It’s Sharon all over again. Pile the pressure on the Palestinians, and then once the extremists move to exploit it, use that to justify whatever you wanted to do all along.
It’s a truly sick state of affairs. Sheer fucking depravity.
It’s fair to say that the Palestinians are crippled by political incompetence, but I just find it unbearable to watch. Palestinians deserve better, Israelis deserve better.
It’s a bit long in the tooth now, but this book has some solid background on the cleft stick on which the Palestinians seem to be stuck. I’ve used it in class and while it’s heavy on historical stuff it does give a sense of the balance between self-inflicted damage and the effects of outside forces, from Britain to Israel.
That looks very interesting, thanks!
It’s not an easy read, but it’s easier than, say, Said’s Orientalism at least and on par with most serious books about the conflict. It’s particularly helpful in getting a handle on the limited maneuvering room the Palestinians have had, dating back to the Mandate.
You should see my library. Once you’ve read a communist dialectic runthrough on the finer intricacies of the Spanish Civil War, books just can’t hurt you anymore.
I guess it goes a lot broader than Israel and Palestine, and I haven’t vetted the options yet, but I was meaning to pick up a proper book on the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
Redrawing the Middle-East by Michael Berdine was as far as I looked, and I’m swamped with stuff to read, so I’m trying not to add to the pile right now.
Thanks for the recommendation though, it looks interesting!
For easy consumption I would really recommend The Gatekeepers to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It’s a pretty remarkable documentary outlining the views of several former heads of the Shabak, who give their opinions on what Israel needs to do in order to prosper in the future.
Thrag
4908
Shit is hitting the fan in the holy land.
KevinC
4909
I’m sure Bibi is getting what he wants here. So depressing, the endless suffering that the people go through. Fuck everyone in power down there, both Israel and Hamas.
Eight killed at a synagogue in East Jerusalem, after nine Palestinians killed early in the week by Israeli security forces. It’s hard to tell that much has changed since, oh, about 3000 years ago maybe. Except then the violence was actually more logical.
marxeil
4912
Why would leaving the west bank put a damper on economic growth. There’s no revenue coming from there, just trouble.
This has been suggested but most Israelis, including many lefties don’t believe that it’s possible. The truth is that it is possible, but will take decades of patience and sacrifice, which no one wants to make.
Here’s a piece about Ami Ayalon, who was the head of Shayetet 13 (like navy seals), the navy and Shabak (General Security Service, MI5/NSA equivalent):
If Israel becomes that dystopia, it won’t be because of “a handful of armed theologians dragging us into the dark past. The secular majority will lead us there, motivated by fear and propelled by silence.”
The 90s peace process was led by the literal old guard. The guys who had been on the front line since 1948. They realized that a just peace was the only solution. But they’re all gone now.
Hell, I remember reading quotes in Atlantic cover stories in the 2000s from Israeli officers and soldiers who recognized that the status quo was just creating future terrorists. Still, nothing changed.
Can we send Kushner back there? /S
Not all gone, to be fair. You’re not exactly wrong, I think the guys who had the full story maybe had more respect for the original sins of Israel, but people like Ami Ayalon are leaders in a movement that is fully dedicated to doing the right thing, and there are a lot of kids in Israel who know it’s right too.
I don’t think we can stress enough that Ami Ayalon was Shayatet 13. He was literally on the front line, killing Palestinian militants (and Egyptians, and whoever else) and today he is a full-throated proponent of an organization like Breaking the Silence, which helps Israeli soldiers speak about what really happens on deployment.
This is a guy who has been on a lot of deployments, and has killed people himself.
The final message of his book is that while the right in Israel tries to sabotage any hopes for peace, and poison the people against the notion, there is still a sizeable minority who know it’s the only way.
Another writer I really like, who was part of the Israeli peace movement, was Herbert Pundik. He was a Danish-born Israeli, and a brilliant journalist and political analyst, but I don’t know if his books were ever translated into English.
/edit/ I guess they aren’t. Which is a shame. They are brilliant.
He also wrote for Haaretz, and his analyses were always extremely sharp and insightful.
This stuff from Bibi makes it clear there is no prospect of a free and sovereign Palestine in his conception of Israel. It’s just a permanent colonial territory subject to Israel’s authority, perhaps with some fig leaf of local elections for city council or dogcatcher.
Anybody know what these people are protesting?
Edit: Ah, never mind, found it.
DoubleG
4920
Reading this tweet gave me whiplash. This guy’s a staff writer for the New Yorker.
