My very reform parents sent me to Sunday School at a synagogue, (they called it a temple) to learn about our faith. I received some of the indoctrination, myths that you were subjected to not just on Sundays. When I was 8 years old, my teacher pulled me aside to ask why my end of year charitable donation that was required was designated to go to the Cancer Society. I held firm. My father had died from cancer.
Every country has myths about its founding that help form the loyalty necessary to keep the support of its citizens. In Israel’s case these myths were not always part of the central foundations of the Jewish religion. They have required educated historians and scientists working at Israeli universities to accept the bible as history as well as to bend the conclusions of scientific investigation to support these myths. The central myth of the Jewish “people’s” mass expulsion from their land is accepted by every Jew I know, but has no evidence supporting it. This story combined with the myth of Palestinians being told to leave their homes with the promise of return once the Jews had been defeated are the primary myths that support the colonial appropriation of the land that is now Israel and the occupied territories.
An excellent source one cane use to debunk some of the myths is A book by Shlomo Sand titled “The Invention of the Jewish People.”
Thank you James. Fascinating. You should write about your history, if you haven’t already. I read Shlomo Sand’s book in Hebrew and in English. It is brilliant. Amazingly, unlike Ilan Pappé’s books, it was published in Israel in Hebrew, but over there they consider it science fiction and people just ignore it.
I don’t know for sure. My suspicion is that Sand is still seen as a member of the group. He lives in Israel, and there is some tolerance there for dissent. They may still indulge some dissenters mainly because it serves Israel’s need to be seen as an open and self-critical democracy. But just because they allow people like Sand or Gideon Levy to publish dissent, does not mean they actually listen to them or read what they write.
Ilan published his books outside of Israel and in English first, and he lives and works in the UK. To publish his books in Israel, he would have to get a publisher and translator there. Because he is not there anymore, they ‘wash their hands off him’. If you have made a decision to leave *and* you speak against the group they can just ignore you. Things don’t always have a clear logic, of course, but this is what I am thinking. Ilan was told that his books would not be published in Hebrew, because they have ‘no academic merit’… 🙄
I think the criterium by which one Jewish dissenter is accepted but another is subjected to anathema and excommunication, is whether the said dissenter remains "within the tribe" - or "denounces" Jewish crimes to the Goyim. Thus Shlomo Sand might be still "one of us", but Pappe, Shahak or Hurwitz are the "mosers".
There is irony in the mass expulsion myth in that the Romans perceived the Jews in a similar way that Israelis perceive Palestinians, as zealots that love their god above their children. Another century long past marked by periodically "mowing the grass".
It is a curious thing, to me. Most Jews I know don't believe in God, and would scoff at Christians who interpret the Bible literally. But stories like Exodus are true in that they "feel true" even though everybody simultaneously knows this never happened - and not just the rivers of blood but the actual origins or a cohesive ethnoreligion transplanted directly from Egypt where they were slaves. The Canaanites may have been largely from Egypt at some point, but long before anything could have been written down. Perhaps this was integrated into the founding myth in some fashion, but it's mostly an intervention that seems to set the tone for everything that followed.
Avigail I read your essay on P & I and had directed others to that site. Shortly after, a reader directed me to this site in order to read the comments published here. I am pleased to now have done so and am the more impressed by your courage and your candour, and can say to you: Well done !
Upon more general matters, it no longer surprises me how often these days that God is referred to, invoked, mocked or praised and unbelievers chided for their dereliction of good citizenship.
As a consequence perhaps, I am reminded of attending a conversation long ago between two apparently ordinary people, one of whom asked the other: “Why does God allow evil to enter and to prosper in the world?" To which the other replied (surprisingly, to me): “God has nothing to do with it, evil is the manifestation of the ill-will of men and women."
When hearing people argue and squabble nowadays, I am reminded of the tale of the two wolves, one version of which goes like this;
One evening, an elderly Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside each of us.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”
“The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed.”
Thank you Julian for your delightful message, for reading and for taking the time to comment and offer such positive feedback. I am familiar with the story you told and there is wisdom in it. However, we now know that the two wolves are both aspects of ourself. None is good or bad, they just are and they both have a purpose in us. Instead of stopping to feed one of them, we actually need to integrate them. The two wolves represent two brain systems. The limbic and the executive/prefrontal cortex. If they are not sufficiently integrated, which is the case with most people it is normal to have inner war. The survival focused, fear-based, tribal limbic system shuts down the executive brain when it is triggered into fear or threat. It is a neurological fact that is well known. We also all feel it in ourselves. As we improve the linkage/integration between the two brain systems (vertical integration), the inner war disappears and we feel more inner harmony and plenty of other benefits. Better vertical integration is what we associate with growth, maturity, good mental health, inner flow, even enlightenment. I write about this in detail in my book Therapy Without A Therapy. Improving vertical integration is what therapy is supposed to help people do. But many people wouldn’t need a therapist to achieve this. Sorry for the lecture, but it is important and a key to developing towards our full human potential, which include being effortlessly peaceful, kind and gentle towards everyone and everything, including ourselves. Thanks so much once again!!
Avigail thank you for responding and for the “corrective” – which I feel was appropriate – not just for me, but for those less knowledgable on the vast subject of what it means to be human.
I freely admit that my including the wolf story was initially meant for those whom I thought might appreciate a simpler explanation of the persistence of evil in the world.
Only later did it occur to me that those visiting this site (or likely to) would be already advanced upon that sometimes lonely path to self-awareness and thus in no need of a homily from me.
Your welcome explanation of the importance and necessity of integration reminded me of a similar concept long forgotten, something which had been related to me in my early youth. Alas I cannot now recall the exact words, but offer a rough approximation:
“Your wants, desires and dreams will pull you in different directions, and you may liken yourself to the segments of an orange – parts of the whole, with your thoughts and your energy in different places. Think rather upon what it would be like to be yourself, whole and complete. What would your true self look like, feel like? If you have an ideal of Self, then become that ideal, not just for Self, but for everyone else.”
Lastly Avigail, I include a short excerpt from an old photocopied article (source unknown); it seems appropriate to do so here and it may perhaps remind others:
“Remember:
Whatever we steadfastly believe,
we will convince ourselves that it is true;
and whatever we know as a truth
will transform itself into a reality.
That is how powerful our creativity and our wills are”.
I am so sorry if my ‘corrective’ response came across as patronising. It was not at all my intention.
Thank you again for your lovely, and thoughtful reply. I love the ‘approximated' quote you provided. Certainly the value system I work from is that therapy should help people become more who they are, not less. The neuroscience-based, integrative process that clients adopt, helps them integrate all the part of themselves, all the segments of the metaphorical orange, so they can be themselves in the world in a more robust, and peaceful way.
The truth is that the only way to be healthy is to be our unique self. But our ‘self' is also evolving, and growing all the time. It is not a ‘finished’ thing. As long as we have an honest commitment to our growth and integration , we will be well, and also harmless, and effective in the world in a positive way.
This is really important in a world that repeatedly chooses leaders that do so much harm. Many of my clients go on to contribute in the world in the way that is meaningful to them, and they make a huge difference. We have enormous potential as individuals and as a species, and potential has always been my passion.
Thank you also for your last quote from the 'source unknown' photocopy. I am working on an essay right now that touches in a way on all of the thoughts you shared. I hope to post it today.
Have a peaceful weekend and thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my work, for thinking about it and for sharing your thoughts and the wise quotes and stories you have discovered on your journey.
On the question of one’s maturity, or growth, I have no doubt you are correct, in that we are all evolving – and that, to me, is our essential task, one that simply cannot be put off ignored.
Sometimes you may hear another breezily proclaim: “Well, we can all be better than we are”.
Such a comment speaks to me of lack of ambition, the want of a wider perspective.
As that famous aphorist said of perspective: “Use it or lose it”.
Like yourself, I have no doubt of our “enormous potential as individuals and as a species..”.
Consequently it has always been for me an open question of how that potential might be realized.
Over time I have come to see that the positive exercise of faith, belief, imagination and, above all, patience can produce the change required to commence navigation in a new direction.
In closing, I wish you the best, and can see with you the prow of a ship, breaching the waves.
It is so sweet of you, than you. You made me smile. I agree with you completely. I wonder what you would think about the essay I have just posted. My best and warmest wishes to you.
BTW, I meant to say you are such a good writer. Do you write? If not, I think you should consider. A.
I have just finished reading your powerful article which has been reproduced in John Menadue's Public Policy Journal, Pearls and Irritations. I only wanted to say how much I admire and respect you for writing such a personal essay. I support totally what you have done and said.
Although I am not Jewish I had a roughly similar kind of experience at the time I was a teenager and in my early 20s when the Australian Liberal Government at the time was conscripting 20-year-olds into the army for the express purpose of sending them to Vietnam to kill the local population who did not want to be ruled by a foreign imperialist power. I ended up supporting those who the Australian government was fighting. In arguments that I had with my detractors at the time, I was told that I should have a "my country, right or wrong" attitude. Being told that was like a "red rag to a bull" to me. To me, that simply made no sense whatsoever.
It is best to rely on your conscience when deciding what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' rather than the prevailing zeitgeist. I was never going to kowtow to nationalist sentiment. It seems (unless I am wrong) that you will not kowtow to religious sentiment. I personally believe that the three main scourges of humanity are (in no particular order), religion, nationalism, and capitalism.
Thank you very much for sharing this article with us Avigail.
Thanks to you I found out that my article was reproduced on Pearls & Irritations. Pleased they thought it was good enough to publish.
Thank you for your wonderful and warm comment, and for telling me about your own history and experience with ‘cult’ psychology. Of course my experience is just a case study in a wider human context.
You mention religion, nationalism, and capitalism as the scourges of humanity. I would only add to this our primitive focus on survivalism of one’s own self, or little group, at the cost of all else.
We are still a primitive species. We have enormous potential, and the path to fulfilling it is not only incredibly simple, it stares us in the face all the time. (I write about it in my short book, Therapy Without A Therapist). Only when the crisis is big enough do people think to do something about their problems. This applies in my profession, psychotherapy, and in the wider context as countries, societies and as a species. It is a shame that we are trained to wait until things have gone so far, to do something about our problems. I think it is time to aspire for more all the time, not wait until things fall apart. I hope this makes sense.
You are an honourable and principled man who has chosen the do the right thing, not the easy or acceptable thing. This takes courage and emotional resilience. I am honoured that my little story resonated with yours. So thank you for reading, and for your comment.
Thanks Peter, and you’re are right. It is. You should read Festinger’s book on cognitive dissonance, if you haven’t already. Festinger put his finger right on the pulse of what drives what Arendt called, the ‘banality of evil’.
The statements you list that people use to end their CD may be fictitious and irrational (they don’t think so), but the process itself is rational. If your goal is not to feel uncomfortable, then the action to end the CD makes a lot of sense. But if your goal is to help people who are being hurt, and to stand against injustice, then you don’t solve the CD, you listen to it.
I read Festinger’s work in my early years but should revisit. I think you are exactly right if your goal is helping hurt, and being a positive contributor to a more humane world, then defeating the “dissonance” is a challenging journey. However many of our leaders (including leaders of religious affiliations} make no adjustment even when evidence is staring them in the face. These days they manipulate powerful media and they are not listening. I try to remain positive but I cannot imagine the suffering. Thanks for your support.
Thanks Peter. It is easy to empathise with the way you feel, and with your concerns that things do not look very promising considering the kind of people we have in power. I consider my work in psychotherapy to be central to all of this. In therapy we change the architecture of the brain in such a way, that feelings, any feelings, are no longer a problem for us. We feel everything, take the information the feelings provide (feelings *are* information), and are then able to choose our actions from our moral, and relational executive brain. When people have poor tolerance for uncomfortable feelings, and when they are afraid of feeling what they feel, they would do anything to numb their feelings, make them go away, or remove the person or circumstances that cause them those feelings. This is one example of what can happen in cognitive dissonance.
Another relevant example is ‘narcissistic guilt’. Suppose a person did or said something blatantly wrong that harmed someone else. Suppose now that somehow they are confronted with the impact that what they did/said had on the other person. Perhaps they can see the impact of the action on the other person for themselves. Or maybe the other person tries to tell them how they feel in response to what they did, or maybe someone points it out to them later. Any normal person with a functioning brain, would feel guilt.
But someone with a low tolerance for uncomfortable feelings would now try to make the guilt go away because it is uncomfortable. That is, when confronted with the impact of what they did and feel healthy guilt in response, their priority becomes making *themselves* feel more comfortable, rather than the welfare of the other person, or the relationship. Instead of listening to what the guilt is saying to them, namely ‘I hurt this person, and our relationship, and I need to make amends’, they become hostile to their victim and want them to go away so that they are not a reminder to them of the bad thing they did. This can cause regular harm in all human relationships at all levels. Pathological narcissists are not capable of empathy so this is standard behaviour for them. But everyone’s empathy circuitry can be temporarily impaired if they are sufficiently triggered and their brain architecture is not sufficiently integrated to handle this with empathy and concern for the other and the relationship.
I don’t know if most politicians are disordered people (e.g. pathological narcissists), or just poorly integrated/developed human beings with low tolerance for uncomfortable feelings. There is probably a bit of both. Most people can do a lot better than what they do. What propels people to change and grow is their own dissatisfaction with their own behaviour. They do not need to even be told. They just know for themselves that they have a pattern or patterns of behaviour that are not good for others and for their relationships. In my particular practice I don’t see people who are sent by others to therapy, but people who self refer, not just because they are sick of suffering, but because they know they can do better as human being and they are dissatisfied with the way they are. I think that until a sizeable minority of the public around the world grows and develops better, people would continue to select the wrong leaders and indulge them, even when they are blatantly incompetent, even criminal.
Again thanks. I can see some good leaders but I cheer for our young maligned “activists”. I left school in 1973. A year or two earlier, if it wasn’t for people like them I probably would have been running around being shot at in a really big jungle. I think I may have fallen for the con. I am still troubled though by how many people can justify the suffering in the here and now.
Beautifully written Avigail. When I read your articles, I feel like reading the thoughts I don't articulate as well as you do. As a former Israeli myself, I overcame (kinda) the cognitive resonance and managed somehow to integrate partially past and present. I still struggle with loyalty/connection to my Israeli family when our worldviews are world apart.
Thanks Dave! I am sorry that I haven’t responded to your email yet. I am still getting through a huge pile of email in my Inbox, and was going to respond very soon. Thank you for writing here and for your warm feedback. I also deeply appreciate that you are reading my work, and am so pleased that you feel validated by it, although I wish the topic was less grim. I am sorry that you have been going through the same thing, but of course, none of this is unique to me. Anyone coming from a survivalist group, with a cult-like mentality goes through the same thing. You are good human being. You told me your background back when you first contacted me, and I think your journey might well have been much harder than my own. I am sorry about the difficulties with your family. I have no doubt that you will find the right path for yourself. Warmly, A.
Israel. Another ‘cult of exceptionalism’ masquerading as a democracy built upon the extinction of indigenous people deemed to be ‘less than’. The latest in a long line including the USA, Nazi Germany, ‘Great’ Britain, Apartheid South Africa, Australia et al. It takes courage and strength to develop the self awareness to ‘see’ what surrounds you and to take action to reject and eject yourself. Well said Avigail 👍💚
Dear Avigail, thank you for saying all that, I am a former "Israeli" (although I did not come to Israel for "Jewish" reasons) and I also feel the stain of shame that I was there, "enjoyed" my privileges. It is no wonder that most Israelis respond to guilt with hate, colossal aggression and more sadism. Unlike Nazi-sympathizing Germans, who could be denazified and still be German in their own country, Jewish Israelis cannot be denazified and still be Israelis. Israel is itself a crime and should be dismantled. So the Israeli Jews respond with great hostility to everyone who suggest that Jewish supremacy and Jewish colonial population replacement must end. Because this is all they have as their "homeland". They do not have another place on Earth where they would be so free to exercise supremacy and Ubermenschen superiority.
I have been always wondering, how on Earth the "liberal Zionists" imagine a Jewish colonization but a moderate colonization? To take SOME land and to eliminate SOME indigenous people - instead of taking ALL land and eliminating ALL of Palestine? How do they imagine a "good" Israel?
I never got an answer from any of them, except verbal abuse, insults, "antisemitic!" and run-away.
Is there such thing as a liberal racist? Liberal colonizer? Liberal population replacer?
Thank you Lena. The reason they don’t answer is because they never think beyond their survivalist mentality. They believe they are ‘just fighting for their life’, and it is no time to imagine the future. It never was, and was never going to be, which is why I left Israel in 1991 never to return.
Recently, Ben-Gvir said that the Goyim will not tell the Jews what they can and cannot do. A long time ago, the great Yeshiyahu Leibowitz defined Zionism as a movement to liberate the Jews from the rule of non-Jews. He was right. The whole idea of The (one and only) Jewish State is to defend the supreme Jewish right to NEVER AGAIN have to obey the laws of the "Goyim". Which are the international law, Geneva conventions, human rights, prohibition of colonialism, prohibition of acquisition of land by conquest, prohibition of genocide.
Israeli and Zionist laws are distinctly different from the laws of humanity and that is what Israel exists for. To protect Jewish right to abuse non-Jews as they want and find necessary - and to protect the Jews from accountability to non-Jews.
This is exactly what I’ve been saying. Israelis can only save themselves by going through that painful process of realization and acknowledgement but they show absolutely no will to even consider it.
Sadly, Peter, change will not come from within. That is why the world has to act decisively to end Zionist settler-colonialism and facilitate one state in historic Palestine, where everyone is equal.
Thank you Avigail. I can relate to your sense of shame of what is being done in the name of Jews (not just Israelis but Jews who feel a part of the clan). But there is no reason for you to feel guilt about being born an Israeli. I have compassion for the Palestinians and feel the horror being perpetrated wholesale against one and all because they refuse to give up their ties to their land but I also have deep compassion and sorrow for all Israelis as well. They are living within the belly of the Cult. Individuating from the Cult is a deeply personal and harrowing journey. To individuate we all embark on the inner journey no matter where we live or what Cult or belief system we have been born into. I believe it is even harder for Israelis since all of the media in Israel is still under Military Censorship and the average Israeli (including those who perform their military service) have been propagandized (as you had been) from birth into the prevailing ideology. You know how hard it has been for you to individuate or differentiate. Why not have compassion on your fellow countrymen who don't have the fortitude of character or strength to go on the journey you embarked upon to awaken to who and what they are?
Thanks Naomi. I’m not sure why you assume I don’t… I have compassion for Israeli Jews in the same way I have compassion for a domestic abuser or a pedophile. They are misshapen humans who for whatever reason did not develop their full human faculties. The problem is that their form of suffering leads them to mindless predatory behaviour that inflicts terrible harm against others. My compassion for them can achieve nothing useful while they harm others. I choose to use my compassion to support their victims.
Don’t forget, Naomi, that those war criminals in Gaza and the OWB are ordinary Israeli citizens from all walks of life. The military there is made out of regular people. These aren’t the 18 y/o new recruits who are carrying out the genocide, but your neighbour, school teacher, lawyer, car mechanic, supermarket manager, hairdresser, plumber, shop assistant, etc. They all know what they’re doing. They take selfies and videos and share them with their mates and on SM.
All perpetrators are miserable fucks, but it does not mean they are not dangerous. It is what they do that matters not how miserable they might be inside.
The Palestinians do not have time until our love or compassion for the perpetrators wakes them up to their conscience. Some people are irredeemable and deserve pity, but they are also not harmless. They are very dangerous.
Let’s do a thought experiment. Suppose tomorrow the Scottish Govt decides to create concentration camps for a certain group of ‘undesirable’ people, where they would be humiliated, tortured, starved while awaiting final extermination. Suppose the Govt pumps the country full of relentless and powerful propaganda saying that these are terrible and dangerous people who want to kill all other Scots, and they don’t deserve to live. Suppose they say it is either ‘us’, nice Scots, or ‘them’, the bad guys in the camps.
Suppose now they come to you and say that you have to serve some time working in those camps to carry out your civic and moral duty to your society. You will have to be out of your regular job for a while, but you will continue to get paid your normal wages. Suppose they also told you that once you help get rid of those people, the country will finally be at peace, and you and the rest of the good, desirable people will live happily ever after in peace and security. That is because those people in the camps are the only thing that stands in the way of the country’s peace, security and happiness.
If you serve your country, and support the torture and the elimination of those in the camps, your fellow desirable people will see you as a hero, will love you and lavish you with honours. What would you feel and think, and more importantly, what would you do? Suppose you decided that you need to do your duty to your country, but when you get to the camps to do your service, you see a mass of very ordinary looking humans, including children and babies who are suffering horrendously because of what desirable society is doing to them. You also understand that the purpose of the whole exercise is ultimately to eliminate all these people. How would you feel? What would you think then, and more importantly, what would you do? (BTW, refusal to serve is punishable with a short stint at a military prison, which is really not very bad at all and not like a civilian prison. No one gets shot for refusing to serve. After you did your prison time, you go back to your ordinary life).
(I do appreciate your empathy for how I feel, which as I said is guilt by association [not shame]. But as I said, I am OK to feel everything I feel. I like that I can feel this, because what makes me feel this is precisely the same thing that enabled me to come out of the mental fog of Zionist indoctrination and salvage my true self from the cult. When I left Israel my ex and I were 27. We were young enough to be called to do our regular reserve duty in the military. Back then it would have been for another twenty years or so. I wanted nothing to do with that militarised, harsh society. I like that I can feel guilt, regardless of how illogical it might seem. It is the right way to feel in the circumstances, and I welcome all my feelings, always, whatever they may be).
Thank you Avigail for your very thoughtful response. I agree with many of your points. Throughout history, one or another group has been ostracized, dehumanized and targeted (as demonstrated by the incessant wars and genocides that have taken place historically). It is not beyond the pale that your thought experiment about Scotland could happen. It happened on a global scale with the othering of unvaccinated people during Covid. (In fact, it was Israel’s response to Covid that made me leave Israel for good. I have had problems with Israel’s response to the Palestinians for years but it was the actions that they took against their own people that was the final straw for me. As far as I was concerned, the Israeli government sacrificed their own people to the NWO.) The Covid experiment is not done with yet as the elites are trying to impose a WHO diktat by fiat about the next pandemic that they are cooking up. It is clear that their sights are set on vaccine passports which will take othering to a whole new level.
I feel ashamed that my tribe who has historically been victimized perhaps more than others has switched from being the victims to being the perpetrators and in the process has lost its collective humanity. But hasn’t that been part of the human condition (that the victim becomes the perpetrator) for millennia? What has allowed those wars and genocides to continue is the othering that takes place as one nation, group or tribe dehumanizes another. All of that indoctrination coming from incessant propaganda and deep state programming.
My comment was about “othering” the Israelis, as the Israelis “other” the Palestinians (denominating all of them as terrorists). Not all Israelis or soldiers are guilty. Some do decide to protest their army service (the punishment for which is neither easy nor benign), some leave the country to avoid military service (never to be allowed to see their loved ones again) and others may try other solutions. But they are part of a society that has built themselves up on the image of being the tough, hardened, invulnerable Israeli soldier in juxtaposition to the despised Eastern European who went into the death camps without a protest. I thank Haim Bresheeth-Zabner who explained the ideology behind the Israeli military in his book, “An Army Like No Other”.
I think the worst dehumanization takes place when Israel indoctrinates their young into a tribal miasma of fear and hatred for anyone not their own under the false guise of irrational antisemitism. I have had many conversations with my brethren – all of whom are good people – who cannot see that the recent rise of “antisemitism” is a direct result of Israeli actions. And for some inexplicable reason, they think that Israel can take on the world. It is foolish and wrong thinking. But no rational speaking can get them to see above their stigmatized fear of irrational antisemitism that has been programed into them with their mother’s milk.
For me, the stain of what the Israeli political and military elite has done to Israeli/Jewish youth is unconscionable and its effects will linger for generations of guilt when Israelis are finally forced to reckon with who they now are and what they have become. It is all so sad.
Now imagine the cognitive dissonance of being an American and coming to realize that you cannot be both pro-American and pro-peace.
I’m so sorry. I often think of what it must be like for decent human beings to live in the US. 🙏
My very reform parents sent me to Sunday School at a synagogue, (they called it a temple) to learn about our faith. I received some of the indoctrination, myths that you were subjected to not just on Sundays. When I was 8 years old, my teacher pulled me aside to ask why my end of year charitable donation that was required was designated to go to the Cancer Society. I held firm. My father had died from cancer.
Every country has myths about its founding that help form the loyalty necessary to keep the support of its citizens. In Israel’s case these myths were not always part of the central foundations of the Jewish religion. They have required educated historians and scientists working at Israeli universities to accept the bible as history as well as to bend the conclusions of scientific investigation to support these myths. The central myth of the Jewish “people’s” mass expulsion from their land is accepted by every Jew I know, but has no evidence supporting it. This story combined with the myth of Palestinians being told to leave their homes with the promise of return once the Jews had been defeated are the primary myths that support the colonial appropriation of the land that is now Israel and the occupied territories.
An excellent source one cane use to debunk some of the myths is A book by Shlomo Sand titled “The Invention of the Jewish People.”
Thank you James. Fascinating. You should write about your history, if you haven’t already. I read Shlomo Sand’s book in Hebrew and in English. It is brilliant. Amazingly, unlike Ilan Pappé’s books, it was published in Israel in Hebrew, but over there they consider it science fiction and people just ignore it.
I did not realize that Pappé’s books were not published in Hebrew. How was Sand and not Pappé able to accomplish this?
I don’t know for sure. My suspicion is that Sand is still seen as a member of the group. He lives in Israel, and there is some tolerance there for dissent. They may still indulge some dissenters mainly because it serves Israel’s need to be seen as an open and self-critical democracy. But just because they allow people like Sand or Gideon Levy to publish dissent, does not mean they actually listen to them or read what they write.
Ilan published his books outside of Israel and in English first, and he lives and works in the UK. To publish his books in Israel, he would have to get a publisher and translator there. Because he is not there anymore, they ‘wash their hands off him’. If you have made a decision to leave *and* you speak against the group they can just ignore you. Things don’t always have a clear logic, of course, but this is what I am thinking. Ilan was told that his books would not be published in Hebrew, because they have ‘no academic merit’… 🙄
I think the criterium by which one Jewish dissenter is accepted but another is subjected to anathema and excommunication, is whether the said dissenter remains "within the tribe" - or "denounces" Jewish crimes to the Goyim. Thus Shlomo Sand might be still "one of us", but Pappe, Shahak or Hurwitz are the "mosers".
Agreed!
Thanks
There is irony in the mass expulsion myth in that the Romans perceived the Jews in a similar way that Israelis perceive Palestinians, as zealots that love their god above their children. Another century long past marked by periodically "mowing the grass".
It is a curious thing, to me. Most Jews I know don't believe in God, and would scoff at Christians who interpret the Bible literally. But stories like Exodus are true in that they "feel true" even though everybody simultaneously knows this never happened - and not just the rivers of blood but the actual origins or a cohesive ethnoreligion transplanted directly from Egypt where they were slaves. The Canaanites may have been largely from Egypt at some point, but long before anything could have been written down. Perhaps this was integrated into the founding myth in some fashion, but it's mostly an intervention that seems to set the tone for everything that followed.
Avigail I read your essay on P & I and had directed others to that site. Shortly after, a reader directed me to this site in order to read the comments published here. I am pleased to now have done so and am the more impressed by your courage and your candour, and can say to you: Well done !
Upon more general matters, it no longer surprises me how often these days that God is referred to, invoked, mocked or praised and unbelievers chided for their dereliction of good citizenship.
As a consequence perhaps, I am reminded of attending a conversation long ago between two apparently ordinary people, one of whom asked the other: “Why does God allow evil to enter and to prosper in the world?" To which the other replied (surprisingly, to me): “God has nothing to do with it, evil is the manifestation of the ill-will of men and women."
When hearing people argue and squabble nowadays, I am reminded of the tale of the two wolves, one version of which goes like this;
One evening, an elderly Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside each of us.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”
“The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed.”
Thank you Julian for your delightful message, for reading and for taking the time to comment and offer such positive feedback. I am familiar with the story you told and there is wisdom in it. However, we now know that the two wolves are both aspects of ourself. None is good or bad, they just are and they both have a purpose in us. Instead of stopping to feed one of them, we actually need to integrate them. The two wolves represent two brain systems. The limbic and the executive/prefrontal cortex. If they are not sufficiently integrated, which is the case with most people it is normal to have inner war. The survival focused, fear-based, tribal limbic system shuts down the executive brain when it is triggered into fear or threat. It is a neurological fact that is well known. We also all feel it in ourselves. As we improve the linkage/integration between the two brain systems (vertical integration), the inner war disappears and we feel more inner harmony and plenty of other benefits. Better vertical integration is what we associate with growth, maturity, good mental health, inner flow, even enlightenment. I write about this in detail in my book Therapy Without A Therapy. Improving vertical integration is what therapy is supposed to help people do. But many people wouldn’t need a therapist to achieve this. Sorry for the lecture, but it is important and a key to developing towards our full human potential, which include being effortlessly peaceful, kind and gentle towards everyone and everything, including ourselves. Thanks so much once again!!
Avigail thank you for responding and for the “corrective” – which I feel was appropriate – not just for me, but for those less knowledgable on the vast subject of what it means to be human.
I freely admit that my including the wolf story was initially meant for those whom I thought might appreciate a simpler explanation of the persistence of evil in the world.
Only later did it occur to me that those visiting this site (or likely to) would be already advanced upon that sometimes lonely path to self-awareness and thus in no need of a homily from me.
Your welcome explanation of the importance and necessity of integration reminded me of a similar concept long forgotten, something which had been related to me in my early youth. Alas I cannot now recall the exact words, but offer a rough approximation:
“Your wants, desires and dreams will pull you in different directions, and you may liken yourself to the segments of an orange – parts of the whole, with your thoughts and your energy in different places. Think rather upon what it would be like to be yourself, whole and complete. What would your true self look like, feel like? If you have an ideal of Self, then become that ideal, not just for Self, but for everyone else.”
Lastly Avigail, I include a short excerpt from an old photocopied article (source unknown); it seems appropriate to do so here and it may perhaps remind others:
“Remember:
Whatever we steadfastly believe,
we will convince ourselves that it is true;
and whatever we know as a truth
will transform itself into a reality.
That is how powerful our creativity and our wills are”.
Dear Julian,
I am so sorry if my ‘corrective’ response came across as patronising. It was not at all my intention.
Thank you again for your lovely, and thoughtful reply. I love the ‘approximated' quote you provided. Certainly the value system I work from is that therapy should help people become more who they are, not less. The neuroscience-based, integrative process that clients adopt, helps them integrate all the part of themselves, all the segments of the metaphorical orange, so they can be themselves in the world in a more robust, and peaceful way.
The truth is that the only way to be healthy is to be our unique self. But our ‘self' is also evolving, and growing all the time. It is not a ‘finished’ thing. As long as we have an honest commitment to our growth and integration , we will be well, and also harmless, and effective in the world in a positive way.
This is really important in a world that repeatedly chooses leaders that do so much harm. Many of my clients go on to contribute in the world in the way that is meaningful to them, and they make a huge difference. We have enormous potential as individuals and as a species, and potential has always been my passion.
Thank you also for your last quote from the 'source unknown' photocopy. I am working on an essay right now that touches in a way on all of the thoughts you shared. I hope to post it today.
Have a peaceful weekend and thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my work, for thinking about it and for sharing your thoughts and the wise quotes and stories you have discovered on your journey.
Best wishes, Avigail
Thank you Avigail for your generous reply.
I hasten to add there was no offence taken.
On the question of one’s maturity, or growth, I have no doubt you are correct, in that we are all evolving – and that, to me, is our essential task, one that simply cannot be put off ignored.
Sometimes you may hear another breezily proclaim: “Well, we can all be better than we are”.
Such a comment speaks to me of lack of ambition, the want of a wider perspective.
As that famous aphorist said of perspective: “Use it or lose it”.
Like yourself, I have no doubt of our “enormous potential as individuals and as a species..”.
Consequently it has always been for me an open question of how that potential might be realized.
Over time I have come to see that the positive exercise of faith, belief, imagination and, above all, patience can produce the change required to commence navigation in a new direction.
In closing, I wish you the best, and can see with you the prow of a ship, breaching the waves.
It is so sweet of you, than you. You made me smile. I agree with you completely. I wonder what you would think about the essay I have just posted. My best and warmest wishes to you.
BTW, I meant to say you are such a good writer. Do you write? If not, I think you should consider. A.
Thanks Avilgail. I shall get to your essay a bit later on.
I am reminded I have been derelict with my backlog of other correspondence.
Thank you for the compliment; writing (per se) may well occurr in the future.
Hello Avigail,
I have just finished reading your powerful article which has been reproduced in John Menadue's Public Policy Journal, Pearls and Irritations. I only wanted to say how much I admire and respect you for writing such a personal essay. I support totally what you have done and said.
Although I am not Jewish I had a roughly similar kind of experience at the time I was a teenager and in my early 20s when the Australian Liberal Government at the time was conscripting 20-year-olds into the army for the express purpose of sending them to Vietnam to kill the local population who did not want to be ruled by a foreign imperialist power. I ended up supporting those who the Australian government was fighting. In arguments that I had with my detractors at the time, I was told that I should have a "my country, right or wrong" attitude. Being told that was like a "red rag to a bull" to me. To me, that simply made no sense whatsoever.
It is best to rely on your conscience when deciding what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' rather than the prevailing zeitgeist. I was never going to kowtow to nationalist sentiment. It seems (unless I am wrong) that you will not kowtow to religious sentiment. I personally believe that the three main scourges of humanity are (in no particular order), religion, nationalism, and capitalism.
Thank you very much for sharing this article with us Avigail.
Very best regards,
Robert
Hi Robert,
Thanks to you I found out that my article was reproduced on Pearls & Irritations. Pleased they thought it was good enough to publish.
Thank you for your wonderful and warm comment, and for telling me about your own history and experience with ‘cult’ psychology. Of course my experience is just a case study in a wider human context.
You mention religion, nationalism, and capitalism as the scourges of humanity. I would only add to this our primitive focus on survivalism of one’s own self, or little group, at the cost of all else.
We are still a primitive species. We have enormous potential, and the path to fulfilling it is not only incredibly simple, it stares us in the face all the time. (I write about it in my short book, Therapy Without A Therapist). Only when the crisis is big enough do people think to do something about their problems. This applies in my profession, psychotherapy, and in the wider context as countries, societies and as a species. It is a shame that we are trained to wait until things have gone so far, to do something about our problems. I think it is time to aspire for more all the time, not wait until things fall apart. I hope this makes sense.
You are an honourable and principled man who has chosen the do the right thing, not the easy or acceptable thing. This takes courage and emotional resilience. I am honoured that my little story resonated with yours. So thank you for reading, and for your comment.
In friendship and shared humanity,
Avigail
There are many people who end the dissonance by the most simplistic and irrational, out of context statements:
- from the river to the sea means…….
- 3000 years ago………
- how would you feel if someone killed your children>………..?
- why do you think the walls are needed……..?
- well, kids shouldn’t throw rocks at Israeli tanks……
- If you care about Gaza, you are a Hamas supporter.
- If they just give up the hostages, it would be over, simple………
- Israel is the Promised Land…….
- Hamas started it.
And so on, and so on, and so on. No further journey needed. It’s a real worry.
Thanks Peter, and you’re are right. It is. You should read Festinger’s book on cognitive dissonance, if you haven’t already. Festinger put his finger right on the pulse of what drives what Arendt called, the ‘banality of evil’.
The statements you list that people use to end their CD may be fictitious and irrational (they don’t think so), but the process itself is rational. If your goal is not to feel uncomfortable, then the action to end the CD makes a lot of sense. But if your goal is to help people who are being hurt, and to stand against injustice, then you don’t solve the CD, you listen to it.
Thanks Avigail
I read Festinger’s work in my early years but should revisit. I think you are exactly right if your goal is helping hurt, and being a positive contributor to a more humane world, then defeating the “dissonance” is a challenging journey. However many of our leaders (including leaders of religious affiliations} make no adjustment even when evidence is staring them in the face. These days they manipulate powerful media and they are not listening. I try to remain positive but I cannot imagine the suffering. Thanks for your support.
Thanks Peter. It is easy to empathise with the way you feel, and with your concerns that things do not look very promising considering the kind of people we have in power. I consider my work in psychotherapy to be central to all of this. In therapy we change the architecture of the brain in such a way, that feelings, any feelings, are no longer a problem for us. We feel everything, take the information the feelings provide (feelings *are* information), and are then able to choose our actions from our moral, and relational executive brain. When people have poor tolerance for uncomfortable feelings, and when they are afraid of feeling what they feel, they would do anything to numb their feelings, make them go away, or remove the person or circumstances that cause them those feelings. This is one example of what can happen in cognitive dissonance.
Another relevant example is ‘narcissistic guilt’. Suppose a person did or said something blatantly wrong that harmed someone else. Suppose now that somehow they are confronted with the impact that what they did/said had on the other person. Perhaps they can see the impact of the action on the other person for themselves. Or maybe the other person tries to tell them how they feel in response to what they did, or maybe someone points it out to them later. Any normal person with a functioning brain, would feel guilt.
But someone with a low tolerance for uncomfortable feelings would now try to make the guilt go away because it is uncomfortable. That is, when confronted with the impact of what they did and feel healthy guilt in response, their priority becomes making *themselves* feel more comfortable, rather than the welfare of the other person, or the relationship. Instead of listening to what the guilt is saying to them, namely ‘I hurt this person, and our relationship, and I need to make amends’, they become hostile to their victim and want them to go away so that they are not a reminder to them of the bad thing they did. This can cause regular harm in all human relationships at all levels. Pathological narcissists are not capable of empathy so this is standard behaviour for them. But everyone’s empathy circuitry can be temporarily impaired if they are sufficiently triggered and their brain architecture is not sufficiently integrated to handle this with empathy and concern for the other and the relationship.
I don’t know if most politicians are disordered people (e.g. pathological narcissists), or just poorly integrated/developed human beings with low tolerance for uncomfortable feelings. There is probably a bit of both. Most people can do a lot better than what they do. What propels people to change and grow is their own dissatisfaction with their own behaviour. They do not need to even be told. They just know for themselves that they have a pattern or patterns of behaviour that are not good for others and for their relationships. In my particular practice I don’t see people who are sent by others to therapy, but people who self refer, not just because they are sick of suffering, but because they know they can do better as human being and they are dissatisfied with the way they are. I think that until a sizeable minority of the public around the world grows and develops better, people would continue to select the wrong leaders and indulge them, even when they are blatantly incompetent, even criminal.
Again thanks. I can see some good leaders but I cheer for our young maligned “activists”. I left school in 1973. A year or two earlier, if it wasn’t for people like them I probably would have been running around being shot at in a really big jungle. I think I may have fallen for the con. I am still troubled though by how many people can justify the suffering in the here and now.
Thanks Peter. Me too.
Beautifully written Avigail. When I read your articles, I feel like reading the thoughts I don't articulate as well as you do. As a former Israeli myself, I overcame (kinda) the cognitive resonance and managed somehow to integrate partially past and present. I still struggle with loyalty/connection to my Israeli family when our worldviews are world apart.
Thanks Dave! I am sorry that I haven’t responded to your email yet. I am still getting through a huge pile of email in my Inbox, and was going to respond very soon. Thank you for writing here and for your warm feedback. I also deeply appreciate that you are reading my work, and am so pleased that you feel validated by it, although I wish the topic was less grim. I am sorry that you have been going through the same thing, but of course, none of this is unique to me. Anyone coming from a survivalist group, with a cult-like mentality goes through the same thing. You are good human being. You told me your background back when you first contacted me, and I think your journey might well have been much harder than my own. I am sorry about the difficulties with your family. I have no doubt that you will find the right path for yourself. Warmly, A.
Israel. Another ‘cult of exceptionalism’ masquerading as a democracy built upon the extinction of indigenous people deemed to be ‘less than’. The latest in a long line including the USA, Nazi Germany, ‘Great’ Britain, Apartheid South Africa, Australia et al. It takes courage and strength to develop the self awareness to ‘see’ what surrounds you and to take action to reject and eject yourself. Well said Avigail 👍💚
Dear Avigail, thank you for saying all that, I am a former "Israeli" (although I did not come to Israel for "Jewish" reasons) and I also feel the stain of shame that I was there, "enjoyed" my privileges. It is no wonder that most Israelis respond to guilt with hate, colossal aggression and more sadism. Unlike Nazi-sympathizing Germans, who could be denazified and still be German in their own country, Jewish Israelis cannot be denazified and still be Israelis. Israel is itself a crime and should be dismantled. So the Israeli Jews respond with great hostility to everyone who suggest that Jewish supremacy and Jewish colonial population replacement must end. Because this is all they have as their "homeland". They do not have another place on Earth where they would be so free to exercise supremacy and Ubermenschen superiority.
I have been always wondering, how on Earth the "liberal Zionists" imagine a Jewish colonization but a moderate colonization? To take SOME land and to eliminate SOME indigenous people - instead of taking ALL land and eliminating ALL of Palestine? How do they imagine a "good" Israel?
I never got an answer from any of them, except verbal abuse, insults, "antisemitic!" and run-away.
Is there such thing as a liberal racist? Liberal colonizer? Liberal population replacer?
Thank you Lena. The reason they don’t answer is because they never think beyond their survivalist mentality. They believe they are ‘just fighting for their life’, and it is no time to imagine the future. It never was, and was never going to be, which is why I left Israel in 1991 never to return.
Recently, Ben-Gvir said that the Goyim will not tell the Jews what they can and cannot do. A long time ago, the great Yeshiyahu Leibowitz defined Zionism as a movement to liberate the Jews from the rule of non-Jews. He was right. The whole idea of The (one and only) Jewish State is to defend the supreme Jewish right to NEVER AGAIN have to obey the laws of the "Goyim". Which are the international law, Geneva conventions, human rights, prohibition of colonialism, prohibition of acquisition of land by conquest, prohibition of genocide.
Israeli and Zionist laws are distinctly different from the laws of humanity and that is what Israel exists for. To protect Jewish right to abuse non-Jews as they want and find necessary - and to protect the Jews from accountability to non-Jews.
Sadly, you are so right.
This is exactly what I’ve been saying. Israelis can only save themselves by going through that painful process of realization and acknowledgement but they show absolutely no will to even consider it.
Sadly, Peter, change will not come from within. That is why the world has to act decisively to end Zionist settler-colonialism and facilitate one state in historic Palestine, where everyone is equal.
Absolutely.
Thank you Avigail. I can relate to your sense of shame of what is being done in the name of Jews (not just Israelis but Jews who feel a part of the clan). But there is no reason for you to feel guilt about being born an Israeli. I have compassion for the Palestinians and feel the horror being perpetrated wholesale against one and all because they refuse to give up their ties to their land but I also have deep compassion and sorrow for all Israelis as well. They are living within the belly of the Cult. Individuating from the Cult is a deeply personal and harrowing journey. To individuate we all embark on the inner journey no matter where we live or what Cult or belief system we have been born into. I believe it is even harder for Israelis since all of the media in Israel is still under Military Censorship and the average Israeli (including those who perform their military service) have been propagandized (as you had been) from birth into the prevailing ideology. You know how hard it has been for you to individuate or differentiate. Why not have compassion on your fellow countrymen who don't have the fortitude of character or strength to go on the journey you embarked upon to awaken to who and what they are?
Thanks Naomi. I’m not sure why you assume I don’t… I have compassion for Israeli Jews in the same way I have compassion for a domestic abuser or a pedophile. They are misshapen humans who for whatever reason did not develop their full human faculties. The problem is that their form of suffering leads them to mindless predatory behaviour that inflicts terrible harm against others. My compassion for them can achieve nothing useful while they harm others. I choose to use my compassion to support their victims.
Don’t forget, Naomi, that those war criminals in Gaza and the OWB are ordinary Israeli citizens from all walks of life. The military there is made out of regular people. These aren’t the 18 y/o new recruits who are carrying out the genocide, but your neighbour, school teacher, lawyer, car mechanic, supermarket manager, hairdresser, plumber, shop assistant, etc. They all know what they’re doing. They take selfies and videos and share them with their mates and on SM.
All perpetrators are miserable fucks, but it does not mean they are not dangerous. It is what they do that matters not how miserable they might be inside.
The Palestinians do not have time until our love or compassion for the perpetrators wakes them up to their conscience. Some people are irredeemable and deserve pity, but they are also not harmless. They are very dangerous.
Let’s do a thought experiment. Suppose tomorrow the Scottish Govt decides to create concentration camps for a certain group of ‘undesirable’ people, where they would be humiliated, tortured, starved while awaiting final extermination. Suppose the Govt pumps the country full of relentless and powerful propaganda saying that these are terrible and dangerous people who want to kill all other Scots, and they don’t deserve to live. Suppose they say it is either ‘us’, nice Scots, or ‘them’, the bad guys in the camps.
Suppose now they come to you and say that you have to serve some time working in those camps to carry out your civic and moral duty to your society. You will have to be out of your regular job for a while, but you will continue to get paid your normal wages. Suppose they also told you that once you help get rid of those people, the country will finally be at peace, and you and the rest of the good, desirable people will live happily ever after in peace and security. That is because those people in the camps are the only thing that stands in the way of the country’s peace, security and happiness.
If you serve your country, and support the torture and the elimination of those in the camps, your fellow desirable people will see you as a hero, will love you and lavish you with honours. What would you feel and think, and more importantly, what would you do? Suppose you decided that you need to do your duty to your country, but when you get to the camps to do your service, you see a mass of very ordinary looking humans, including children and babies who are suffering horrendously because of what desirable society is doing to them. You also understand that the purpose of the whole exercise is ultimately to eliminate all these people. How would you feel? What would you think then, and more importantly, what would you do? (BTW, refusal to serve is punishable with a short stint at a military prison, which is really not very bad at all and not like a civilian prison. No one gets shot for refusing to serve. After you did your prison time, you go back to your ordinary life).
(I do appreciate your empathy for how I feel, which as I said is guilt by association [not shame]. But as I said, I am OK to feel everything I feel. I like that I can feel this, because what makes me feel this is precisely the same thing that enabled me to come out of the mental fog of Zionist indoctrination and salvage my true self from the cult. When I left Israel my ex and I were 27. We were young enough to be called to do our regular reserve duty in the military. Back then it would have been for another twenty years or so. I wanted nothing to do with that militarised, harsh society. I like that I can feel guilt, regardless of how illogical it might seem. It is the right way to feel in the circumstances, and I welcome all my feelings, always, whatever they may be).
Thank you Avigail for your very thoughtful response. I agree with many of your points. Throughout history, one or another group has been ostracized, dehumanized and targeted (as demonstrated by the incessant wars and genocides that have taken place historically). It is not beyond the pale that your thought experiment about Scotland could happen. It happened on a global scale with the othering of unvaccinated people during Covid. (In fact, it was Israel’s response to Covid that made me leave Israel for good. I have had problems with Israel’s response to the Palestinians for years but it was the actions that they took against their own people that was the final straw for me. As far as I was concerned, the Israeli government sacrificed their own people to the NWO.) The Covid experiment is not done with yet as the elites are trying to impose a WHO diktat by fiat about the next pandemic that they are cooking up. It is clear that their sights are set on vaccine passports which will take othering to a whole new level.
I feel ashamed that my tribe who has historically been victimized perhaps more than others has switched from being the victims to being the perpetrators and in the process has lost its collective humanity. But hasn’t that been part of the human condition (that the victim becomes the perpetrator) for millennia? What has allowed those wars and genocides to continue is the othering that takes place as one nation, group or tribe dehumanizes another. All of that indoctrination coming from incessant propaganda and deep state programming.
My comment was about “othering” the Israelis, as the Israelis “other” the Palestinians (denominating all of them as terrorists). Not all Israelis or soldiers are guilty. Some do decide to protest their army service (the punishment for which is neither easy nor benign), some leave the country to avoid military service (never to be allowed to see their loved ones again) and others may try other solutions. But they are part of a society that has built themselves up on the image of being the tough, hardened, invulnerable Israeli soldier in juxtaposition to the despised Eastern European who went into the death camps without a protest. I thank Haim Bresheeth-Zabner who explained the ideology behind the Israeli military in his book, “An Army Like No Other”.
I think the worst dehumanization takes place when Israel indoctrinates their young into a tribal miasma of fear and hatred for anyone not their own under the false guise of irrational antisemitism. I have had many conversations with my brethren – all of whom are good people – who cannot see that the recent rise of “antisemitism” is a direct result of Israeli actions. And for some inexplicable reason, they think that Israel can take on the world. It is foolish and wrong thinking. But no rational speaking can get them to see above their stigmatized fear of irrational antisemitism that has been programed into them with their mother’s milk.
For me, the stain of what the Israeli political and military elite has done to Israeli/Jewish youth is unconscionable and its effects will linger for generations of guilt when Israelis are finally forced to reckon with who they now are and what they have become. It is all so sad.