The seeds of this Genocide were planted in the 1870s with the emergence of Zionism. The Zionists erased the Palestinians even before they started colonizing Palestine (“land without a people, for a people without the land”). They achieved a large part of their goal of ethnic cleansing and killing during the Nakba in 1948 and I n 1967. They are now finishing the job. All along, they have demonized the Palestinians for not accepting their fate as refugees and quasi-slaves.
The society is built on lies. Its schools and army indoctrinate its citizens into these lies and promote fear and hate of the “Palestinian other”. The society is deliberately kept in fear and historical trauma by its real history and by its false narratives. Is it a surprise that the Israelis have been moving steadily toward the right and more zealotry, racism, fascism? An unhealthy society such as this can only survive psychologically by taking more and more extreme positions. They may eventually even turn on each other. It is hard to see how it doesn’t eventually implode and self immolate. So sad to see the Palestinians pay the ultimate price of Israeli depravity.
Absolutely right and I have written about this in many of my essays to try to educate people about the history of Zionism and Israel and to put the present events in their appropriate context. Zionist settler-colonialism was supported right from the start by the big colonial powers. At first it was mainly Britain and after the 2nd World War, the US (another settler-colonial country) became Israel’s biggest supporter. If you haven’t already, I recommend Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine. We covered it in our last Book Club on Palestine series. It talks a lot about the role of the world in the history of Zionism. Without comprehensive support, Zionism would have gone nowhere and Israel would not exist. Western powers preferred to have Jews out of their countries and have an ally in an oil rich region that was not brown skinned. Disgusting.
Ilan Pappe’s Ten Myths about Israel also an easy and quick read which dispels all the myths and false narratives. Many other great books as well of course.
israeli society has become, not fascist which is authoritarian, but NAZI, which encompasses 1. Supremacy /chosen people;2. inhuman atrocities that violate all norms and laws; 3. ‘Lebensraum’ which is the greater israel project; 4. apartheid . Zionism IS nazism
Israel has not ‘become’. It always was. All settler-colonialist societies are based on the idea of supremacy of white people over indigenous people. When you have a group of people that you declare less human, or non-human or less worthy, then there is always a risk of atrocities against them. There are plenty of examples in history. Yes, Israel has exactly the same psychology and mindset the Nazis had but also all settler-colonial societies, which have all committed unspeakable atrocities against indigenous people. It is completely understandable to be furious and disgusted. I feel it too.
Actually they do, but they see this through the lens of antisemitism. In other words, it confirms to them that people hate them and feel disgust of them because they are Jewish. They do not use external mirroring as a way to propel introspection and growth. They simply hijack it under their preexisting paradigm.
I was going to add a small paragraph to my essay about how the Israeli media do sometimes share articles from other publications, that comment on what Israel is doing in a negative way. But when they do this, they never provide a link to the actual article. What they do instead, is tell that the article said this or that about something Israel did or is doing, but then use it as a ‘strawman’ to knock down, and to support their way of thinking.
Nothing really challenges cult psychology, no evidence, no reasoning, nothing. That is because cult psychology is primarily emotive and fear-driven. It tends to be rigid and not open to learning or challenge. Israeli society and its institutios, including their media use every trick in the book to tell themselves that they are right and everyone else is wrong.
I did not add this bit to the essay, because I could not find a good way to write it without messing up the essay and distracting people. To be honest, this very tactic deserves an essay in its own right. In the past when I tried to follow the trail of breadcrumbs and find the original article the Israeli paper was reporting about, I found nothing! Really interesting. I even wrote to one or two papers in the US to tell them that Israeli media were misrepresenting them. It didn’t lead to anything.
My pure SWAG is that a lot of Jewish people may on some level question what Israel is doing, but feel that group solidarity is their only defense, lest those who detest Israel lump all Jews into the same category, whether deserved or not.
I have noted elsewhere that Zionist demands for special pleading have created more genuine antisemites than all the drivel ever posted on Stormfront. However, a certain Zionist mindset sees the creation of antisemites as a good thing. "See how many enemies we have!"
There are some for whom it is too far away to resonate
There are some who just don't care
There are some who see nothing beyond their immediate living
There are some who see it as inevitable
There are some who are conditioned to see it as justified
There are some who share the hate of Israel for Arabs
There are some who stand to gain from it
There are some who relish it
There are many sick people in a humanity that is, itself, sick.
....
Social science has a theory that is useful for explaining how people respond to tragedies of others. It is known as The Discount Theory. Too much to go into fully here but, in brief, it illustrates the differing stages of people's reactions from denial to action:
Denial - The problem doesn't exist.
Minimisation - Ok, problem exists but it isn't significant.
Blame - Yes, significant problem but they bring it on themselves
Distancing - Someone should do something about it
Conscience - Perhaps I should discover more for I may be able to do something
Responsibility - It is my problem too - I need to do something and will
Action - I share the World with all so I am doing something about it.
As suggested, this is a very brief summary but it does show the 'stages' that people go through - or stop at - in relation to the pain and suffering and such of others. This is a sequence of understanding and some never move from the first step or one of the subsequent steps. It does, however, give a more objective and non-critical or accusative way of assessing the attitude or views of others.
Thank you for your clear and cogent analysis, and your continuing compassion. As we approach the Winter Solstice, may the coming year be the start of a better tomorrow.
You approach the Winter Solstice but for us in the southern hemisphere, it’s the Summer Solstice. I am becoming obsessed with the default Northern seasonal setting that is across everything on the internet. We are SO connected to each other so easily, yet it is not possible via the internet to be properly, satisfyingly connected. Born in the north, it’s always missing half the story - and if that is true, it’s not doing truly global and that, in some crazy way could be it’s downfall. Our seasons carry patterns of life and death, which of course continue at all times but we have stories of the entire life cycle hooked to our seasonal reality. Sorry, Joh in HK, I’ll stop there and go and follow my thoughts about this! I’ll just say that tomorrow, I will be phoning my mum in north Wales from here in New Zealand and telling her how happy I am the sun is on its way back to her. She does the same for me in on June 21st. We cheer each other when we are in the deep darkness and know the other is being held in the light. And the darkness is so wonderful too, recognising the instinct to turn inward and rest and nourish….I wish peace and love to everyone because I am lucky enough to have both those things. I despair at the suffering going on. What can I do? Exist in the space around the globe where we are travelling in the winds, rushing towards the arms of those we love. ❤️
The northern hemisphere bias is a result of the dominance of the USA, together with the relative freedom of publication and distribution in the democracies of that region and the native English speaking populations. So, it is virtually inevitable that this bias exists.
I agree that it can be frustrating, even annoying, as I participate in many forums and on many platforms, which almost, if not all, are based in the US. Amongst everything else, a major irritant is the number of Americanisms that I find it hard to tolerate - yes call me a purist if you wish - though I'm not. I'm referring to words such as 'gotten' instead of got; 'bring' - when take is meant; 'getgo' instead of start or beginning; 'continue on' - when the final preposition is redundant; and many other perversions of the language, not least what is becoming increasingly common: 'uptick' instead of uptake. :-)
Yes, I know what you mean. One of my pet irritants is the use of ‘lay’ instead of ‘lie’… People have forgotten to say ‘lie down’ and they use the past tense of lie, ‘lay’ as a regular verb. E.g. ‘You need to lay down to rest’..
I might be wrong, but this really gets on my nerves and I believe it began in US English. The infiltration of often poor US English grammar and vocabulary into other dialects of English demonstrates the extent and impact of US cultural and economic imperialism/colonialism. If I had a few lifetimes, I would have chosen linguistics as one of my careers. Language and culture are inseparable. I see what you see.
Avigail, appreciate the deep introspection that permeates the piece. For the rest of us, this insight is invaluable, especially the seamlessness of israeli society and its mass media and in a same vein society and the military. One point that I am curious about is your what-seems-obvious "They [Palestinian citizens] obviously do not agree with what Jewish Israeli society does, and do not participate in it." But I've often noticed some puzzling statistics: Consider Q11 from the Jan 2024 Tel Aviv Peace Index Survey[2] which asks "How would you define the use of force by the IDF in the war in Gaza until now?" with possible responses Appropriate use of force; Use of too much force; Use of too little force; Don’t know" split along Jews and Israeli Arabs. A whopping 97%+ of jews are comfortable with the level of force - which tracks to your observations in the article. However, almost 25% of arabs also do not seem to believe that excess force was used. So while we have divergence between the two sides I would have thought there would have been more - especially on a question such as this. Which seems to suggest that the media indoctrination works - quite well - on the Israeli Arabs (Israeli Palestinians) as well. Or there is no media that speaks to them. Or outside world media is censored before it reaches them. Or something? Thoughts?
Thank you for bringing this up, and of course for reading and commenting. The Palestinian citizens of Israel live in fear and are under close and dangerous surveillance. There are deep layers to this that the world does not know about. This is why I linked to Susan Nathan’s book, _The Other Side of Israel_, which I hope some people would read.
Many Palestinian citizens of Israel are deeply suspicious and fearful of the Israeli state and its authorities. I would not trust what some Palestinians say on surveys, because I am sure they worry about their own responses (and trust me, they have good reasons to). But even if that were not the case, no group or society are a monolith and all societies have many layers within them. No colonialism in the modern era could have worked without the collaboration of a section of the native population. I have described in other articles (and in my book Therapy without a therapist) what happens in the human brain when we are under threat. I don’t blame people for sometimes acting out of pure self-preservation, especially under extreme stress, at the cost of everything and anything else. I work to become a person whose executive brain will never shut down under threat, no matter what. That’s the goal.
But to your point, I can tell you that the survey is accurate in that the vast majority of Israeli Jews believe their government and their military are not doing enough to keep them safe and are therefore pushing for more brutality and more outrageous behaviours. As for the Palestinian section of the survey, I would say the results should be seen as unreliable and not representative of reality for the reasons I mentioned above.
Exactly. Surveys are always flawed and always to be taken with a pinch of salt. Understanding context is so important to makes sense of survey results. I studied this at university so pay little attention to surveys. They are an expression of our (limbic) human need for some certainty in the world and they are a product of a reductionist and empiricist form of thinking. The moment you apply a survey, you change reality. There is no such thing as complete separation between our subjective reality and the world out there. Anyone who thinks we can observe the world objectively does not understand science or the human mind. In quantum physics it has long been established that the mind/consciousness of the observer, the very fact of observing changes how matter behaves in the world. Look up the famous ‘double slit experiment’, but you probably know about this already. We are not separate from the world around us. We form an intricate complex system. One of the properties of complex systems is that they cannot be reduced to their components and cannot be understood by studying those components independently. You can learn something about an aspect of reality but by no means get a real picture of how things are.
Shortly before the western backed regime in Afghanistan collapsed, supporters of that regime touted opinion polls which would indicate that only 20% of Afghan citizens supported the Taliban, that these were anonymous phone polls, etc..
Well, duh!
Besides a strongly self-selecting sample (not all Afghans have phones), those who do pick up the phone have nothing to gain by telling the pollster the truth, and a lot to lose if that "anonymous" survey turns out to be not quite so anonymous as advertised.
The only thing surprising about that survey is that 20% of the respondents had the stones to tell the pollster what they clearly didn't want to hear.
"People" - today - everywhere, not just in Israhell, have no real opposition to the regime. We are ruled by big-money & big-tech alone. We have no life as such, we just exist, but inside some digital-prison - a form of "invisible" techno-fascism. Human life seems like a controlled environment of big business rather than an organic expression of human community. This reality appears universal? - big-tech and other psychos are now at the wheel. Or at least that’s the way they want us to think. This looks the general arrangement without existence of an alternative. Letting computers do everything for us took our social and personal values and made them into a virtual game, like we are in a massive WWE show - which is not really ours without the ability to get out. They seem to have convinced us that this is just fine. I think that was the message of the film 'Get Out' (rather than the race theme).
Thanks Ben. You are right and I think that in the short time humanity has existed it has never achieved much more than self-preservation/existence. There are eight billion of us and we have colonised almost the entire planet at the cost of so many other species and life forms.
We may be filled with our own unjustified sense of self-importance, but reality is that we are a tiny blip in the history of this planet. We are exactly the same as our ancestors from 50,000 years ago, except for our technology. We are yet to figure out that mere existence, survival is not the goal but the means to an end (I have written about this many times in other essays).
We are, so far a failed, or (rapidly?) failing species. We have been failing at developing towards our potential, and are confusing technological progress with real progress.
Technology in the hands of a primitive/unintegrated/unethical/destructive species like us simply helps us do what we have always done, just more quickly and more comprehensively. The bubble we live in is not caused by technology. It’s always existed and it is mostly psychological. Technology just helps us turn our psychological bubble into a tangible thing in the world (what you describe, social media, etc).
Aggressive, predatory people have always been in charge. Having more money is the modern day equivalent of taking all the berries from the bush, and leaving none or very little to others. If the taker of the berries was an aggressive individual without ethics or empathy, those who challenged them got bashed up or killed. Our kind saw that aggression, ruthlessness and selfishness led to more abundance, and better conditions for the aggressor and probably thought that since we cannot fight them, we might want to put them in charge. So the majority have lived on the scraps of what those in charge would allow them to have. Nothing has changed and this is the real tragedy of our species. But we can change and we know how to do it. We just need to want to.
Most people have been conditioned to believe that nothing can change and that we are always doomed to be this way To a greater or lesser extent, each individual is taught to just make the most of it and do their best to carve their little niche in the world and stay alive. I was brought up exactly this way. I wrote about this too. I never bought it, and after twenty-five years in practice as a therapist, I know what is possible for at least half of us, but possibly more. We need to insist on growing towards our potential and not allowing our spirit to be broken by destructive, not to mention archaic and obsolete belief systems. This stuff is everywhere in my essays. It’s all I talk about…
Israel (and a hell it is), as you rightly say, is a case study, an example of humanity’s most primitive psychology. It shows us what not to be, and how important it is that we move away from ancient and obsolete tribalism and survivalism. Israel only shows a problem that is species-wide. You are absolutely correct.
Genetically we are closest to chimpanzees and bonobos. But socially we are organised like chimpanzees, not bonobos. Read up on it if you don’t know what I am talking about.
There is nothing new under the sun, and something needs to change. ‘Get out’ is right, but it is a mindset (although, to be honest, if a spaceship lands in the field next door, and the aliens offer me to go with them to their planet, I am going. Let me know your address, so we can pick you up on the way…🥴)
Another worthy group, and there are many, is Combatants for Peace.
Consider supporting this Israeli organization made up of former soldiers and fighters, both Israelis and Palestinians who have turned their life efforts towards peace. Combatants for Peace, https://cfpeace.org In the USA, you can support through the American Friends of Combatants for Peace at https://www.afcfp.org
I know of them and they are really good, but notice that they are still dancing around the term ‘settler-colonialism’ and are not spelling it out. They avoid engaging with the real problem of Zionism and the real reasons for the Nakba, etc. They are almost all the way there, but not entirely, which is why I am always sceptical. They and ‘Breaking the Silence’ are really keen to redeem themselves from the crimes they committed or that they have colluded with. It is ok of course, but their failure to speak openly about settler-colonialism hints at some left over shreds of loyalty to the tribe. I am experienced enough to have some sensitivity to this.
It is a good move in the right direction. The biggest contribution that these organisations offer, is that they provide the evidence needed to nail Israel and its war criminals in the courts.
Of course they do, but knowing and caring are two different things. Psychopaths know what they do, but they do not care about their impact on others, and often even enjoy it. Not everyone in Israel is a diagnosable psychopath (although most of the members of the ‘elite’ units committing the genocide in Gaza are). But Jewish Israeli society as a group *desires* the completion of the genocide. They want *all* the Palestinians removed from all of historic Palestine by any means possible and they enjoy what they see as their ‘achievements'. The words racism does not even begin to describe this.
There is a huge lust for revenge in Jewish Israeli society fomented by the insidious and relentless indoctrination about the holocaust and antisemitism. The Palestinians are the scapegoat of the deep hatred and lust for revenge that Israeli society has cultivated for seventy-six years. What we see now was always going to happen and to different degrees was happening behind the scenes and away from the media for decades. This is more of the same and on a much larger scale, with a complete ‘fuck-you’ attitude to the rest of the world.
The GHOST OF GOEBBELS “ MINISTRY OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND PROPAGANDA “ is alive and well in ISRAEL. As Hitler once said “ Winning the Hearts and Minds of the people comes first”.
To answer your last question Avigail, for the powerful to defend Israel's victims the powerful first need to find value in those victims. But the powerful have little to do with Palestinians and therefore take no actions from the perspective of Palestinians, only from the perspective of what Israel wants. So I don't I don't think Israel believes it can be stopped at least within the levant.
Just as I felt like I am falling into a defeatist position of inaction, I awoke to this post referencing yours. I will reread it every week going forward.
Excellent writing, Abigail - thank you so much to take the time, and effort to formulate! It is very helpful for us who cant or don't read the Hebrew press!
And thank you for your kind comment and for reading Beatrice. I have been busy ‘airing the dirty laundry’ on Israel for more than two decades now. My sense is that people do their best to understand Israel and tend to buy the convenient propaganda that portrays Israel as another ‘white’, ‘Western’, democracy with values and structures they can grasp because they are similar to what they experience in their own societies. But that image is only a veneer. The truth is very different. This is why I write. I am pleased that my writings are helpful. Thank you.
I've sent you the suggestions and received an automatic response saying that you won't be checking your work email until 6th January. Is there an alternative email address that I can use for this purpose?
Brilliant, incisive exposure of the deceit underpinning all colonialist criminal enterprises. I would add that there is a history of ‘colonialist cultures’ either actively or passively supporting each others criminal activities. Without US (and their western lapdogs) diplomatic support, money and arms, Israel would be nothing. The irony of ‘gods chosen people’ relying upon sociopaths and narcissists is certainly lost on Israel’s ignorant and thuggish society. Well said Avigail 👍💚
Absolutely Brendan and as I said in another comment, Zionist settler-colonialism was supported right from the start by the big colonial powers. At first it was mainly Britain and after the 2nd World War, the US (another settler-colonial country) became Israel’s biggest supporter. Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine that we covered it in our last Book Club on Palestine series talks a lot about the role of the world in the history of Zionism. Without comprehensive support, Zionism would have gone nowhere and Israel would not exist. Western powers preferred to have Jews out of their own countries, and have an ally in an oil rich region that was not brown skinned. A disgusting and cynical ‘win-win’ for them that came at the expense of yet another indigenous people. Thank you for your support Brendan! 💚
Most Israelis will probably have no idea how utterly disgusted the sane folks are, among the world community towards them and their government. And to make things worse, the Western governments who are complicit in their unconditional support for Israel, are continuously fanning their ego.
The seeds of this Genocide were planted in the 1870s with the emergence of Zionism. The Zionists erased the Palestinians even before they started colonizing Palestine (“land without a people, for a people without the land”). They achieved a large part of their goal of ethnic cleansing and killing during the Nakba in 1948 and I n 1967. They are now finishing the job. All along, they have demonized the Palestinians for not accepting their fate as refugees and quasi-slaves.
The society is built on lies. Its schools and army indoctrinate its citizens into these lies and promote fear and hate of the “Palestinian other”. The society is deliberately kept in fear and historical trauma by its real history and by its false narratives. Is it a surprise that the Israelis have been moving steadily toward the right and more zealotry, racism, fascism? An unhealthy society such as this can only survive psychologically by taking more and more extreme positions. They may eventually even turn on each other. It is hard to see how it doesn’t eventually implode and self immolate. So sad to see the Palestinians pay the ultimate price of Israeli depravity.
Absolutely right and I have written about this in many of my essays to try to educate people about the history of Zionism and Israel and to put the present events in their appropriate context. Zionist settler-colonialism was supported right from the start by the big colonial powers. At first it was mainly Britain and after the 2nd World War, the US (another settler-colonial country) became Israel’s biggest supporter. If you haven’t already, I recommend Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine. We covered it in our last Book Club on Palestine series. It talks a lot about the role of the world in the history of Zionism. Without comprehensive support, Zionism would have gone nowhere and Israel would not exist. Western powers preferred to have Jews out of their countries and have an ally in an oil rich region that was not brown skinned. Disgusting.
Ilan Pappe’s Ten Myths about Israel also an easy and quick read which dispels all the myths and false narratives. Many other great books as well of course.
Yes, it is a very helpful book and as you say there are many others too. 🙏
israeli society has become, not fascist which is authoritarian, but NAZI, which encompasses 1. Supremacy /chosen people;2. inhuman atrocities that violate all norms and laws; 3. ‘Lebensraum’ which is the greater israel project; 4. apartheid . Zionism IS nazism
Israel has not ‘become’. It always was. All settler-colonialist societies are based on the idea of supremacy of white people over indigenous people. When you have a group of people that you declare less human, or non-human or less worthy, then there is always a risk of atrocities against them. There are plenty of examples in history. Yes, Israel has exactly the same psychology and mindset the Nazis had but also all settler-colonial societies, which have all committed unspeakable atrocities against indigenous people. It is completely understandable to be furious and disgusted. I feel it too.
Actually they do, but they see this through the lens of antisemitism. In other words, it confirms to them that people hate them and feel disgust of them because they are Jewish. They do not use external mirroring as a way to propel introspection and growth. They simply hijack it under their preexisting paradigm.
I was going to add a small paragraph to my essay about how the Israeli media do sometimes share articles from other publications, that comment on what Israel is doing in a negative way. But when they do this, they never provide a link to the actual article. What they do instead, is tell that the article said this or that about something Israel did or is doing, but then use it as a ‘strawman’ to knock down, and to support their way of thinking.
Nothing really challenges cult psychology, no evidence, no reasoning, nothing. That is because cult psychology is primarily emotive and fear-driven. It tends to be rigid and not open to learning or challenge. Israeli society and its institutios, including their media use every trick in the book to tell themselves that they are right and everyone else is wrong.
I did not add this bit to the essay, because I could not find a good way to write it without messing up the essay and distracting people. To be honest, this very tactic deserves an essay in its own right. In the past when I tried to follow the trail of breadcrumbs and find the original article the Israeli paper was reporting about, I found nothing! Really interesting. I even wrote to one or two papers in the US to tell them that Israeli media were misrepresenting them. It didn’t lead to anything.
My pure SWAG is that a lot of Jewish people may on some level question what Israel is doing, but feel that group solidarity is their only defense, lest those who detest Israel lump all Jews into the same category, whether deserved or not.
I have noted elsewhere that Zionist demands for special pleading have created more genuine antisemites than all the drivel ever posted on Stormfront. However, a certain Zionist mindset sees the creation of antisemites as a good thing. "See how many enemies we have!"
Nothing more ...
Sadly:
There are some who don't want to see
There are some for whom it is too far away to resonate
There are some who just don't care
There are some who see nothing beyond their immediate living
There are some who see it as inevitable
There are some who are conditioned to see it as justified
There are some who share the hate of Israel for Arabs
There are some who stand to gain from it
There are some who relish it
There are many sick people in a humanity that is, itself, sick.
....
Social science has a theory that is useful for explaining how people respond to tragedies of others. It is known as The Discount Theory. Too much to go into fully here but, in brief, it illustrates the differing stages of people's reactions from denial to action:
Denial - The problem doesn't exist.
Minimisation - Ok, problem exists but it isn't significant.
Blame - Yes, significant problem but they bring it on themselves
Distancing - Someone should do something about it
Conscience - Perhaps I should discover more for I may be able to do something
Responsibility - It is my problem too - I need to do something and will
Action - I share the World with all so I am doing something about it.
As suggested, this is a very brief summary but it does show the 'stages' that people go through - or stop at - in relation to the pain and suffering and such of others. This is a sequence of understanding and some never move from the first step or one of the subsequent steps. It does, however, give a more objective and non-critical or accusative way of assessing the attitude or views of others.
Take care. Stay safe. ☮️
this is absolutely brilliant concept, and very helpful, thank you ! ... obviously other people have thought and written about long and hard
Very good!
Nazi Germany employed many of the same rhetorical tropes that Israel uses today.
Absolutely. Israel is hardly original, and neither were the Nazis for that matter. All perpetrators do the same, as individuals or as groups.
Israel, like Nazi Germany, is simply what you get when any group of humans gets de facto unlimited power and no obligations.
Instant assholes. No need even to add water.
Thank you for your clear and cogent analysis, and your continuing compassion. As we approach the Winter Solstice, may the coming year be the start of a better tomorrow.
Amen.
You approach the Winter Solstice but for us in the southern hemisphere, it’s the Summer Solstice. I am becoming obsessed with the default Northern seasonal setting that is across everything on the internet. We are SO connected to each other so easily, yet it is not possible via the internet to be properly, satisfyingly connected. Born in the north, it’s always missing half the story - and if that is true, it’s not doing truly global and that, in some crazy way could be it’s downfall. Our seasons carry patterns of life and death, which of course continue at all times but we have stories of the entire life cycle hooked to our seasonal reality. Sorry, Joh in HK, I’ll stop there and go and follow my thoughts about this! I’ll just say that tomorrow, I will be phoning my mum in north Wales from here in New Zealand and telling her how happy I am the sun is on its way back to her. She does the same for me in on June 21st. We cheer each other when we are in the deep darkness and know the other is being held in the light. And the darkness is so wonderful too, recognising the instinct to turn inward and rest and nourish….I wish peace and love to everyone because I am lucky enough to have both those things. I despair at the suffering going on. What can I do? Exist in the space around the globe where we are travelling in the winds, rushing towards the arms of those we love. ❤️
The northern hemisphere bias is a result of the dominance of the USA, together with the relative freedom of publication and distribution in the democracies of that region and the native English speaking populations. So, it is virtually inevitable that this bias exists.
I agree that it can be frustrating, even annoying, as I participate in many forums and on many platforms, which almost, if not all, are based in the US. Amongst everything else, a major irritant is the number of Americanisms that I find it hard to tolerate - yes call me a purist if you wish - though I'm not. I'm referring to words such as 'gotten' instead of got; 'bring' - when take is meant; 'getgo' instead of start or beginning; 'continue on' - when the final preposition is redundant; and many other perversions of the language, not least what is becoming increasingly common: 'uptick' instead of uptake. :-)
Yes, I know what you mean. One of my pet irritants is the use of ‘lay’ instead of ‘lie’… People have forgotten to say ‘lie down’ and they use the past tense of lie, ‘lay’ as a regular verb. E.g. ‘You need to lay down to rest’..
I might be wrong, but this really gets on my nerves and I believe it began in US English. The infiltration of often poor US English grammar and vocabulary into other dialects of English demonstrates the extent and impact of US cultural and economic imperialism/colonialism. If I had a few lifetimes, I would have chosen linguistics as one of my careers. Language and culture are inseparable. I see what you see.
Don’t forget ‘write me’ 🤓
reading this makes me cry!
Crying is good. 🩷
I know but weeping feels like a sacred duty sometimes xx
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a case with the ICC against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.
https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/hind-rajab-foundation-files-historic-icc-complaint-against-1000-israeli-soldiers-for-war-crimes-in-gaza
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Brilliant! Thank you.
Avigail, appreciate the deep introspection that permeates the piece. For the rest of us, this insight is invaluable, especially the seamlessness of israeli society and its mass media and in a same vein society and the military. One point that I am curious about is your what-seems-obvious "They [Palestinian citizens] obviously do not agree with what Jewish Israeli society does, and do not participate in it." But I've often noticed some puzzling statistics: Consider Q11 from the Jan 2024 Tel Aviv Peace Index Survey[2] which asks "How would you define the use of force by the IDF in the war in Gaza until now?" with possible responses Appropriate use of force; Use of too much force; Use of too little force; Don’t know" split along Jews and Israeli Arabs. A whopping 97%+ of jews are comfortable with the level of force - which tracks to your observations in the article. However, almost 25% of arabs also do not seem to believe that excess force was used. So while we have divergence between the two sides I would have thought there would have been more - especially on a question such as this. Which seems to suggest that the media indoctrination works - quite well - on the Israeli Arabs (Israeli Palestinians) as well. Or there is no media that speaks to them. Or outside world media is censored before it reaches them. Or something? Thoughts?
[1]https://en-social-sciences.tau.ac.il/sites/socsci-english.tau.ac.il/files/media_server/social/peaceindex/2024-01-findings.pdf
Thank you for bringing this up, and of course for reading and commenting. The Palestinian citizens of Israel live in fear and are under close and dangerous surveillance. There are deep layers to this that the world does not know about. This is why I linked to Susan Nathan’s book, _The Other Side of Israel_, which I hope some people would read.
Many Palestinian citizens of Israel are deeply suspicious and fearful of the Israeli state and its authorities. I would not trust what some Palestinians say on surveys, because I am sure they worry about their own responses (and trust me, they have good reasons to). But even if that were not the case, no group or society are a monolith and all societies have many layers within them. No colonialism in the modern era could have worked without the collaboration of a section of the native population. I have described in other articles (and in my book Therapy without a therapist) what happens in the human brain when we are under threat. I don’t blame people for sometimes acting out of pure self-preservation, especially under extreme stress, at the cost of everything and anything else. I work to become a person whose executive brain will never shut down under threat, no matter what. That’s the goal.
But to your point, I can tell you that the survey is accurate in that the vast majority of Israeli Jews believe their government and their military are not doing enough to keep them safe and are therefore pushing for more brutality and more outrageous behaviours. As for the Palestinian section of the survey, I would say the results should be seen as unreliable and not representative of reality for the reasons I mentioned above.
Sincerely, I wouldn't tell what I really think in a survey, and I am living in Spain!
Exactly. Surveys are always flawed and always to be taken with a pinch of salt. Understanding context is so important to makes sense of survey results. I studied this at university so pay little attention to surveys. They are an expression of our (limbic) human need for some certainty in the world and they are a product of a reductionist and empiricist form of thinking. The moment you apply a survey, you change reality. There is no such thing as complete separation between our subjective reality and the world out there. Anyone who thinks we can observe the world objectively does not understand science or the human mind. In quantum physics it has long been established that the mind/consciousness of the observer, the very fact of observing changes how matter behaves in the world. Look up the famous ‘double slit experiment’, but you probably know about this already. We are not separate from the world around us. We form an intricate complex system. One of the properties of complex systems is that they cannot be reduced to their components and cannot be understood by studying those components independently. You can learn something about an aspect of reality but by no means get a real picture of how things are.
Shortly before the western backed regime in Afghanistan collapsed, supporters of that regime touted opinion polls which would indicate that only 20% of Afghan citizens supported the Taliban, that these were anonymous phone polls, etc..
Well, duh!
Besides a strongly self-selecting sample (not all Afghans have phones), those who do pick up the phone have nothing to gain by telling the pollster the truth, and a lot to lose if that "anonymous" survey turns out to be not quite so anonymous as advertised.
The only thing surprising about that survey is that 20% of the respondents had the stones to tell the pollster what they clearly didn't want to hear.
"People" - today - everywhere, not just in Israhell, have no real opposition to the regime. We are ruled by big-money & big-tech alone. We have no life as such, we just exist, but inside some digital-prison - a form of "invisible" techno-fascism. Human life seems like a controlled environment of big business rather than an organic expression of human community. This reality appears universal? - big-tech and other psychos are now at the wheel. Or at least that’s the way they want us to think. This looks the general arrangement without existence of an alternative. Letting computers do everything for us took our social and personal values and made them into a virtual game, like we are in a massive WWE show - which is not really ours without the ability to get out. They seem to have convinced us that this is just fine. I think that was the message of the film 'Get Out' (rather than the race theme).
Thanks Ben. You are right and I think that in the short time humanity has existed it has never achieved much more than self-preservation/existence. There are eight billion of us and we have colonised almost the entire planet at the cost of so many other species and life forms.
We may be filled with our own unjustified sense of self-importance, but reality is that we are a tiny blip in the history of this planet. We are exactly the same as our ancestors from 50,000 years ago, except for our technology. We are yet to figure out that mere existence, survival is not the goal but the means to an end (I have written about this many times in other essays).
We are, so far a failed, or (rapidly?) failing species. We have been failing at developing towards our potential, and are confusing technological progress with real progress.
Technology in the hands of a primitive/unintegrated/unethical/destructive species like us simply helps us do what we have always done, just more quickly and more comprehensively. The bubble we live in is not caused by technology. It’s always existed and it is mostly psychological. Technology just helps us turn our psychological bubble into a tangible thing in the world (what you describe, social media, etc).
Aggressive, predatory people have always been in charge. Having more money is the modern day equivalent of taking all the berries from the bush, and leaving none or very little to others. If the taker of the berries was an aggressive individual without ethics or empathy, those who challenged them got bashed up or killed. Our kind saw that aggression, ruthlessness and selfishness led to more abundance, and better conditions for the aggressor and probably thought that since we cannot fight them, we might want to put them in charge. So the majority have lived on the scraps of what those in charge would allow them to have. Nothing has changed and this is the real tragedy of our species. But we can change and we know how to do it. We just need to want to.
Most people have been conditioned to believe that nothing can change and that we are always doomed to be this way To a greater or lesser extent, each individual is taught to just make the most of it and do their best to carve their little niche in the world and stay alive. I was brought up exactly this way. I wrote about this too. I never bought it, and after twenty-five years in practice as a therapist, I know what is possible for at least half of us, but possibly more. We need to insist on growing towards our potential and not allowing our spirit to be broken by destructive, not to mention archaic and obsolete belief systems. This stuff is everywhere in my essays. It’s all I talk about…
Israel (and a hell it is), as you rightly say, is a case study, an example of humanity’s most primitive psychology. It shows us what not to be, and how important it is that we move away from ancient and obsolete tribalism and survivalism. Israel only shows a problem that is species-wide. You are absolutely correct.
Genetically we are closest to chimpanzees and bonobos. But socially we are organised like chimpanzees, not bonobos. Read up on it if you don’t know what I am talking about.
There is nothing new under the sun, and something needs to change. ‘Get out’ is right, but it is a mindset (although, to be honest, if a spaceship lands in the field next door, and the aliens offer me to go with them to their planet, I am going. Let me know your address, so we can pick you up on the way…🥴)
I’m still smiling from the thought of that spacecraft. We still have our imagination. Thank you, Avigail.
So glad I made you smile 😊
Never get into a spaceship with aliens you don’t know!
Another worthy group, and there are many, is Combatants for Peace.
Consider supporting this Israeli organization made up of former soldiers and fighters, both Israelis and Palestinians who have turned their life efforts towards peace. Combatants for Peace, https://cfpeace.org In the USA, you can support through the American Friends of Combatants for Peace at https://www.afcfp.org
I know of them and they are really good, but notice that they are still dancing around the term ‘settler-colonialism’ and are not spelling it out. They avoid engaging with the real problem of Zionism and the real reasons for the Nakba, etc. They are almost all the way there, but not entirely, which is why I am always sceptical. They and ‘Breaking the Silence’ are really keen to redeem themselves from the crimes they committed or that they have colluded with. It is ok of course, but their failure to speak openly about settler-colonialism hints at some left over shreds of loyalty to the tribe. I am experienced enough to have some sensitivity to this.
It is a good move in the right direction. The biggest contribution that these organisations offer, is that they provide the evidence needed to nail Israel and its war criminals in the courts.
I believe that the entire GOVERNMENT and most of the IAF and IDF know what they are doing is unconscionable and unforgivable!
Of course they do, but knowing and caring are two different things. Psychopaths know what they do, but they do not care about their impact on others, and often even enjoy it. Not everyone in Israel is a diagnosable psychopath (although most of the members of the ‘elite’ units committing the genocide in Gaza are). But Jewish Israeli society as a group *desires* the completion of the genocide. They want *all* the Palestinians removed from all of historic Palestine by any means possible and they enjoy what they see as their ‘achievements'. The words racism does not even begin to describe this.
There is a huge lust for revenge in Jewish Israeli society fomented by the insidious and relentless indoctrination about the holocaust and antisemitism. The Palestinians are the scapegoat of the deep hatred and lust for revenge that Israeli society has cultivated for seventy-six years. What we see now was always going to happen and to different degrees was happening behind the scenes and away from the media for decades. This is more of the same and on a much larger scale, with a complete ‘fuck-you’ attitude to the rest of the world.
The GHOST OF GOEBBELS “ MINISTRY OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND PROPAGANDA “ is alive and well in ISRAEL. As Hitler once said “ Winning the Hearts and Minds of the people comes first”.
To answer your last question Avigail, for the powerful to defend Israel's victims the powerful first need to find value in those victims. But the powerful have little to do with Palestinians and therefore take no actions from the perspective of Palestinians, only from the perspective of what Israel wants. So I don't I don't think Israel believes it can be stopped at least within the levant.
Yes, and this sad observation and prediction points to how well we are failing as a species…
Just as I felt like I am falling into a defeatist position of inaction, I awoke to this post referencing yours. I will reread it every week going forward.
https://open.substack.com/pub/alonmizrahi/p/dont-do-resistance-be-resistance
👏🏾. Fantastic piece (as always)! Happy Holidays!!!
Thank you so much and you too!
Excellent writing, Abigail - thank you so much to take the time, and effort to formulate! It is very helpful for us who cant or don't read the Hebrew press!
And thank you for your kind comment and for reading Beatrice. I have been busy ‘airing the dirty laundry’ on Israel for more than two decades now. My sense is that people do their best to understand Israel and tend to buy the convenient propaganda that portrays Israel as another ‘white’, ‘Western’, democracy with values and structures they can grasp because they are similar to what they experience in their own societies. But that image is only a veneer. The truth is very different. This is why I write. I am pleased that my writings are helpful. Thank you.
Wow! Another amazing article.
I've sent you the suggestions and received an automatic response saying that you won't be checking your work email until 6th January. Is there an alternative email address that I can use for this purpose?
Thank you as always Adam. I have replied to your email, which will clarify things. 🙏🏼
Brilliant, incisive exposure of the deceit underpinning all colonialist criminal enterprises. I would add that there is a history of ‘colonialist cultures’ either actively or passively supporting each others criminal activities. Without US (and their western lapdogs) diplomatic support, money and arms, Israel would be nothing. The irony of ‘gods chosen people’ relying upon sociopaths and narcissists is certainly lost on Israel’s ignorant and thuggish society. Well said Avigail 👍💚
Absolutely Brendan and as I said in another comment, Zionist settler-colonialism was supported right from the start by the big colonial powers. At first it was mainly Britain and after the 2nd World War, the US (another settler-colonial country) became Israel’s biggest supporter. Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine that we covered it in our last Book Club on Palestine series talks a lot about the role of the world in the history of Zionism. Without comprehensive support, Zionism would have gone nowhere and Israel would not exist. Western powers preferred to have Jews out of their own countries, and have an ally in an oil rich region that was not brown skinned. A disgusting and cynical ‘win-win’ for them that came at the expense of yet another indigenous people. Thank you for your support Brendan! 💚
Most Israelis will probably have no idea how utterly disgusted the sane folks are, among the world community towards them and their government. And to make things worse, the Western governments who are complicit in their unconditional support for Israel, are continuously fanning their ego.