sheba

[Ben Mulroney @BenMulroney]

A new rock bottom

[Judea Pearl @yudapearl]

Agree on most points, except one. Rejection of Zionism basic tenet - the right of Jews to a homeland - is inherently racist, even if it is not accompanied with traditional anti-Jewish tropes. For early Zionists relations with Arabs see https://t.co/mdlTglc4r2

[Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib @afalkhatib]

What about Zionism? Most Palestinians believe that their traumatic lived experience is the direct result of Zionism & the Zionist project. My grandparents were pushed out of their homes in 1948, and I very much carry a generational trauma from their displacement. However, so many Palestinians & their allies still don't truly grasp the vast diversity of Zionism as an ideology & what it actually means to various Jewish & Israeli audiences. Zionists are not monolithic and come in all sorts of political, religious, social, and national orientations and tendencies. It’s hard to capture the nuances and intricacies of this topic in brief words on Twitter, but my main thoughts are:

1. The idea that the pro-Palestine cause can only be advanced by aligning with “anti-Zionist” Jews is inaccurate & and outright wrong and detrimental. Zionists are an inevitable part of the solution.

2. A Zionist doesn’t by default mean “anti-Palestinian” or anti just peace & coexistence with Palestinians. I understand why so many would think otherwise, but we need a different framework for working with Zionists and their beliefs to move forward and build a different future.

3. So many of the early Zionists were very left-leaning, pro-coexistence people who wanted to live side-by-side with the indigenous Palestinian population. And yes, many were militant from the get-go or became militant after skirmishes and clashes with Palestinian revolutionaries (right or wrong, but that’s what happened). The idea here is that Zionism is a diverse movement that was not just a bunch of angry or hateful European Jews who were seeking the displacement of Palestinians. There were also numerous Arab Jews who adopted Zionist ideologies because they, too (like many Muslims in the Middle East/ consider the Caliphates & their conquests), longed for a safe place that could unify them with their brethren.

4. Because of the thousands of years of diaspora & oppression, Zionism became an appealing ideology to so many Jews who were longing for a sense of belonging and the right to self-determination. I understand why so many Palestinians feel it's unfair for Jewish self-determination & liberation to come at their expense. But it’s important to understand this point to grasp why Zionism became a dominant theme within mainstream Judaism.

5. A free and prosperous Palestinian state will not come about from the “eradication” of Zionism, and the ideology is here to stay. Before you attack me as a “Zionist apologist," please understand that my motivation is for us to find a way to move forward & affect the trajectory of this horrendous and bloody conflict.

6. It is not inherently antisemitic to criticize Zionism, which is a multi-faceted ideology that should not be immune to critique & scrutiny. However, and especially in recent times, anti-Zionism critiques can often veer over to antisemitic tropes, stereotypes, and classically hateful sentiments that cross the line from anti-Israel/anti-Zionist activism to antisemitism. This has been especially disturbing to observe since the horrendous events of October 7th.

The Palestinian people have legitimate grievances that are worthy of a just resolution. The occupation of the West Bank cannot go on forever if Israel is to have a secure future as a Jewish state. The despicable calls for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza’s population by high-ranking Israeli officials are immoral, terrible, problematic and must be confronted.

Nevertheless, reductionist, simplistic slogans and rhetoric that pins all the ills, problems, issues, and current challenges experienced by Palestinians on Zionists and Zionism will neither advance the Palestinian cause nor will they help in understanding and working with Israelis and Jews for whom Israel means so much. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis are going anywhere – I'm not a Zionist. Still, I know that for peace to have any chance of succeeding, I have to work with Zionists and stop the endless cycle of demonization and dehumanization.

[The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome @TheMossadIL]

"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"
"Show us the proof!"

*shows the proof*

"Fake!"

[Melissa Chen @MsMelChen]

This conflict weighs so heavily on me. I have Jewish friends and I have Muslim friends. I have a deep affinity for Israel and for Arab culture, and do a lot of work in the Middle East.

But let’s be clear about some things. Anti-Israel + Pro-Palestine demonstrations erupted around the world *before* Israel responded.

BEFORE.

Let's recap that sequence of events.

1. Palestinian militants wake up in the morning and decide to go and murder Israeli civilians, take hostages, and declare their intent to destroy Israel

2. Demonstrations erupt around the world supporting Palestine and condemning Israel

3. Israel responds to this threat

Go back over it again in case there is any ambiguity.

There is no moral grey area to inhabit here. No fog of war that one can hide behind.

Palestinian militants murdered civilians. In cold blood. They raped Israeli women. They set children on fire and beheaded them. Grandmothers were raped so brutally their pelvis was broken. A pregnant woman had her baby cut out of her stomach and beheaded, only to then suffer beheading herself. Palestinian militants murdered Jews, on a mass scale, in the most barbaric and heinous ways possible. And then vowed that they would keep going, to the thunderous applause of their sympathisers living in the West.

Members of our intelligentsia and elite students openly cheered Hamas, laying the blame *entirely* at the feet of Israeli policy. They justified the most barbaric atrocities under the banner of liberation and decolonization.

If you can't see the problem with that, I don't know what else to tell you.

It is easier of course to just keep quiet, to not talk about it. But I am compelled to.

Because 90 years ago, no one spoke up.

Yet.

It is important to recognize that this is war, and in this war, there are people are dying on both sides - children, women, civilians.

Many people have been trying to build bridges to bring about peace – and all their work crumbled just like that. The world before Oct 7 was a different world. Peace in the Middle East was achievable and now, we’re back to reliving ancient hatreds between the sons of Abraham.

One of the problems with discourse today isn’t just about the things we say; sometimes it’s about the things we don’t say.

Even when we think that “our side” may have not been totally right, we hold back from criticizing because we fear weakening the moral standing of “our side.”

So on one side, they cannot criticise Hamas, and on the other, they cannot criticise the Israeli government / IDF. But Hamas isn’t Palestine, and the Israeli government isn’t Israelis / Jews.

This distinction is important. And for those who say “but Palestinians support Hamas overwhelmingly,” please ask yourself exactly what choice you would have if you were born into the same cultural and social milieu?

You’ve heard the phrase the “bigotry of low expectations.” Sometimes it is compassionate to expect less.

Moral clarity is important, but so is being compassionate and not giving up on humanity.

When will we beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks? When will we no longer take up sword against each other, nor train for war anymore?

I recall the words of Rudyard Kipling:

“What profit to kill men?”

“Very little - as I know; but if evil men were not now slain; it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers.”

[Karen Restoule @karenrestoule]

Last week, I co-signed a letter with other First Nations leaders to Minister Joly condemning the terrorist attacks by Hamas onto Israel and Jewish people.

I stand with Israel and the Jewish community.

cc: @CJPAC @CIJAinfo

[sheba @shebadigital]

@DanielOzerel @CIJAinfo @TorontoPolice was there in large numbers to dissipate the crowd

[Judea Pearl @yudapearl]

My nephew, Daniel Pearl's cousin, on his journey from goodwill idealism to painful realism: https://t.co/JvsEZNdeZx

[Michael Dickson @michaeldickson]

@Blklivesmatter Will you stand in solidarity with Avera Mengistu, who has been a captive of Hamas terrorists in #Gaza for six years?
If so and his life matters to you, please retweet this. #FreeAvera

[Monica Marks @MonicaLMarks]

One Israeli hostage is a 74 yr-old peace activist.

“I spent much time in Gaza until the 2nd intifada,” she wrote. “It infuriates me when ppl claim: We have no partner on the other side! I know so many Palestinians who yearn for peace no less than we do.”

https://t.co/fCBYPYw2ag

[Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇪🇲🇩 @acoyne]

The refusal of media orgs to call terrorists “terrorists” is one of the more discreditable of our traditions. I understand the concern about taking sides in larger disputes, but anyone who *deliberately targets* civilians in pursuit of their aims objectively meets the definition.

[Association Humura Association @AssociationHum7]

Humura Association condemns the terrorist attacks against the people of #Israell. Terror and #terrorism must be condemned and defeated, especially when it's done against innocent civilians. @CIJAinfo

[sheba @shebadigital]

@briames 💔

[sheba @shebadigital]

If hearing Israelis and diaspora Jews express worry and concern for Israel and their loved ones within it triggers feelings of:

“Well if Israel just -“
“If the settlers didn’t -“
“If-“

I encourage you to examine why you are unable to afford Israelis empathy and humanity.

[Aviva Klompas @AvivaKlompas]

Today Israeli civilians became the targets of an unprovoked attack that has left untold numbers of families broken.

The shock and fog of war are ongoing, but make no mistake, Israel will prevail.
It will strike back hard to defend its people and it’s nation.

[Aviva Klompas @AvivaKlompas]

I won’t share them, but there are horrifying videos circulating online. One video from Gaza shows the lifeless body of an Israeli soldier being trampled by an angry crowd shouting “God is Great.” Another shows a bloodied woman being pushed into a jeep. Another shows terrorists gunning down elderly Israelis.

These are people’s mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, their children and grandparents. Today will go down in infamy and history will remember if you stood with or against terrorism.

[The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome @TheMossadIL]

I personally know like 12 guys who look like that and they're all named Ori.

[David Moscrop @David_Moscrop]

How bad is the ticket waitlist for the Taylor Swift show in Toronto?

You’ve got a better chance of being able to buy a house.

[sheba @shebadigital]

@Ravbaruch @KBI_Ottawa This is the best crossover episode ever