Sacrificing Truth for a Political Narrative
it’s hard to know what to believe these days, isn’t it?
Below I have provided a few common hateful, dangerous, ideologically-twisted statements that we commonly read or hear regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Arab versus Jew rivalry. Note I do not believe any of these vile and evil lies, I have written them out here to demonstrate my point that the information swirling around about the Middle East conflict has become poisonous, fraught with the distortions of chaos makers and information agents seeking to sew discord, confusion, and division. The toxic debate about the Israel-Palestine conflict has had the effect of driving up antisemitism in a precipitous way. A disgusting feature of the progressive narrative involves using the Holocaust as a political cipher, or as some kind of comparative by which to measure perceived suffering of Palestinians and other groups which the progressive radical left wing likes to infantalise or make into their token pets. If they have not done that, then they have accused Jews and state of Israel of behaving like Nazis — another diabolical and intellectually lazy move that instigates hatred against Jews.
Ultimately people who propound these statements in the course of their reasoning or discourse lack any rational arguments, they rely on emotion to reason, and they end up resorting to incendiary rhetoric to express their views, which do not increase anyone’s knowledge or understanding of the situation.
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“I’m not antisemitic, I’m an antiZionist. October 7th was legitimate resistance, Israelis had it coming.”
I’m not a racist, I just think Kahane was right, and that there’s no such thing as a Jewish terrorist. That violence by Israelis in Judea Samaria is instigated, the Arabs had it coming.”
“Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it’s part of the resistance. Israel is a settler colonial endeavour.”
“The IDF is a genocidal organisation. They should all die.”
“There’s no such thing as a Palestinian, they should go back to Jordan.”
“Jews don’t have any ancestral attachment to Israel, that’s made up colonial BS.”
“The IDF soldiers charged with raping an inmate at Sde Teiman are heroes.”
“Palestinians need to do a repeat of October 7th.”
Welcome to bullsh1t cafe, where we serve up your favourite bullsh1t sandwich spiced with rage and chaos flavoured hot sauce. You can pick your bullsh1t sandwich from the menu above. Throw in some Nazi rhetoric hot sauce for an additional fee.
One could say that we live in a Hitler era. Though he died 80 years ago, he sure spends a lot of time rent free living inside the heads of Jew haters. The father of Palestinian nationalism did sympathise with the Nazi cause, did meet Hitler, did work for the Nazis, did live in a Berlin apartment which the Nazis stole from Jews. Hitler has a very bizarre following in the Islamic world — his book remains a best seller in several Islamic countries.
The west did allow the Nazis to escape to the Middle East and South America in the post WW2 period. What, exactly did western leaders anticipate would happen, as a result? The world left the Jews to hunt down the Nazis who’d run away when the Third Reich collapsed. Anyway, we do have a problem, and we don’t have the leadership to address it. I question whether the leadership we have wants to address the problem, or work toward peace. It doesn’t look like these leaders do. Netanyahu and his coalition of extremist thugs has no interest in peace. Hamas has no interest in disarming or returning hostages or in acknowledging the Jewish attachment to the land they themselves claim. Trump has no moral compass. Carney and the other horsemen of the apocalypse have taken to using foreign policy to manipulate domestic politics and appeal to their voter base. Carney is way out of his depth and so is his cabinet.
Anyway, it’s hard to know what true anymore.
We see the clip of the Jonathan Karten expelling the SJP trespassers from the private premises where the Jewish TMU students held their event, featuring the IDF soldier talking about his October 7th experience. What we don’t see the progressive antisemitic propaganda mob show us is the call to action of the SJP TMU, nor do we see the full video clip of the protesters breaking into the place, destroying property and breaking glass. When you only see the clip of the IDF soldier expelling trespassers, it’s easy to be wooed into accepting the SJP version of the story. Particularly when you don’t know what the SJP stands for and who belongs to their ranks. Most people don’t track Palestinian groups on instagram or on the ground, so they have no idea, they believe that Pallywood protesters are like them, reasonable and honest. Those of us who have followed this stuff for a while, know it ain’t so.
We see the headline about “200 Palestinian civilians trapped in underground tunnels by the IDF.” What we don’t see is that Hamas lies constantly, their armed militia men pretend to be civilians and Hamas creates this elaborate story of how the IDF has genocide innocent civilians blah blah. What we don’t know is that these 200 individuals are Hamas members who refuse to disarm and surrender. Remember, the ceasefire agreement required Hamas to permanently disarm and relinquish power. What we don’t understand is that Hamas worships death. Hamas members would rather die and blame Israel than live and make peace. Hamas leadership would rather facilitate the mass destruction of Gaza and impose mass suffering onto Gazans to stick it to Israel, than sit at the peace table and negotiate in the best interests of their people. We cannot imagine that because we do not think that way. That’s a key weakness of the western mind, collectively and individually — inability to see that not all cultures and societies operate and think like ours does.
We see the stories swirling around about Sde Teiman, and the IDF soldiers stationed there who abused and tortured Palestinian prisoners. We hear the explanation that it’s a lie, the invocation of antisemitism crops up to shut down the discussion, or we hear that the Hamas perpetrators of October 7th deserve torture and abuse, that they should feel lucky that Israel lets them live—another conversation stopper. One of the five reservists accused of prisoner abuse entered a plea bargain and received a conviction. The prisoner sustained broken ribs and a rectal tear. according to the Times of Israel. Whistleblowers have come forward with allegations as to the nature and severity of the abuse, which includes physical assault and beatings, psychological abuse, humiliation, medical neglect, deprivation of food and sanitary conditions. We shrug off the video of the court house packed with Israelis who cheer the accused Sde Teiman soldiers as heroes. Wait, I thought they didn’t do anything—aren’t we told that the Palestinians lied? What makes them heroes? Why can’t we admit that the most moral army in the world has some bad eggs in it? You see, reader, it’s impossible to know what’s what. It’s especially difficult to know what’s what from way over here, an ocean away.
I lost a “friend” over the Sde Teiman saga, around a year ago when I suggested the accusations could have truth to then, she promptly blocked me on X and stopped talking to me altogether. So I will not debate this situation with any readers, save your comments for your own substack, and kindly refrain from polluting my comments section with that stuff, I will ignore you. I invite those who feel strongly to write their own opinion piece or reasoned argument in their own Substack. This is my Substack, kindly don’t hijack it to masturbate your ego over geopolitics, thanks.
We see the stories of Israeli terrorism in Judea Samaria. The Israeli media can barely call it violence, let alone terrorism. Yet, we see the situation clearly in the video evidence, the same evidence of terrorism shown in multiple videos from different sources. The Netanyahu government turns a blind eye. We heard about arrests of Israeli attackers. According to Ihab Hassan, “four Israeli settler terrorists were arrested yesterday by the Israeli army and police after their pogrom against Palestinian villages in the West Bank — not for terrorizing Palestinians, but only because they attacked the Israeli military while carrying out their pogrom.”
Yesterday we saw video evidence of this Israeli settler attack in the village of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm, we saw masked individuals running into a compound, setting trucks on fire, and we saw the burning trucks. We saw video footage of Arab farmers who have had their farms sabotaged, looted and pillaged, destroyed. We have, for quite some time, heard the stories of Israel deporting American and British activists who travelled to Judea Samaria to protect the olive farms. The staunchly pro Israel people will deny these stories, will make excuses for them, or will simply justify it all as decolonisation because they believe Judea Samaria belongs first and foremost to Israelis. As someone living in a province where 95% of the land has unceded status, and where First Nations land claims have imposed a uncomfortable uncertainty onto BC society regarding the stability and endurance of private property rights, I cannot accept that Arab farmers must lose everything so Israelis can claim the land they say always belonged to them. Hillel speaks loudly inside my head, do not do to others what you hate for yourself.
Video Caption: “They have stolen my harvest and taken everything from us they’ve left us with absolutely nothing. They’ve destroyed our identity.” —a Palestinian grandfather cries after Israeli settlers terrorists destroyed his olive groves and stole the olives in Tulkarm. (via Censored Humans on X).
Per Itay Blumenthal on Xwitter: Central Command Commander, Major General Avi Bloth, in a conversation with commanders following the rise in nationalist crime in Judea and Samaria:
“These severe violent incidents, fortunately, from the beginning of the year until now, have been without fatalities, yet they undermine security stability.
The directive to IDF soldiers is clear: do not stand by idly, and do everything in their power to prevent any act of nationalist crime. We will do this in coordination with our colleagues in the police and the Shin Bet - only in this way will we eradicate the phenomenon.
Our fighters, both regular and reserve, who have fought against the enemy in several sectors and operate with dedication, are encountering an intolerable situation in which significant attention and resources are allocated to dealing with those anarchists who take the law into their own hands, instead of continuing to defend the routes, the settlements, and conducting offensive operations to thwart terrorism. This violence harms the settlement and harms the State of Israel.
We will not accept a situation in which lawbreakers harm property and innocent people, undermine stability in Judea and Samaria, and divert the IDF’s focus from the mission of defense and thwarting terrorism.”
Per Emmanuel Fabian on Xwitter: “Three of the four Israeli suspects who were arrested over yesterday’s settler attack on two Palestinian villages in the West Bank have been released from police custody.
IDF officials criticize police for the fact that only one of the alleged attackers who were detained by troops remains held. Perpetrators of settler attacks on Palestinians are rarely prosecuted.
Yesterday, the IDF dispatched troops to Bayt Lid and Dayr Sharaf following reports of dozens of masked Israelis attacking Palestinians in the villages and setting fire to property. The troops detained the four suspects there and handed them over to the police.
Military officials say that the IDF lacks the proper tools to handle the increasing number of extremist, violent settlers in the West Bank and the rise in attacks against Palestinians, especially since Defense Minister Israel Katz stopped the use of administrative detentions against Israelis earlier this year.
The chief of the Central Command has the authority to sign “restraining orders” against such suspects, barring them from being in the West Bank, as well as house arrest orders for residents of settlements.
Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth recently signed 30 such orders and plans to increase their use; however, military officials say that the IDF needs additional powers to handle the issue of the extremist settlers.
There has been a rise in settler violence this year, especially coinciding with the annual olive harvest, which began in October.
During October, the IDF recorded 86 incidents of “nationalistic crime,” compared with just 25 in the same period last year.
And since the beginning of the year, 704 incidents of “nationalistic crime” have been recorded by Israeli defense authorities, compared with 675 in all of 2024.”
Per Nava Rozolyo on Xwitter: “An organized, armed terror cell, consisting of dozens of terrorists, and it seems there was meticulous planning of the pogrom.
Where is the Shin Bet? The police? The IDF?
And yes, I know who the head of the Shin Bet is, who controls the police, and who the defense minister is. But in the security organizations, there are other people who are supposed to do their jobs and thwart terrorism or deal with terrorists. Where are they?”
Per Political Jew on Xwitter: “Extremism is two sides of the same coin. Hamas and pro-Palestinian radicals see all Israelis as “settlers” and “soldiers de facto”, effectively sanctioning their killing.
The Israeli far-right and its sycophants continue to insist that there is no innocents in Gaza.”
Per Guy Elster via Xwitter: “Settlers set a mosque ablaze in a Palestinian village in the West Bank, according to local residents, as Jewish terror attacks are out of control after Netanyahu’s government has largely stopped combating this dangerous wave.”
When scrolling through Xwitter, looking for information on this torching of a mosque in Salfit, which, according to the AP, even IDF Central Command denounced, I did see some pro-Israel accounts invoke antisemitism in response to posts about the attack by Israeli settler terrorists. That’s unhelpful, it exhibits an unwillingness to engage information about what actually happens on the ground, and as Political Jew says above, at a point both sides look very similar in the way they view their opponents.
I’ll leave readers with a cartoon that demonstrates the mimetic rivalry René Girard saw in humanity, and about which he theorised. I’m not here to argue with you, only to provoke you to think about things. The best way to explore your ideas and thoughts about anything is write about them. I encourage those who feel strongly to do so, rather than vomit rageful and antagonistic and unconstructive verbiage into my comments space.
