What I find riveting about this clip is not that Sarah Wilkinson doesn't see Israelis as human—it's a given for people whose entire worldview is built around a Manichean spiritual dichotomy in which Palestine/Gaza stands for good and Israel/Jews for evil.
What's genuinely worth noting here are the last few seconds of the clip, where she says that she glimpsed Gaza right before the cruel Israeli monsters so abruptly ended her quest.
It's that twinkle in her eye and the swelling music that reveal the real meaning of Gaza for her: Gaza as the Holy Grail, an object of longing, a source of redemption for her and for all humanity, the closest thing to a divine revelation she's ever been granted.
The sense we get from those last few seconds is that, simply by glimpsing Gaza, she reached a level of spiritual transcendence that she will cherish for the rest of her life. And it's the sweetness of that moment, of redemption so tantalizingly within one’s grasp, that is going to bring her back, for one doesn’t abandon the holy quest simply because agents of Satan stand in one's way. Indeed, the greater the obstacles to redemption, the more resolutely one must persevere.
@RachelMoiselle has written about Palestinianism as a replacement faith for post-Catholic Irish. @HusseinAboubakr has a tour de force of a piece out now on Palestine as a symbol whose meaning changes depending on which groups and causes attach themselves to it.
This clip is an illustration of what both of them are talking about. I hope there are people out there studying Palestinianism as a psycho-spiritual phenomenon. It has to be one of the most fascinating subjects of inquiry today.
@Houssams@R_Langer@Arsenal@JewishGooners@metpoliceuk@IslingtonBC But complete silence when Rwanda, where slavery and forced child labour still exists, is the shirt sponsor? The double standards are crazy and the true underlying motive is evident for all to see.
Will people get a bloody grip
British Jews fund 4 ambulances *for everyone* because they are lovely
Just like the 200 other lovely organisations that fund ambulances
Fund ambulances = good
Burn ambulances = evil
Get a bloody moral compass.
🚨This man at today's 'Hands off Iran' demonstration in London is leading a chant of ""Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud" ‼️
This is incitement to racial hatred @metpoliceuk@MetCC
It's funny how there's all these Palestinian flags at a demo defending the Iranian regime, given that said regime is probably the single biggest reason why Palestinians are suffering so much right now.
Hamas: “Israel killed a trillion people in Gaza. All women and children!”
The left: “If they said it, it must be true! Israel killed a trillion people in Gaza. All women and children! Why would they lie?”
The Iranian people: “They are slaughtering us by the tens of thousands! Look! Watch the video!”
The left: “I mean, we don’t really know how many people died. We don’t have conclusive evidence.”
Hamas: “Israel is committing horrible sex crimes against our people!”
The left: “If they said it, it must be true! Israel is committing horrible sex crimes against their people!”
Israel: “Here is evidence that Hamas raped women and children on 10/7. It’s from their own videos. Watch!!“
The left: “I mean, how do we know those videos are real? We don’t have hard evidence of any sex crimes by Hamas.”
IRGC: “Israel and America targeted a girl’s school and killed hundreds!”
The left: “If they said it, it must be true. Israel and America targeted a girl’s school and killed hundreds! Why would they lie?”
Israel and America: “We didn’t target any girl’s school. That was an Iranian missile.”
The left: “Where’s your evidence that it wasn’t you? No hard proof? Then it’s you.”
Iran: “Israel and the US are targeting and killing innocent Iranian civilians!”
The left: “If they said it, it must be true. Israel and the US are targeting and killing innocent Iranian civilians! Why would they lie?”
Israel: “Here, I am standing in front of an apartment building that was hit by Iran. No military personnel here. It’s a civilian building in a civilian neighborhood.”
The left: “How do we know there’s no military in there? We don’t know it’s a civilian building. Can you prove it? No? Then it’s a valid target.”
IRGC: “These are war crimes being committed by Israel and the US! This is illegal!”
The left: “If they said it, it must be true. These are war crimes being committed by Israel and the US! This is illegal!” Why would they lie?”
Israel and the US: The IRGC is firing Cluster bombs. That is against international law and they’re firing them multiple times a day.”
The left: “How do we know they are real cluster bombs? Do you have proof? No? Then it’s not cluster bombs.”
Hamas: “Israel is starving our prisoners!”
The left: “If they say it, it must be true. Israel is starving prisoners!”
Israel: “We feed them very well. Look what they look like. Now look at what our hostages look like. Hamas is starving them.”
The left: “There is no evidence that Hamas is starving Israeli hostages.”
IRGC for years: “Death to America. Death to Israel. We will kill them whenever and wherever we can!”
The left: “They don’t mean it. Let’s sign a deal with them. Surely they’ll upkeep their part.”
America and Israel: “They are an evil regime that needs to be stopped before they get nukes.”
The left: “I don’t see why we had to attack Iran. They didn’t pose any threat to us. Israel pulled us into this and killed our soldiers.”
Hezbollah: “Israel and their aggression forced us to attack them.”
The left: “If they say it, it must be true. Israel started a war on another front.”
Israel: “Look how many rockets and missiles Hezbollah fired at our cities today alone! We had no choice but to retaliate. We didn’t do anything to warrant this aggression.”
The left: “We don’t have evidence that they weren’t retaliating against a preemptive strike of yours against them.”
Israel: “We have no desire to take over Gaza or Lebanon. We just want to live in peace and quiet.”
The left: “Israel is trying to take over the whole Middle East!”
The Palestinian authority and Hamas:” “We want all of Israel. All Israelis into the sea and the entire land is ours!”
The left: “They don’t mean that literally. Why would they want to take over land?”
“Israel destroyed Gaza. We need foreign aid to rebuild Gaza.”
The left: “Let’s give them billions!”
Israel: “Please give us foreign aid so we can protect our civilians with the iron dome and also buy American defense products with the money you give us.”
The left: “We need to stop foreign aid to Israel. Why should we support them? That money should go to Americans, not some country on the other side of the world.”
IRGC: “Israel and the US are the aggressor here!”
The left: “If they said it; it must be true. Israel and the US are the aggressor here!”
America and Israel: “Here are names of Americans killed by the IRGC. Here are things they’ve said and terrorists they funded.”
The left: “What choice did they have? They’re not the aggressor here.”
Antisemites: “The Jews. The Jews. Hitler. The Jews. The Jews.”
The left: “They don’t hate Jews. They just hate Zionism.”
Israel: “We need to eliminate every terrorist from Gaza.”
The left: “Israel hates Muslims and wants to kill them all.”
Imams across the world: “We want all Jews dead without exception. Everyone is a valid target.”
The left: “He shouldn’t have said that but he doesn’t mean that literally.”
One Israeli minister: “Flatten Gaza like the US flattened Japan or Berlin.”
The left: “Israel wants to drop a nuke on Gaza!”
Radical Islamists: “It’s ok to marry a minor and let’s gang rape girls across Europe.”
The left: “It’s not a widespread thing and it has nothing to do with Islam. Stop being an Islamophobe.”
One Jew named Epstein who had zero to do with Israel or the Jewish people, was born to a Jewish mother…
The left: “Israel funded Epstein. He was mossad. Israel knew about it all. Jews are sick.”
Al-Qaeda: “We did 9/11 and we are so proud. We would do it again!”
The left: “But who was behind it? Israel and Bibi were behind it!”
Israel and The US: “We need to go to war and eliminate the threat of Al-Qaeda!” They are behind it, no one else.”
The left: “How do we know who was behind it? That is not a justified war!”
Antisemites: “Israel shot at the USS liberty. They aren’t our friends!”
The left: “I mean, they do have a point!”
Kuwait downs American jets:
The left: “That was an accident. Friendly fire happens.”
Antisemites: “Jonathan Pollard was an Israeli spy who spied on the US. The US is not an ally!”
The left: “Yea, why did Israel spy on us?”
Qatar infiltrates every part of US society including the media, academia, and more.
The left: “Qatar is an ally.”
Iran: “We don’t want a nuke even though we are clearly aiming to build one. How else will we destroy half the world?”
The left: “Why shouldn’t they have a nuke? I don’t see any reason. Besides, we have no proof they’re even building one!”
Israel: “We didn’t sign the treaty because we are under constant threats and need nuclear power for self defense. We’ll never use it as an offensive weapon. But we don’t even admit that we have one.”
The left: “Israel has nukes! That’s dangerous! Why should they have nukes??”
Radical Islam: “Yes, it’s true. We want to take over the west and institute shariah law across western cities.”
The left: “Open our borders to them. They are not a threat to us. They should have full rights in our country.”
Israeli politicians, celebrities, or media personalities want to travel to western countries.
The left: “That person should he banned from our country. Have you seen their tweets? They are a war criminal!”
Thousands of Islamic leaders around the world: “Jews have no right to live. We need to kill them all and then kill all infidels, aka not Muslims!”
The left: “We don’t have a radical Islam problem. You’re an Islamaphobe!”
Some unknown and random rabbi says something stupid that’s condemned by 99.999% of Jews.
The left: “Look what the Jews want to do. They are a threat to us!”
Antisemites: “Israel is raping Palestinians. Here; watch the video.”
The left: “If they say it, it must be true. Israel is raping Palestinian. Here, watch the video.”
Israel: “Here is proof that video was doctored but here is some real video captured by the Palestinian rapist himself who admits and is proof of his crime.”
The left: “I don’t know. I believe that video that Israel raped Palestinians. Also, how do we know that video of a Palestinian raping an Israeli girl is not doctored?”
Listen, I can really go on for hours. The hypocrisy is so glaring and obvious that I can say unequivocally, if you don’t see it, if you don’t think there’s a double standard around Israel and the Jews, you are either blind, stupid, or evil.
Chances are you are all three.
Iranian exiles in London are singing the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah.
They’re thanking Israel for killing the dictator who has stopped them coming home.
The UK no longer has any influence on global matters. Nor are we trusted or seen as strong enough by America, our supposed ‘best friend’, meaning we are no longer privy to their plans.
Embarrassing.
‘Most israelis don’t really care’ (about what is happening in Iran) - completely untrue, deliberate and scandalous comment to make from so called ‘israeli expert’.
I would urge the BBC to do better, although their track record leaves me without much optimism.