Micah, This is the most intelligent description of how Israel got where it is and the reality of the massacre. You managed to cohere my scattered thoughts. Thank you. Kathleen
Micah, can you explain why this reaction from the left? I am deeply saddened by the lack of humanity. When is it ever ok to say or celebrate wanton slaughter of innocents? When is it ever ok to use people as human shields? By the logic I have heard Israel’s bad acts justify anything. By this logic anything is justified. Is that really the world the left wants to lead us to? For me I will distrust those voices that could only see evil if it is committed by their enemies and opponents. As Cassius says in Julius Cesar, the fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves,”
Thank you for a very thoughtful and informative piece and for supplying much needed context. I've seen too many people calling for destruction from both sides, and am reminded of the nonsense after 9/11 that led to the war with Iraq.
Thank you very much for all the work you did to show us the variety of voices speaking out now. I agree that the goal of Hamas was to drive Israel insane and cause Israel to take actions that will harm it in ways much greater than the actual attack could ever achieve.
I pray that voices of reason manage to restrain Israel’s response ... to prevent Hamas from achieving the goal of an out of control Israel that essentially destroys itself. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🇮🇱☮️
Thank you Micah for this excellent and timely article. As an Israeli who has been fighting to end the occupation, I am horrified by the fact that there are actually people on the left celebrating Hamas' "great victory". This was simply the brutal, cold-blooded murder of we now know at least 1,200 Israelis, the overwhelming majority of them men, women and children, in their homes in the kibbutzim and towns adjacent to the Gaza border, including dozens of Arab Bedouins in the Negev desert, a clear war crime. That of course does not justify any Israeli air force killing of innocent Palestinian civilians living in Gaza, which is also a war crime. I explained my initial analysis of the situation in an article I wrote on Tuesday in The Times of Israel, which has been republished in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-gaza-hamas-war-netanyahu/ At the Palestine-Israel Journal, which I co-edit with my Palestinian colleague Ziad AbuZayyad, we will continue to struggle for the rights of both peoples to national self-determination, in a state of their own. https://www.pij.org/
Are any of the “innocent Israeli civilian” casualties SETTLERS?? The Israeli “settlers” have harmed Palestinians with impunity and so were targets in the recent Hamas attack, weren’t they?
Hamas didn't attack Jewish settlements in the occupied territories; it attacked Jewish villages inside the "green line" ie, pre-1967 borders of Israel.
Okay thanx. It looks like I was misinformed? I can only ask questions
Thanks for your thorough curating here, Micah. Much needed to help interpret these "hot takes."
Micah, This is the most intelligent description of how Israel got where it is and the reality of the massacre. You managed to cohere my scattered thoughts. Thank you. Kathleen
Micah, can you explain why this reaction from the left? I am deeply saddened by the lack of humanity. When is it ever ok to say or celebrate wanton slaughter of innocents? When is it ever ok to use people as human shields? By the logic I have heard Israel’s bad acts justify anything. By this logic anything is justified. Is that really the world the left wants to lead us to? For me I will distrust those voices that could only see evil if it is committed by their enemies and opponents. As Cassius says in Julius Cesar, the fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves,”
Thank you for this insightful & thought provoking piece. Reflex support for "liberation" by leftists is an long term problem of the left.
Does Hamas ever recognise Palestinian rights, apart from the right to return to ancestral pre-1947 property or Palestinian pain?
Thank you for your very thoughtful and much needed insights. You provide clarity and context during this very dark, difficult time. 🙏
Thank you for a very thoughtful and informative piece and for supplying much needed context. I've seen too many people calling for destruction from both sides, and am reminded of the nonsense after 9/11 that led to the war with Iraq.
Micah, this is an excellent, clarifying account that puts to words everything I’ve been seeing and feeling.
Thank you very much for all the work you did to show us the variety of voices speaking out now. I agree that the goal of Hamas was to drive Israel insane and cause Israel to take actions that will harm it in ways much greater than the actual attack could ever achieve.
I pray that voices of reason manage to restrain Israel’s response ... to prevent Hamas from achieving the goal of an out of control Israel that essentially destroys itself. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🇮🇱☮️
Thank you Micah for this excellent and timely article. As an Israeli who has been fighting to end the occupation, I am horrified by the fact that there are actually people on the left celebrating Hamas' "great victory". This was simply the brutal, cold-blooded murder of we now know at least 1,200 Israelis, the overwhelming majority of them men, women and children, in their homes in the kibbutzim and towns adjacent to the Gaza border, including dozens of Arab Bedouins in the Negev desert, a clear war crime. That of course does not justify any Israeli air force killing of innocent Palestinian civilians living in Gaza, which is also a war crime. I explained my initial analysis of the situation in an article I wrote on Tuesday in The Times of Israel, which has been republished in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-gaza-hamas-war-netanyahu/ At the Palestine-Israel Journal, which I co-edit with my Palestinian colleague Ziad AbuZayyad, we will continue to struggle for the rights of both peoples to national self-determination, in a state of their own. https://www.pij.org/
Are any of the “innocent Israeli civilian” casualties SETTLERS?? The Israeli “settlers” have harmed Palestinians with impunity and so were targets in the recent Hamas attack, weren’t they?
Hamas didn't attack Jewish settlements in the occupied territories; it attacked Jewish villages inside the "green line" ie, pre-1967 borders of Israel.
Bravo Micah!
Micah I appreciate your thoughtfulness in this heartbreaking time. Thank you.