I am an Israeli, and as an Israeli, I should, with a heavy heart, suggest you support the Palestinians. Why? Because, unlike Israel, they need your support.
I don’t want to talk about history. Both sides can provide good arguments as to why this piece of land is theirs by right. I don’t want to go into who’s responsible for the conflict – both sides will provide countless examples of the atrocities inflicted on them by the other side.
I want to talk about the here and now. The fact is that there are currently 9 million Israeli citizens (6 million of them are Jews) who live in a relative comfort: they can go, live and work wherever they want inside Israel. Israel is a democracy, so we’re free to elect and out-vote our leaders in case we don’t like how they manage our affairs. In addition, because Israel is a recognized member of the UN, an Israeli citizen is free to use their passport to travel and trade with the rest of the world.
The 5 million Palestinians living in Gaza and The West Bank, on the other hand, do not enjoy those freedoms. They practically live in an occupied territory which is governed by Israel, but was never officially annexed. That means they do not enjoy the rights of Israeli citizens (they are not citizens after all), but they are forced to live their lives based on decisions made by Israeli politicians and army generals.
They cannot build houses or start new businesses outside their current cities, they have to get permits to work inside Israel or to travel abroad, and their borders are controlled by Israel, so they can’t import and export goods and cultivate a healthy economy.
They are basically completely reliant on their Israeli occupiers. The Palestinians tried to revolt many times – either by force or in diplomatic manners. But all their attempts have failed miserably by the much stronger Israel.
Ask the average Israeli about it, and they’ll tell you that the Palestinians have brought it onto themselves. Considering the horrible violence showed in the past by the Palestinians and the other Arabic countries – Israel would be crazy to give up on its right to defend itself.
They may be right, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are 5 million people who are the citizens of no country and who live under occupation. I suspect that even if the Palestinians will promise to never use violence against it – Israel will never trust their word and give up on its control.
Things will only change if people like you will support the Palestinians’ right to live like any other citizen in any other normal country in the world. It doesn’t mean you should support Palestinian violence though, but do support, and demand, their right to be free.
So support Palestine. Otherwise, things will never change.
Edit: Wow… I never thought this answer would attract so much attention. Thank you for all the upvotes, comments and shares. Still, I decided to block new comments for now. Whether you agreed with my opinion or not – most of you guys posted warm and respectful comments and I apologize for not being able to respond to all of them.
Still, some of the readers out there decided it would be the best to express their disagreement by posting sarcastic, cynical or plain hateful comments which I got tired of reading at some point.
October 25th, 2023. An update:
Almost 3 weeks ago something horrendous happened in my country. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists managed to tear down the wall surrounding Gaza. Carried by trucks, motorcycles and boats and while firing rockets to conceal their true meaning, they invaded more than 20 Israeli villages and cities with the sole purpose of massacring and kidnapping as many people as possible.
A day later, when the Israeli army started regaining control of the area, the gruesome evidences began to emerge: parents murdered in-front of their children, entire families wiped out, houses burned down with their residents inside, rapes and other sexual assaults of women. More than 40 babies were found dead, some beheaded. More than 200 men, women, children and babies were kidnapped to Gaza.
Hamas seemed to be taking great pride in its actions: It uploaded videos of his men hunting down hundreds of innocent young boys and girls who just happened to be at a party nearby during the attack. In an intercepted phone call published two weeks later a terrorist is proudly calling his parents to say how he “butchered 10 jews with his bare hands”.
As more and more horrors were discovered, reactions from the world started to arrive. The majority of the people understood that this wasn’t “just another round of violence” in the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This was not the act of “oppressed people” fighting their “oppressors”, as many people on the left usually like to see it.
This was something else: An orgy of brutality and violence, actions of pure evil carried out by men who took pride and pleasure in killing and raping another group of people who they did not even bother to see as human beings.
The world was rightfully appalled and was condoning those unspeakable acts.
However, while the majority of people saw the attack for what it was, there were others who apparently were quite pleased with it. A professor from the university of Cornell said that he was “exhilirated and energised” by the attack.
Greta Thunberg was quick to publish a photo expressing her support of Gaza (Climate activist Greta Thunberg voices support for Gaza, Israel responds), while forgetting to express similar support for the families of the Israeli victims.
The British press was quick to publish “news” about hundreds of Palestinians killed in a Gaza hospital due to an Israeli air raid only to later on put a small correction saying that it was in fact due to a failed rocket launch by Palestinian terrorists.
In too many cases people decided not to see beyond their black-and-white perception of a complex situation. To them – Israel is “always bad” and the Palestinians are “always good” and so there is nothing wrong if a few Palestinians decide to murder some Jews. Unsurprisingly, it was the same people who were quick to denounce Israel’s attempts to protect itself after what is now known as the most horrible attack on its people in the history of the country.
As part of the reactions to the attack, I personally started noticing something strange – my post was starting to attract more and more “likes” and “shares”. As the Quora notifications started piling up in my mailbox I realized that, while I was grieving together with my friends and family in Israel, people around the world were using my answer to justify the terrorists.
While at first I considered (and still considering) removing my answer altogether, I decided to first write this update to clarify my thoughts and beliefs. This answer was given by an Israeli who wishes to see both sides lay down their arms and make peace. I recognized then, as now, that Israel, and the Jews in general, are too deeply traumatized by past prosecutions and wars with the Arabs country. Too traumatized, in fact, to make the necessary concessions with the Palestinians in order to strike an agreement. Out of fear that this conflict would continue to inflict pain and suffering on both sides – I asked the world to pressure my country out of its position, for the sake of the Palestinian people and for our sake as well..
NEVER EVER EVER did I support any kind of violence – Israeli or Palestinian. NEVER EVER EVER did I consider murdering innocent people an act of legitimate struggle.
You would not know this, but in previous rounds of violence I went out to the streets of Tel Aviv and protested against my own country for killing too many innocent Palestinians while trying to fight Hamas. So now, I expect each and every one who “liked” my answer to do the same and speak out clearly against the barbarism and brutality that Hamas had shown towards my people! If you only “liked” my answer because you hate us Israelis and if you think that butchering people like me, my family and my friends, is a legitimate act of resistance – then please please please – “unlike” my answer and go fuck yourself!
People always go for simplistic answers. It seems to be human nature — they want things to be clear-cut, simple, black-and-white. A good example of this happened yesterday when the American actress Jamie Lee Curtis shares a photo of terrified children looking up at the skies, because she believes they’re Israeli children. They’re actually Palestinians. Does it change anything?
Because at the end of the day, missiles will fly, rockets will be launched, and children will be looking up at the skies, terrified. And some of those children will be Israeli, and some of those children will be Palestinian. They will both bleed red. And will be every bit as dead and mangled when all is said and done. Who should you support, where should your sympathies be? I’m not going to tell you that. No one can. It’s within your own heart. I know my own feelings are incredibly mixed up, right now…
I used to be strictly pro-Palestine — I’d focus on Israel’s flaws almost exclusively and sweep under the rug the mistakes of Palestinian militants. I would argue, time and time again, that Palestinians had the right to more or less respond any way they saw fit, as they were in a state of war, oppressed, and suffering under a regime that seeks to take their lands, destroy their way of life. I’d focus on Israeli settlers, throwing rocks at Palestinian farmers, stealing orchards, building on lands taken from Palestine, etcetera…
What I didn’t focus on was stories like the one above — those are Israeli settlers who were stabbed to death in their own home by a Palestinian terrorist. Those three children, too, were killed. Even the baby… so when I see a photo of a settler throwing a rock now, I ask myself: “Did this man lose a nephew, a daughter, a brother, a mother, to terrorism?” and when I see a photo of a Palestinian throwing a rock, I ask the same.
The truth is? If you asked me two or three years ago who to support, I’d have said: “Palestine”. Without much of a second thought. Now if you ask me, I’ll tell you I simply do not know. Because I don’t. I’m just sad at all the innocent deaths. And appalled at all the barbarism, the senseless slaighter, the brutal murders, the terrorism. Just support peace, call out atrocities on both sides and never, ever ignore terrorism. Even when it’s “your side” doing it. I still have sympathy for Palestine, but it does not stop me from saying this: Hamas are terrorists on the level of ISIL and Al-Qaida and need to be eradicated.
I’m not sure if anyone can ever be truly “neutral” when regarding a conflict of this scale, this magnitude and complexity. I used to be all about easy answers but with age, I have come to realize there simply aren’t any. Also note that two things can be true at once — for instance, you could say: “Some Israeli’s like Ariel Sharon are rabid warmongers that commit war crimes and a lot of the settlers are scum” and say at the same time: “Hamas and Hezbollah are disgusting terror groups that need to be exterminated like vermin until not a shred of them remains”. Both are true.
I really, really dislike simple answers. The world is complicated, and international geo-politics doubly so. The right answer doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker or a tweet.
Except sometimes it does.
There is a simple truth here:
If Hamas laid down their arms tomorrow, there would be no more war.
If the Jews laid down their arms tomorrow, there would be no more Jews.
Nobody seriously argues that this is not the case. Nobody seriously can. The top line goal of Hamas is the destruction of the Jewish state, and they hold no secret that this means the destruction of the Jewish peoples.
Hamas has turned the Gaza strip into little more than a death cult, where the highest goals for children is to become a suicide bomber.
Back in 2000, Bill Clinton proposed a peace plan to Yasser Arafat, which was, obviously, as good of a deal as Arafat could possibly hope for.
This was rejected, outright. No attempt was made at a counteroffer or other proposal. Because Arafat had one goal, even when accepting his nobel prize. The destruction of the Jewish state. And the Clinton peace plan didn’t allow for that.
If you won’t accept any terms for peace that aren’t actually peace, you don’t get to claim that you are on the side of the angels. If you attack and murder a thousand innocent people, to include murdering babies in cold blood, for the purpose of derailing another peace plan, you don’t get to claim that you are on the side of angels. If you intentionally attack while hiding behind the skirts of your women, you don’t get to claim honor.
If your allies hold up the swastika, you are the bad guys in the story.
Total war was required to destroy that philosophy of evil once. Perhaps it is again.
