Words matter. And if the phrase, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” is not, as some people chanting it claims, a call for the elimination of Israel..then accept that is what it sounds like to another group of people and pick a new phrase. GitHub got rid of Master because the computer terminology of Master/Slave was an issue for some. Otherwise, you are just proving the point. You know what reaction you’ll get because you want that reaction. And if you legitimately don’t, why do you put the blame on the people who are offended for not understanding that you didn’t mean to refer to the classical meaning of the phrase? Especially if you feel you are coming from the moral high ground? People have every right to say what they think and as an American I defend their right to say it.
Month: November 2023
MapAfter a Month of Silent Debate, Once Again Having Something To Say
I’ve been watching the situation in the Middle East, and stymied about what I should and want to say on the matter. Too many flashbacks to when I was in college, 20 years ago, and a series of articles in the college newspaper about the West Bank made the Letter to the Editor section of the paper grow to more than a page, when previously it was barely noticeable. I was one of the ones writing in opposition to the narrow view of the article, which claimed that because most Palestinians were significantly below the poverty line, they couldn’t buy weapons and therefore, were not doing what the Israelis accused them of doing. My opposition was pointing out that suggested that others were supplying them with weapons…and those same others were not helping in any other way.
I didn’t enjoy that tense period in my college career. And I’m starting to feel again what I did then…but this time, it is much much worse. You watch the news and see the images of protesters in cities around the world, the significant rise in antisemitism, and you cannot help but be worried about the future.
Everyone is trying to take an incredibly complex problem and boil it down to a simple one…and spin it to look like what they want. That includes Hamas, the Israelis, the Arab world, and multiple groups around the world. I’m a centrist, and legitimately try to see both sides of an issue. But trying to see both sides of an issue does not mean that I’m going to rationalize away terrorism as legitimate resistance.
I can go through the history of the region. I can discuss the historical context of the issue if anyone wants to hear it.
But, let’s fast forward to the current year. Israel’s width is roughly 70 miles at its widest point and 6 at its shortest. It is roughly 260 miles long. It is slightly smaller in square mileage than New Jersey. So, imagine people in Delaware have a habit of shooting rockets into New Jersey.
So, it is a fact that Hamas has been smuggling weapons into Gaza. That they have learned to build their own locally using materials that can also be used for other purposes. If the choice is to let them do that, knowing where those weapons will be aimed at, we’re back to understanding Israel’s position on the matter.
It is the practical matter of what you’d expect Israel to do. And, this is not even talking about the more radical elements every country has. There are two territories that are in a position to lob rockets at your civilian population. Amongst the people who live there are terrorists who want to indiscriminately kill civilians and cause destruction. And the people there also want to come to your country to work because there are job opportunities there.
How do you solve this problem? We’re back to…no good solution. Every option is equally bad. If Israel doesn’t destroy the Hamas infrastructure, it is an invitation for Hamas to rebuild and do this again. There is also the matter of over 200 hostages. If Israel continues to destroy the Hamas infrastructure, there will be casualties and destruction…because of where the Hamas infrastructure is…in some cases where they deliberately placed it in order to create this situation.
While the Israeli government is certainly not a perfect entity, and I can levy a lot of legitimate criticisms, I don’t think they have, as I mentioned, any good choices in this. And if anyone thinks they have a good and reasonable solution.
This whole thing brings up all of those feelings…and I’m going to have to keep writing about it, because the one thing I can’t do is be totally silent.
Been going through various parts of my apartment to find things to throw out, organize, and in some cases, digitize. I’ve been trying to get my apartment perfect for years…but I feel like I keep redoing the same parts.
One big HWC, for anyone who is available. People from all parts of the world are welcome.
Pacific refers to the timezone(GMT-8) where the event time is centered. What’s Homebrew Website Club?
Homebrew Website Club is a meetup for anyone interested in personal websites and a distributed web. Whether …
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Had a lot of fun at this event. Was very satisfied with all attendees. We finalized the plans for an upcoming in person meetup. This is also my first on site review. Expect more.
Schumer Discusses the Double Standard
The world continues to be a scarier place. This week, Senator Chuck Schumer gave a speech on the floor of the Senate, trying to explain how American Jews, in general, feel about the situation. Schumer is the highest ranking Jewish official in the United States, in fact, the highest ranking Jewish official ever.
In my opinion, his speech and Biden’s speech of support for the victims on October 7th were some of the more powerful pieces of political oratory in recent memory.
Schumer covered the points that I keep trying to express myself, noting that Jews “are worried—quite naturally, given the twists and turns of history—about where these actions and sentiments could eventually lead.”
Earlier this week, at a high school not far from where I live, students tried to get a teacher fired who merely attended the March for Israel in Washington. To agree with the Senator…walking out of school in support of Palestinians is legitimate, even protesting within the school, but making this teacher a target is not. The teacher wasn’t teaching their personal views, and ended up hiding and fearing for their safety.
There is no moral justification for what Hamas did on October 7th. But too many people believe otherwise.
Three individuals in Brooklyn this past Saturday approached Jews going about their business, and unprovoked, punched or kicked them, and apparently yelled, “Free Palestine.”
The IHRA has a working and nuanced definition of anti-semitism that is definitely worth reading. While I may be able to say that criticism of Israel in itself is not anti-semitism, many of those who are protesting demonstrate that they aren’t just criticizing Israel.