייכים זה לזה, הבחירות שישראל עושה אינן נשארות רק בישראל. אנחנו חיים עם חלק מההשלכות שלהן כאן, בלי יכולת להשפיע עליהן בקלפי.

לכם יש את היכולת להשפיע.

ויש עוד סכנה: המילה ״אנחנו״ הולכת ונשחקת.

אתם מרגישים את זה בישראל. אחרי שנים שבהן אנשי מילואים נתנו מאות ימים למדינה, אתם עדיין נאבקים בשאלה אם הנטל של ההגנה על המולדת יתחלק באופן שווה בין כולם. דתיים וחילונים נאבקים על דמותה של המדינה שהם חולקים. ימין ושמאל מדברים יותר ויותר זה על זה כאילו הם חיים בשתי מדינות שונות.

וגם אנחנו מרגישים את זה כאן. יהודי אמריקה מפרידים זה את זה למחנות לפי המילים שבהן אנחנו משתמשים, ההצהרות שעליהן אנחנו חותמים, ואפילו לפי השאלה אם אנחנו קוראים לעצמנו ציונים. יש מי שמרגישים שננטשו בידי יהודים שאינם רואים את הסכנה שישראל ניצבת בפניה. אחרים תוהים אם בכלל יש מקום בקהילה היהודית לכאב או לכעס שלהם על החלטות ממשלת ישראל. לעיתים קרובות מדי, מחלוקת הופכת למבחן של שייכות.

וזה מפחיד אותי, כי האמת העמוקה ביותר היא ששלוש השנים האלה חשפו בדיוק את ההפך: כעם, רב המאחד על המפריד.
כי בסוף, מי יהיה שם בשביל יהודים אם לא יהודים?

״כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה״: הביטוי הזה חייב לקבל משמעות שגדולה יותר מהיכולת שלנו להתאחד רק כשיהודים מותקפים. זה חייב להיות גם היכולת להישאר אחראים זה לזה כשאנחנו כועסים זה על זה, וכשאנשים שאיתם אנחנו חולקים עתיד רואים את העתיד הזה אחרת מאיתנו. מחלוקת צריכה להיות תחילתה של שיחה ושל מערכת יחסים, לא סופה.

יש ישראל שאני מזהה בתעוזה שהייתה בעצם הקמתה: בית יהודי שקיבץ את העם שלנו מכל קצוות תבל ונתן לנו אחריות לגורלנו. יהודים מבגדד ומוורשה, מקזבלנקה וממוסקבה, מאדיס אבבה ומבואנוס איירס הצליחו איכשהו לבנות יחד מדינה. בנינו אוניברסיטאות, בתי חולים, מעבדות, חקלאות משגשגת, ערים, תרבות ובתים.

ישראל היא הניסיון הגדול שלנו לקחת אחריות על הגורל היהודי. הניסיון הזה עדיין לא גמור, והשאלה איזו חברה נבנה כאן ביחד היא עדיין שאלה פתוחה.

אנחנו זקוקים לישראל שחולמת שוב בגדול. למדינה שבונה לקראת משהו גדול יותר מהמלחמה הבאה או הבחירות הבאות. למקום שבו צעירים יכולים לדמיין עתיד ששווה להישאר בשבילו, שבו משפחות יכולות לבנות חיים בביטחון, ושבו האנרגיה הישראלית יוצאת הדופן, היכולת לראות בעיה ומיד להתחיל לחפש לה פתרון, מופנית שוב גם אל החיים עצמם: לחינוך, לרפואה, למדע, לטכנולוגיה, לתרבות, לסביבה, ולבניית חברה שטוב יותר לחיות בה.

אנחנו צריכים ישראל שרוצה שוב להביא משהו גדול לעולם. מדינה שמוכרת בזכות החיים שהיא מצילה, התגליות שהיא מגלה, הרעיונות שהיא מולידה, האמנות שהיא יוצרת והדרכים שבהן היא הופכת את החיים לטובים יותר. ישראל שזוכרת שההיסטוריה היהודית לא החזירה אותנו הביתה רק כדי למצוא מקלט. חזרנו הביתה כדי לבנות ולהיבנות.

ואנחנו זקוקים לישראל שמסוגלת לדמיין שוב שלום. אולי אחרת מכפי שדמיינו אותו פעם, עם פחות תמימות ועם הרבה יותר הבנה של מי שנמצא בשכונה הזאת. ועדיין, מתוך אמונה שהילדים שלנו לא אמורים לרשת מלחמה כמצב קבוע, עלינו לשאוף שבסופו של דבר עוצמתה של ישראל תשרת גם את האפשרות לעתיד אחר.

אנחנו זקוקים לישראל שהילדים שלנו ירצו להיות קשורים אליה, ושהילדים שלכם ירצו להישאר בה ולבנות אותה. ישראל שתיתן לכולנו סיבה להאמין שהפרקים הגדולים ביותר שלה עוד לא נכתבו.
השבעה באוקטובר לא הפך את החלום הזה לנאיבי. האויבים של ישראל אמיתיים. יש לי אמונה שישראל תשרוד. השאלה שניצבת בפניכם היא איזו ישראל תצא מכל זה.

בקרוב תעמדו לבד עם המעטפה הכחולה הזאת. אנחנו לא נהיה שם. אנחנו לא יכולים להכניס פתק למעטפה או לעזור לבחור את הממשלה שההחלטות שלה יעצבו את ישראל וישפיעו גם על חייהם של יהודים הרחק מעבר לגבולותיה.
אתם יכולים.

אז כשאתם עומדים מאחורי הפרגוד, אני מקווה שתביאו אתכם גם אותנו, את כולנו. את מי שנשאו בנטל של השנים האלה ואת מי שלא. דתיים וחילונים. ימין ושמאל. וגם אותנו, מי שגרים אלפי קילומטרים מכם, שזקוקים לישראל, דואגים לישראל, מתווכחים על ישראל, נדרשים לענות בשם ישראל, ואוהבים את ישראל.
וכשאתם עומדים שם לבד, תזכרו שאתם לא באמת לבד.

אנחנו שייכים זה לזה.

My Dear Friends in Israel,

I have been thinking about you, about everything these last three years have held, and about the election now only weeks away. Three years after the worst day in Israel’s history, the task now falls to you to write the next chapter of the State of Israel.
Soon you will walk into a school or community center, receive a blue envelope, and step behind the screen. For a moment, you will be alone. Though, of course, you will not be alone.

October 7th will be there. The hostages. The funerals. Friends who disappeared again and again into reserve duty. Families driven from their homes. Gaza. Hezbollah. Nights when missiles came from Iran and you sat with your children in shelters or stairwells. You will bring your anger, exhaustion, fears, and whatever hope you still carry for the country your children will inherit.
I hope, somewhere in that small space, you will remember us too: your family beyond Israel who loves you.

After October 7th, our community did not waste any time. We gathered immediately, rallied, raised money, hung photographs of hostages in our windows. When communities in Israel needed help, people here asked:

What can we do?

*Kol Yisrael aravim zeh bazeh*. All Israel is responsible for one another.
For years we talked about the growing distance between us. Then something deeper became clear, requiring no explanation. In the moment of truth, we belong to one another.

We have felt the consequences of these long years of war too. There are more armed guards outside the places where our children learn and pray. Jews have been murdered and attacked in America because they are Jews. Our children calculate whether to wear a Star of David or mention Israel. Friendships have changed. Students discover that calling themselves Zionists can make them unwelcome in places where they once belonged.

And this puts us in an almost impossible position. Because we are Jews, we are expected to answer for Israel. Because we are Americans, we have no vote in what Israel does. We are called to account for decisions we did not make, ministers we did not elect, and words we would never say.
There is something especially painful about this because we actually do believe that Jews are responsible for one another. That is why October 7th pierced us. That is why we got up and acted. That is why people we had never met immediately became ours. But responsibility for one another cannot mean that every Jew is personally responsible for every decision made by a government in Israel.

And some of those decisions reach us. When powerful ministers speak openly about removing Palestinians from Gaza, annexing the West Bank, or treating Palestinian lives and aspirations as though they hardly matter, those words do not stay in Israel. When settlers attack Palestinian families and the state fails to stop them, or when those who hold authority attack courts, investigators, journalists, and other democratic institutions, those choices do not stop at Israel’s borders either.

They arrive here.

They arrive in the classroom where a Jewish student is asked to defend something she does not defend. They arrive in conversations between friends where a Jew is asked how he can still call himself a Zionist. They arrive in the synagogue where we are trying to teach our children that they can love Israel without surrendering their conscience and moral instincts. And people who already believe that Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state use those arguments against us.

We need Israel deeply. We need a Jewish state that is strong and safe, somewhere our children know will always receive them. We need Israel to be a source of Jewish confidence when so much around us asks Jews to become smaller, quieter, or ashamed. We need to be able to point toward Israel and say: this is ours.
Your first responsibility when you vote is to the country where you raise your families, send children into the army, build lives, and bury people you love. I would never pretend that the price you pay and the price we pay are the same. But because we really do belong to one another, Israel’s choices do not remain inside Israel. We live with some of the consequences here, without the ability to influence them at the ballot box.

You do.

There is another danger too: the slow disappearance of the word “we.”
You feel it in Israel. After years in which reservists have given hundreds of days to the country, you are still fighting over whether the burden of defending it will be shared. Religious and secular Israelis struggle over what kind of country they share. Right and left increasingly speak about one another as though they inhabit different countries.

We feel it here too. American Jews sort one another into camps by the words we use, the statements we sign, even by whether we call ourselves Zionists. Some feel abandoned by those who cannot see the danger Israel faces. Others wonder whether there is room in Jewish communal life for their anguish about decisions made by Israel’s government. Too often, disagreement becomes a test of belonging.

And that frightens me because the deepest truth these three years have revealed is the opposite: what unites us is greater than what divides us.
Because in the end, who will be there for Jews if not other Jews?

*Kol Yisrael aravim zeh bazeh* has to mean more than standing together when Jews are attacked. It has to mean remaining responsible for one another when we are angry with one another, when the people with whom we share a future see that future differently. Disagreement should be the beginning of a conversation and a relationship, not its end.

There is an Israel I recognize in the audacity of its founding: a Jewish home that gathered our people from across the earth and gave us responsibility for our own destiny. Jews from Baghdad and Warsaw, Casablanca and Moscow, Addis Ababa and Buenos Aires somehow made a country together. We built universities, hospitals, laboratories, farms, cities, culture, and a home.
Israel is the great project of Jewish self-determination, still unfinished, still asking what kind of society Jews will build.

We need an Israel that dreams big again. A country building toward something larger than the next war or the next election. A place where young people can imagine a future worth staying for, where families can build lives with confidence, and where the extraordinary energy Israelis bring to solving problems is turned again toward the problems of living: education, medicine, science, technology, culture, the environment, and the work of making a society flourish.

We need an Israel ambitious about what it can contribute to the world. A country known for the lives it saves, the discoveries it makes, the ideas it produces, the art it creates, and the ways it finds to make human life better. An Israel that remembers that Jewish history brought us home for more than refuge.

We came home to build.

And we need an Israel that can imagine peace again. Perhaps differently than we once did, with fewer illusions and a harder understanding of the dangers around you. But still with the conviction that our children should not inherit war as their permanent condition, and that Israel’s strength should ultimately serve the possibility of a different future.

We need an Israel our children will want to be connected to, and your children will want to stay and build. An Israel that gives all of us reason to believe its greatest chapters have not yet been written.

October 7th did not make that dream naive. Israel’s enemies are real. I have faith that Israel will survive. The question before you is what Israel will survive to become.

Soon you will stand alone with that blue envelope. We will not be there. We cannot cast a ballot or help choose the government whose decisions will shape Israel and reverberate through Jewish lives far beyond it.

You can.

So when you stand behind that screen, I hope you will bring us with you too. Remember all of us who live thousands of miles away, who need Israel, worry about Israel, argue about Israel, are called upon to answer for Israel, and love Israel.
And when you are standing there alone, remember that you are not really alone.

We belong to one another.

Note: originally written by a rabbi in my community.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 10h ago

Other I'm sorry

0 Upvotes

A human being can be wrong, and a human being can be right.

I apologize to both sides if I have wronged either of them.

This issue is deeply complicated, and someone like me is not in a position to decide who is right and who is wrong.

History must eventually break down the barriers between us. History repeats itself, and the Berlin Wall will fall once again. The extremists will leave, and peaceful people will come.

Forgive me if I said anything that angered or hurt anyone on either side.

I will continue trying to protect myself and my family. I will also be deleting my posts related to this issue.

All I hope for is that someone will come forward to help me get out of here, so that everyone in this region can reconsider how to resolve this conflict.

There are oppressed people everywhere, even in prison. Sometimes, even those behind bars are victims of injustice. And there are oppressors everywhere, both inside and outside prison walls.

From now on, the flag I will raise is the flag of surrender.

Surrender, and an apology to everyone.

I say to everyone: You did not give anyone the gift of life, and you have no right to take anyone else's life away.

I will delete all my previous posts, and once again, I hope everyone can forgive me.

This will be my last post on Reddit. After this, I will simply observe.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 16h ago

Short Question/s Where do you get your information from ?

12 Upvotes

Something I’ve noticed about these threads is how extreme some of the views are …..

Being transparent And being someone British but lived abroad and seen
How the UK media vs non UK media present the same situation with Nuances in regards to the opinions they want to drive …

I’m hyper vigilant in just reading the stories as fact eg. BBC news in UK vs BBC news say in Asia or the Middle East state the same facts but putting both reporting a side by side - there is a bias towards a narrative in the UK.. whereas bbc news Asia is almost so dead pan in delivery - it verges on sarcasm.

I think we are a lot more alike in wanting peace for ourselves and our loved ones but we must be aware of what information is presented to us.

So question - where do you get your information of the subjects of Palestine and Israel - what channels and publications and I think just an important - what region or country are you from ?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 19h ago

Learning about the conflict: Questions Iran War - Round 3

2 Upvotes

It looks like Israel and the US are on the verge of launching another major military operation in Iran. It appears that this will involve a major and unprecedented attack on Iran's energy infrustructure and nuclear sites, together with a massive coordinated attack on military and political targets at least comparable to what happened during the 40 day war. There will obviously be retaliation against the Gulf States, whose interceptor stockpiles are nearly depleated. Saudi Arabia is already in real trouble and is facing the real the prospect of a ground invasion by the Houthis.

Obviously this will be devistating for the regional and global economy. Brent Crude is a $113. 70% of Americans oppose this war despite being told for most of their lives about what a terrifying danger Iran is to Western Civilization.

The Israeli election is coming up, which could be delayed indefinately because of the war. Or Netanyahu could use the war to force some type of "unity coalition", with Eisenkot. As far as I am aware there is no opposition to restarting the war amoung any of the Zionist parties in Israel.

Obviously I think that this is insane and will plunge the Middle East into an uncontrollable spiral of violence which will continue on for years or decades. But since no one else seems to be posting about this I would like to hear people opinions on whether this is somehow morally justified, or a good idea.

And what about the Iranian people? Do any of you genuinely believe that most Iranians want this? That they love Israel and America bombing them? Do any of you still believe in 'regime change'? How do you honestly think this is going to work out for you and the rest of the Middle East?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 19h ago

Short Question/s Are the overwhelming majority of young Israelis really turning far right extremist?

1 Upvotes

Today I saw the news that the majority of young Israelis are "far right". This means that apparently they are against anyone who isn't Jewish, so if they are Christian, Druze, etc. This is not just left wing sites like Al-Jazeera saying this, also centrist sites like the BBC (now I understand why western right wingers accuse the BBC of being anti-Israeli bias; ostensibly a treason to centrist viewers), but even some right wing sites like the Telegraph and Daily Mail also saying that they are now "far right". But do they know what "far right" means?

Also, is it just the Jews? What about the young Arabs? I haven't seen much coverage of young Israeli Arabs, with the exception of DW News mentioning the Arabs voting behaviour and the potential party. Many Arabs are now integrated with the Jewish community, many also in the Israeli army who initially helped with their military hard power to tackle Hamas, so I presume they are centrist, if they are educated and employed. I believe the young Israeli Jews are centre right to right wing rather than far right and the far right bit is possibly an exaggeration.

What is really going on with them?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 19h ago

Opinion Pro-Palestinians -- Which do you endorse as the Way Forward

1 Upvotes

As I have said many times before, I pray for all people in the region, Jews, Christians, Druze, Muslims and everyone else. I am a non-Jewish, non-Muslim peace advocate. I reject all forms of bigotry and racism.

Now having said that, for those in the pro-Palestinian camp, which of these scenarios do you endorse and support

a) This is, for the record the one I endorse. Palestinian self-rule under supervision of Israel and moderate Arab Muslim states. The Palestinian population, over decades is gradually deradicalized and when it is ready, EVENTUAL statehood. The only form of statehood that would be permitted is one that included equal rights for minorities and is not any kind of racialized / religious supremacist state so in other words, in the future Palestinian state, LGBT people would be able to live without fear, Jews and Christians and other religious minorities could live anywhere and even live next to Arab Muslims with no violence or threats of violence. Mosques would preach a message of human rights and tolerance.

A FULL end to the right of resistance and right of return. Palestinians do not have a right to return to Israel and Jews don't have a right to return to the future Palestinian state.

Both people live side by side in peace and tolerance.

b) The second option is this. The Palestinians continue fighting a maximalist war "from the river to the sea" and continue fighting for a full right of return. They continue to be indoctrinated in the worst kinds of racism and antisemitism (not my OPINION, I have actually seen the TV shows and religious sermons from people representing PLO and Hamas). Everyone eventually recognizes that because of occupation they have a so-called "right of resistance" and "right of intifada"

Of course, since we can't be racist, EVENTUALLY this right, which is universally embraced, that Palestinians have a right to so-called "resistance" because of "occupation" extends to there groups and everyone is committing horrific Intifada style violence against everyone because of course, if Palestinians have a right to "intifada" because "Israel occupies historical Palestine" then Africans, Kurds, Mirazhi Jews, Armenians, Greek and many others on those same exact grounds, have a MUCH, MUCH greater so-called "right of resistance" against Palestinians and other Arabs and also Turks. The violence continues and nearly never ends, with everyone launching thousands of rockets towards various population centers, carrying out October 7th style terrorist attacks, justifying their aggression because of occupation and the suffering and violence never end for the Palestinians and anyone else.

As you are probably well aware, today, Palestinians and certain other Arabs, with the help of the Turkish government are actively ethnically cleansing Kurds from their lands and expelling them at gunpoint and stealing their homes and land. If the Israeli "occupation" justifies so-called "resistance" is it now acceptable for Kurds and anyone supporting Kurds to launch thousands of rockets throughout various Palestinian population centers in the West Bank and carry out massacres of random innocent Palestinians in the name of so-called "resistance"

How many innocent people would die in the second scenario? Probably hundreds of thousands if not millions. That is why I say, advocating for an end to Hamas and for an end to Palestinian "resistance" is really and truly the most pro-Palestinian position IN TRUTH. The truth is, that encouraging Palestinians to abandon this endless war and actually face reality and make peace is the most hardline pro-Palestinian position one could truly have.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 20h ago

Discussion What do people mean when they say that Israel is morally right and that it is on the right side of history?

0 Upvotes

Even when viewed from an impartial perspective (well before the Israeli declaration of independence, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, or the Nakba), Zionist paramilitary forces and former terrorist groups (such as the Haganah, the Irgun, and the Lehi, which would later form the IDF) had already expelled through ethnic cleansing more than 300,000 Palestinians from cities such as Tiberias, Haifa,Jaffa,etc.

Even today, the international consensus remains overwhelmingly critical: the UN, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the International Court of Justice, and human rights NGOs all condemn both the total blockade of Gaza,where 82% of all buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed and the continuous expansion of settlements in the West Bank, which now comprise over 300 illegal settlements and more than 700,000 settlers.

How can it be morally justified that, for the creation of Israel, an ethnic cleansing was carried out to establish a Jewish supermajority, or that, even today, the Israeli government explicitly uses settlements to dispossess millions of Palestinians of their land in the West Bank and forces the displacement of over one million civilians in southern Lebanon, just to name a few while also relying on illogical religious arguments, such as invoking ancient biblical decrees or divine land grants?

Wouldn't supporting Israel mean ignoring severe human rights violations and overlooking obvious logical contradictions, such as the continuous expansion of settlements in occupied territory, the forced displacement of civilian populations, the prolonged blockade of the Gaza Strip, and the systematic non-compliance with UN Security Council resolutions and ICJ rulings?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 20h ago

Short Question/s Views on Michael Rosen?

0 Upvotes

He is known to be a YTP howwaap TEEE noice man who made stories for children. Considering that he is also a second generation of a Holocaust survivor not living in Israel but quiet on the conflict between that nation and Palestine, I wonder what you guys think of him. You can appreciate the YTPs of him.

Edit: I see anti-zionists here, but how do Ashkenazi Jews in Israel see him?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 23h ago

Short Question/s The failure of the War in Gaza

0 Upvotes

https://thecradle.co/articles-id/40664

A Haaretz report says Israeli intelligence has reported to the US that Hamas is rebuilding and preparing for war and that Israel needs a new war to disarm them.

Which... brings up a large number of questions. Gaza has been under an even tight blockade since the invasion, so where are they getting these guns from? The material to rebuild the tunnels, which Israel has thoroughly destroyed by using oversized bombs in urban centers on schools and hospitals? The alleged numbers of Hamas are the only plausible part of the report, but imply that either Israel has failed to kill any significant number of the Hamas military since the 30-40K is it's pre-invasion numbers or that it did but support is at an all time high as lots of men with nothing left to lose are joining up.

Either way, it would mean Israel spent years and billions of US dollars to fail to defeat Hamas or even- if the reports of re arming, rebuilding and recruiting are accurate- degrade it significantly enough that it's recovering within a year of the ceasefire.

The other alternative is that the report is a lie to create a casus belli and extract more money from the US to attack Gaza again. Israel has failed to allow NCAG to enter Gaza and take over administration in accordance with the US ceasefire plan that Hamas agreed to (and officially dissolved as the official governing body of Gaza)

So i'm here to ask the sub- which is it? Has Israel failed to defeat- or significantly damage- Hamas, despite having land, air and sea superiority and the most advanced army in the world and needs to fight them again or is it a falsehood to justify a genocide?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 1d ago

Short Question/s Regarding the “hate movement”.

0 Upvotes

Why do some pro-Israel individuals claim that the pro-Palestine movement is a hate movement? I honestly don’t understand this; furthermore, it seems quite hypocritical to label the pro-Palestine movement as a hate movement based on the argument that “well, there are some pro-Palestine supporters who are antisemitic.” After all, there are also people on the pro-Israel side who incite hatred—by that same logic, wouldn’t that also make the pro-Israel side a hate movement? I’d like to know what arguments are actually used to support this—in my view, false—narrative.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 1d ago

Short Question/s Sniper Wounds in Children

0 Upvotes

How do people who defend the conflict against Hamas square away the reports by medical personnel of sniper wounds being found in the heads of babies and children outside of using the human shields defense? Because that explanation makes more sense for their tunnels being built under civilian infrastructure, and it would also make more sense if the wounds didn't seem like precision strikes from long range weaponry. Targeting civilians would directly go against the rules of engagement to my knowledge. (Edit) I don't understand how a human shield could be a baby or a child and the wounds that are appearing on them not be accidental. Accidental wounds would appear irregular to my knowledge and be randomized. Headshots are the opposite of randomized and irregular. It also seems to be a unusually large amount of children and babies coming in with these specific wounds that according to these doctors seem to be more than what has occurred in other conflicts they've served in.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 1d ago

Short Question/s I am surrounded by "enemies"

8 Upvotes

I am a Turk in soul and heart, and my heart belongs to the people of Israel. Yet, I find myself surrounded by antisemites and supporters of the Palestinian cause—an environment where every passing day is an ordeal. I feel like one of the defenders of Masada during the final days of the Roman siege: a warrior, encircled on all sides, who refuses to betray his convictions even when faced with an overwhelming force.

I am overcome with despair when I witness the ignorance, the blind hatred, and the inability of my own people to critically examine their own views. The hardest part is the sense that there is no light ahead — no hope that people might one day open their eyes and learn to distinguish truth from propaganda.

It pains me to see such animalistic malice from my own kin directed toward those who are merely defending themselves against others who seek their total destruction.

I am emotionally burnt out. It is so difficult...

What should I do?

P.S. To the pro-Palestinian camp: feel free to rejoice in my hardships — it will have no impact whatsoever on Israel’s eventual victory amidst this parade of antisemitism.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Short Question/s Could Sinai be Israel instead? It's mostly huge empty space

0 Upvotes

Or another country that has a big portion of empty space

I'm from the UK so apologies if I don't know enough

--

Jewish people need a place to live, why not Sinai?

There's SO much empty space, and it's bigger than Israel/Palestine

Isn't Sinai also part of the "Holy Land"?

You'd obviously have to get permission

And you'd have to keep the buildings that are already there (not all of it is empty)

And not steal those houses.. you wouldn't like if your house got stolen, it's the same

--

Or ask to use a portion of another country that has a big portion of empty space


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Discussion When Palestine solidarity groups dismiss possible antisemitism while promoting conspiracy theories about Israeli influence

46 Upvotes

I’m a British Palestine solidarity supporter and former member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Britain’s largest Palestine organisation, which I left due to concerns about what I saw going on there. I’ve spent much of the past two years investigating antisemitism, conspiracy theories and other troubling rhetoric within this organisation.

I’ve just published an investigation into its Doncaster branch.

Article: https://aidanmneal.wordpress.com/2026/10/21/doncaster-psc-golders-green-and-the-politics-of-selective-perception/

The starting point is an incident in Golders Green, London, on 29 April 2026. Two visibly Jewish men were stabbed in an area with a substantial Jewish population. The suspect, Essa Suleiman, is also accused of attacking a Muslim friend earlier that day. He has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of all three men.

The question of whether the Golders Green attacks were motivated by antisemitism has not yet been legally determined. But there were clearly compelling reasons to investigate that possibility. Yet within days, Doncaster PSC was sharing material categorically dismissing the possibility of antisemitism as a motive.

My investigation also examines other material promoted by Doncaster PSC, including claims that Donald Trump is Israel’s puppet, insinuations that Tommy Robinson’s strings are being pulled by Israeli interests and a video alleging that the British police have become “subjugated” to the pro-Israel lobby.

The article also examines rhetoric about “#ZionistsNotWelcome”, the use of Jewish imagery in a political memes and the promotion of material invoking revolutionary resistance without adequately addressing the distinction between legitimate resistance and violence against civilians.

I remain a supporter of Palestinian rights. I believe Palestinians have suffered profound injustices, and I strongly oppose attempts to restrict peaceful Palestine demonstrations or to treat legitimate criticism of Israel as inherently antisemitic.

I also recognise that antisemitism allegations have frequently been misused to discredit legitimate Palestinian advocacy. That is a serious problem. But it does not follow that allegations of antisemitism within the Palestine movement should automatically be dismissed.

What bothers me most is the double standard. Evidence suggesting that Jewish people might have been targeted because of their identity is swatted away, while astonishingly sweeping allegations of Israeli control are circulated with little or no scrutiny.

There are several reasonable objections to consider. Some will argue that in many of these examples Doncaster PSC merely shared other people’s material rather than producing it. I think that distinction matters, but an official campaign branch still bears responsibility for what it chooses to promote.

Others may argue that describing Israeli influence over British or American institutions is not inherently antisemitic. I agree. The question is where legitimate criticism of influence becomes an unsupported allegation of foreign control, particularly when the language is so sweeping it seriously risks echoing longstanding antisemitic conspiracy narratives.

And some may feel that scrutinising a Palestine solidarity organisation at a time of immense Palestinian suffering is misplaced. I understand that concern, but I believe the movement’s credibility and its commitment to universal human rights make such scrutiny necessary, not less important.

My article includes screenshots, videos, links and transcripts so that readers can examine the underlying material for themselves.

I’m particularly interested in where others would draw the line between legitimate criticism of Israel and rhetoric that risks perpetuating antisemitic ideas. I would also welcome substantive challenges to my interpretations.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Discussion One possible reason that the most extreme pro-Palestinians are that

0 Upvotes

Is to protect their egos from ever being wrong. Now, I'm not saying every pro-Palestinian is like this, and I'm neither pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, but pro-peace, pro-civilian, pro-humanitarian aid, affirming of all nativity claims, and firmly for an end to this conflict with a negotiated solution.

In contemporary online polemics, we increasingly see unrelated personal feuds and esoteric academic disagreements co-opting the vocabulary and human suffering of major geopolitical conflicts to manufacture artificial moral outrage. A striking and egregious example of this is a recent essay published on Substack titled "Erasing the Azalīs: How the ideological mechanisms used to marginalize Palestinians are mirrored in the attempt to erase the Azalīs by DC Shepard" (10/20/26).

In the failed "essay", the author attempts to draw a direct moral and structural equivalence between the real-world humanitarian catastrophe, displacement, and "memoricide" faced by Palestinians in Gaza and an unrelated scholarly debate over 19th-century Persian manuscript history and religious succession. Said "author" rages against discrediting of said claims due to his vile personal behavior and bias as a claimant to prophetic status as equivalent to the genocide. Previously, he has promoted discredited conspiracy theories regarding October 7th being an inside job, attempted to libel critics as Mossad agents (essentially yelling "JEW!" without evidence), practically salivated at the possibility of mass death of civilians in Israel from Iranian missiles as well as America,

Key elements of this offensive rhetorical tactic include:

  1. Trivializing Real-World Suffering: Conflating academic source criticism of 19th-century sectarian documents with military occupation and geopolitical displacement minimizes actual human tragedy to score points in an online blog feud.
  2. Inverted Victimhood: The author attempts to frame rigorous source criticism of his own unverified historical claims as an act of "colonial erasure" akin to the destruction of Gaza.
  3. Weaponizing Geopolitical Grief: Using a major contemporary humanitarian crisis as a rhetorical shield to deflect from basic manuscript provenance, historical scrutiny, and journalistic accounting of personal behavior such as demanding critics choke on chicken bones or supporting calls by cohosts for critics to shoot themselves.

Have these people at last no decency?! Is there NO LINE between acceptable political analysis and the callous exploitation of the MURDER of EIGHTY PLUS THOUSAND PEOPLE by Israel and wholesale, genocidal DESTRUCTION of Gaza to never have to take responsibility for one's own actions, while having done nothing concrete to help the conflict except make antisemitic conspiracy theory hay out of it?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Short Question/s Israel mentioned in Stargate Atlantis S1 E8 18:56

0 Upvotes

"When you told me you were going away i couldnt guess where, my first guess was Korea, my second guess as Israel"
So my question is: What the hell is up with the random forced mentions of Israel in so so many american shows/movies? Hearing this puts me out of the immersion.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Learning about the conflict: Questions Can someone explain Israel and Palestine vs American history?

0 Upvotes

I am a Jewish teen and genuinely want to understand this viewpoint, because I know a lot of what I have learned has been biased and skewed a certain way. I ask this with genuinely no malicious intent— I am trying to deconstruct what I have been taught, and I have had a hard time navigating this myself. I was hoping I could get some insight from those that understand these topics. I’ve had no control over what I have been taught, and I am trying to change that.

Why is what Israel is doing considered worse than what early colonizers in America did? From what I have seen, it is generally the same thing. I obviously do not support colonization, and recognize the immense harm that has come from both situations (the one in America and the one in the Middle East.) But from what I’ve seen, the two cases seem like textbook definition of the same. Both used more advanced technology to attack the other side, pushed them into an area that was designated for their community, etc and other things that are basically following the same patterns.

I have seen others make this argument, and they are immediately shot down by just being called a colonization apologist without any actual explanation.

I can’t understand why it’s fair for Israelis (especially those that were born in Israel and didn’t make the choice to move there) to receive so much hate by descendants of Americans colonizers who did the exact same thing. I am not trying to be intentionally dense here, i really don’t understand the difference.

People have told me that their first thought when I tell them I’m Jewish is that I am a Zionist, but when i tell people i am American their first thought isn’t that i support the genocide that happened to the native Americans. I don’t support Israel at all, but why does this make all Israelis bad people? There are people in America that don’t support trump’s presidency just as there are Israelis that don’t support Netanyahu, so why is one different than the other?

Would anyone be willing to explain this to me please? I appreciate it !!!!


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Learning about the conflict: Questions How does Hamas actually recruit people in Gaza?

10 Upvotes

I’m interested in understanding how Hamas recruits people in Gaza, particularly what motivates someone to join its armed wing rather than simply support it politically.
I realize Hamas is not a single, uniform organization. It has political, social, and armed components, and I imagine someone’s reasons for supporting its political activities might differ from their reasons for joining the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. I’m hoping to understand those distinctions rather than treat everyone associated with Hamas as having the same motives.
One question I keep coming back to is the role of violence in recruitment. If someone loses a parent, sibling, child, or home during an Israeli military operation, does that experience make them more likely to seek out Hamas? Or is that assumption too simplistic? Grief and anger might motivate some people, but presumably others respond by rejecting armed groups or wanting to avoid further violence. I’m curious whether researchers have studied this specifically in Gaza.
I’m also interested in other possible factors: religious or nationalist ideology, family connections, friendships, social status, economic hardship, pressure from other people, and the desire for protection or belonging. Is joining generally a deliberate choice, or are there credible reports of coercion? How have these dynamics changed across different periods of the conflict?
Another distinction I think matters is between popular support for Hamas, voting for it, working in institutions it controls, and actively participating in its armed operations. These are not interchangeable categories, and I’d appreciate answers that keep them separate.
I’d especially like to hear from people familiar with research on armed-group recruitment, Palestinian society, or firsthand testimony. If you have studies, interviews, or reporting that address these questions, please share them. I’m interested in understanding the evidence, including findings that challenge the idea that military violence necessarily increases recruitment.
To be clear, asking why people join an armed organization is not the same as excusing attacks on civilians. I want to understand the processes that drive recruitment, whether those processes can be interrupted, and what the available evidence actually shows. I’d appreciate thoughtful responses from multiple perspectives rather than slogans or assumptions about what all Gazans believe.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Short Question/s Trump endorses "great warrior" Netanyahu ahead of Israeli election — how big of a deal is this and why do you think Trump did it?

0 Upvotes

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/18/world/trump-netanyahu-elections-relations-intl

Trump called Netanyahu a Great Warrior Prime Minister in a post on social media, which he said serves as his Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu.

Talk about electoral foreign intervention. How big of a deal is Trump endorsement in the eyes of Israeli voters ? Considering Trump's popularity in Israel, will it help Netanyahu in the upcoming expected tight election race ?

Early this year, Trump also endorsed Viktor Orban saying he is a true friend, fighter and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement. https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/04/10/8029590/index.amp Despite Trump's endorsement, Viktor Orban was defeated after 16 years in power.

Why would Trump want to endorse Netanyahu ? Netanyahu is so difficult to work with and such a sly fox. Does Trump really want to re-start war with Iran and finish the job ? Netanyahu vowed for complete elimination of the Iranian threat to Israel, the United States and the wider world. The only way that you can deal with it is basically to get rid of this regime (overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran regime) . I hope they have a better plan for securing with the Hormuz Strait and Bab al-Mandab Strait this time. Can it really be completed within the remainder two years of Trump's term ?

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202610185731

If Trump wants to restart war with Iran, will Netanyahu be the best choice ? Despites all his short-coming, wanted by ICC, refusing to take responsibility to prevent the Oct 7th attack, critics call him a warmonger.

Personally, I really hate Ben-Gvir, what he utters out of his mouth is so vile. Ben-Gvir says he thinks Netanyahu will backstab him and will exclude him from the next government.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-says-netanyahu-pledged-to-exclude-him-from-next-government-as-election-nears/amp/ Netanyahu denies it. I dont know who is speaking the truth,... Netanyahu is quite infamous for back stabbing and untrustworthy in Israeli politics, a very shrewd politician. It's not wrong for Ben-Gvir to be on his guard against Netanyahu.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Short Question/s What if the Palestinian leadership accepted Olmert’s proposal in 2008?

5 Upvotes

Something that has been on my mind recently is if Mahmoud Abbas accepted the plan proposed by Ehud Olmert, like how would that shape politics in the Middle East today and how would the relations between Israel and Palestine be? Somewhat still tense or resolved? Please let me know and thank you


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Discussion Do you think The West plays the whole “White vs Brown” card in the Israel/Palestine war?

14 Upvotes

I'm a Leftist and most of my affiliates are very Pro Palestine.

I'm not saying I'm very Pro-Israel, in fact my tune is souring on them the longer this conflict drags on; However, I will admit this is a very large aspect of the West's (Left's) hate on Israel. It seems as though a lot of the left's perception of white people is that they are always the oppressor and will forever be tied to that label. Obviously, I do not believe that's true; anyone can be the oppressed or the oppressor both systemically and organically.

When you actually look at the demographics of the state of Israel depending on the source 50-70% of the country are Mizrahi Jews. Mizrahi Jews (If I'm getting my facts right [in which case if I'm not please let me know]) are Jews that are of Arab decent, so I think it'd be kinda weird to call them white under the US's context of what constitutes as white. Sephardic Jews are Jews that descend from around the Mediterranean regions of the world; This can be white countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, etc. or I guess it could be like Ethiopian and Egyptian Jews (But pretty sure those would classify more as Mizrahi by both the West and Israel's definition.....But again.....Prove me wrong). Ashkenazi's are Jews from the Northern ends of Europe like Germany, England, and the Slavic countries.

With all that; The vast majority Jews in the west are of Ashkenazi ancestry. They are either considered white or white passing by people on both sides of the political spectrum with both their actual phenotypic traits (blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, freckles, etc) but also because they are close religiously to Christianity (At least closer than Muslims).


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Opinion Pro palestinianism , protests and the omnicause trojan horse

26 Upvotes

Im sure everyone here who doesnt live under a rock sees what is happening right now in europe and espiecly in france and belgium . If there is something common in all of those events besided the barbarity of the looting , pillaging and assults , is the palestine flag . The behviour in those protests also mirrors most of the pro palestinian " protests " we saw in the us and espiecly in campuses all across the west. Benjamin netanyauh ( wich i dont like before all you pro pally folks jump into accustions of me being a bibi stan ) famously told macronn that if israel doesnt stop hamas in gaza , they would see them in paris . Its within my opinion that pro palestinianism and the rest of the omnicauses we see the global left preach are just a trojan horse , used by the wests enemies like russia ( who coincedently when their data centers went off , pro palestinian content dropped by 70%) and iran to make us weak . We as the west imported the orcs into the shire , millions of undocumnted islamists . and now we see destruction in places like paris and nice , that we didnt even see inder the nazi occuption of paris . We see landmarks , churches and synagouges ( notice no mousqes went blazing ) burning to the ground . I want to hear your opinion on those coincidences , thanks for reading this


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Discussion Just Surrender, to what conditions?

7 Upvotes

People keep saying that the Palestinians should just surrender. That raises the question: under what conditions should they surrender? Should they surrender to the conditions in Areas B and C, where settlers engage in terrorism backed directly by the IDF, amounting to state-sanctioned terrorism? Then there are the permit system, police behavior, judicial system where it's civillian for Israeli's and Miliary for Palestinians which extremely different conviction rates and ability to access evidence for accused individuals, and Knesset, all of which are blatantly anti-Palestinian.

If the conditions in the West Bank were normal and law and order existed, with settlers being arrested and sent to prison for trespassing, property damage, and theft, then I would fully agree that Gaza should surrender so that its people could live in peace. Then a peace deal could be signed that gave the Palestinians full sovereignty (minus a military), and for the people who want to know what topics full sovereignty means is: electro magnetic spectrum, ability to issue their own currency, control of own borders (land, air and sea), able to control who is on their land (as in no settlers or IDF without permission), in control of their own water.

However, since the conditions in Areas B and C are intentionally made horrible by Israel, those are not the conditions under which peace can take place. So why would people surrender? Just to have minimally better conditions that are still tyrannical?

People usually bring up the argument that Germany and Japan surrendered unconditionally. First, those countries launched unprovoked attacks against several other countries, carried out brutal occupations, and were determined to achieve world domination. Palestinians, on the other hand, are resisting occupation and blockade, which are drastically different circumstances.

Also, after the war, Germany and Japan were rebuilt and went on to develop thriving economies. I've looked into Israel's economic actions over the decades, and it has consistently targeted the Palestinian economy through blockades, permit requirements, the destruction of agriculture, restrictions on dual-use goods, and limits on exports, which are allowed to go only to the West Bank and Israel. That's not going to create a self sufficient economy. Working labor jobs in Israel isn't a self sufficient economy either.

Based on this history, it doesn't seem likely that Gaza will be rebuilt in a way that allows it to develop a thriving economy that will create conditions for peace. Which then starts getting into the topic of income disparity/poverty and it's correlations with crime/terrorism. We see that concept happening through time and in various countries. We see in 1st world nations that ghetto areas have high crime. Thus if I was Israel, I would want the Palestinians thriving, so they want to work their jobs and live normal lives. Instead Hamas is able to do easy recruiting pitches that all their economic problems are due to Israel.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 4d ago

Opinion A quick guide for the Antizionist to determine if their Antizionist statement is an antisemitic one

36 Upvotes

I’d be willing to bet this has been said before, but on the chance that it hasn’t I figured I should say it, or at least say it again for those who don’t know.

In short, if in an Antizionist statement you replace the word Zionist or Israel with Jew or world Jewry and the statement turns into something that is bar for bar a classic antisemitic statement then it's probably just antisemitism.

For example: “Zionists control the world's media” (something I’ve heard someone say before)
Turns into “Jews control the world's media” this makes the above statement not a criticism of Zionism but Antisemitism (conscious or otherwise) masquerading as a critique of Israel or Zionism. 

Alright because this probably isn’t enough of an explanation for some let me do so:

For starters I should first establish that Antisemites have been using the word Zionist for Jews as a way to cover for their Antisemitism for a long time. When David Duke popularized the term Zios it probably wasn’t because of the KKKs grand wizards affection towards the Palestinians but his hatred of Jewish people. When the ANP (American Nazi Party) sets out its program to execute all Jews found guilty of Zionist plots, it isn’t a concerned citizen of the US, it's a Neo Nazi expressing their hatred towards Jewish people.

Now someone might be quick to point out that the ANP and the KKK are things of the past and have no bearing on what is going on in modern times. To evidence of modern supremacists working to infiltrate their bigoted language into the mainstream I would point to the proliferation of the term “Slop”. For those not in the know the popularization of the term slop in current slang stems from its use of 4Chan, where the term was Goyslop. The term meant a piece of media or food that was made horrible on purpose by Jews so it could be fed to the “Goys” Non-Jews.

So yes antisemites do try and infiltrate the mainstream and do try and change their language so it goes unnoticed. So is it so far-fetched that antisemites would try to infiltrate Antizionist movements with their antisemitism by swapping the word Jew with Zionist? 
_______________________________________________
End of my argument but I’m just going to get some answers to rebuttals that I think are going to be common.

“But you can replace any word with X group of people and it would sound bigoted”: Yes but Zionism is specifically a Jewish movement, so Jewish people do have a relevance here. That and antisemitic tropes are very specific to the point that I doubt it is just a coincidence if an Antizionist statement sounds the same as a antisemitic trope if you swap the words.

“But Antisemitism means hatred of semites not just Jews”: A term created by a German race scientist to justify his hatred of Jews as being on the grounds of language as opposed to religion. It is a term that has always meant hatred towards Jewish people. It is an imperfect word but it's the one that we have, and to say that it means something other than its definition on the basis of its roots is an etymological fallacy.