A few comments , speaking as an Israeli trying to make sense of what happened on 7th Oct .
I agree that often we are at the mercy of politicians and that mainstream media have their own agenda’s too and should not be trusted blindly.
Also, I agree too that doing the same as we have done before has not worked and new alternatives need to be assessed.
In response to the hospital bombing, whatever the failures on both sides only Hamas benefits from an incident like this. Simply looking at who said what seems to miss the point.
Hamas don’t care about their civilians, more civilian deaths are useful to them.
They have a long history of hiding behind civilian populations . You can be as cynical as you want about Israel but there is nothing to benefit us from this, the last thing we're looking for is more international condemnation.
You wrote “what else do we need to consider in the process of truly making sense of this situation and what is the cost of not doing so ?”
First, we need to realize that we don’t and cannot understand.
No western country can understand the mindset of any Arab country especially not one that is ruled by an extremist terrorist organization.
It is not within our frame of reference and understanding this will free our minds to thinking out of the box .
I exclude myself and other Israel’s at the moment as we are too distraught by our grief to think clearly at this point in time.
Let me some up my own personal crises as briefly as I can:
Up until 7th Oct there were many Israelis that supported the granting of work permits to Gazans as means of providing humanitarian relief to Gazans.
In September 2023 17,000 permits were granted and the number was supposed to increase to 20,000.
In addition millions of Qatar money flowed in for the same purpose of supporting the civilians.
This was supported by most of the public (I am sure that the government had other less altruistic intentions but I am trying to describe the beliefs and mindset of myself and the Israeli public).
To many of us it was easier, more humane, to separate in our minds Gazan’s from Hamas, much easier to cope with the idea that not everyone on your doorstop wants to kill in your bed.
Sad to say that those same Gazans that came into Israel to work every day are the same ones that mapped out the Kibutz houses that were attacked.
Everything was recorded , in perfect detail, the names, the number of household members, even if there was a dog. A cold-blooded planning of the atrocities to come.
I wish I could say that the attack was carried out by Hamas terrorists only but the truth is, when the fence was breached ordinary Gazans poured in and joined in such unspeakable violence that it is hard to breathe and my mind goes numb, I cannot describe them.
Following the brutal attacks there were many videos to show the Gazans dancing and handing out sweets in celebration of the successful slaughter. Very much like the celebrations after 9/11.
All of a sudden, the misconception became clear, our western values imposed on a problem to make it easier for us to deal with. Almost a deliberate misunderstanding of the situation to make it more palatable for us. There is no difference between the Gazan’s and Hamas, what a terrifying realization.
So, what do we do? It would be nice if the international community had something genuine to offer in terms of a solution but it’s hard to be persuaded that the UN has good intentions for Israel.
Even on a good day we’re the easy target of “Israel bashing”.
The UN resolution this week is like a sick joke, with no mention of all of Hamas, what a victory for Hamas, good job UN.
And as you mentioned Joe not sure how far we can trust government to solve this (certainly not the Netanyahu government).
So at this point I only have one suggestion for the Palestinian people :
Show the world that Hamas does not represent you.
Prove me wrong, I would like to regain my compassion for you.
I read this today, an interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef . He is the son of a Hamas founder.
I hope he’s right; he sees the Palestine’s as victims of the Hamas (there is a documentary on the “The Green Prince” which is very interesting).
War is a terrible thing. There’s always gonna be collateral damage. What both sides are doing is wrong, but until you’re in that situation you can’t call it!! It’s easy being on the bleachers rooting for your team but until we’re experiencing this carnage who’s to say what’s wrong or right. It is what it is!!!No amount of taking sides is gonna make any difference. Look around the world, chaos from all the hate for different reasons. It’s in our so called Gods hands.
I left Israel a year ago because of its corrupted government. I am an Orthodox Jew. The government, as you stated, does not represent its people. A real Jew does not take revenge. A real Jew, as Mr. Braham commented below does not support the current "Israeli State", it is not a Jewish State. The actions of the government are one-sided and with political intention. There is no such thing as a "good war." Your article was well thought out and wise, and what the world needs is to see more measured thinking and more emotional intelligence. After all, what has Netanyahu created now? More hardened enemies that want to destroy Israel - and for good reason.
As usual, your informed, informative and measured approach makes for peaceful reading on horrific events -unlike the actions of radical fanatics. Children and radical fanatics employ revenge and lies; adults use diplomacy and research. Whatever the truth (“the first casualty of war”),
one could say that Hamas tactics are driven by a view that puts much different value on a single human life than us “Western” Judeo-Christian folks do, must then face the fact that Israel is merely mirroring that attitude. …. And they invariably up the ante of lives lost in their revenge attacks.
It doesn’t really matter who blew up the hospital, the fact is that this brand new war is one sided. ( the HAMAS attack was not part of this war). I wouldn’t even discount yet the possibility that HAMAS’ initial invasions were triggered and sponsored by the Israeli and American spy agencies that created them in the first place, in a classic false flag.
Good balanced article. Any implication that Israel is not blameless results in cries of anti-semitism. In fact, Israel is only a Jewish state in name. The only real Jews in Israel are the Orthodox Jews who are against the existence of the Jewish state.
"After the hospital bombing, Israel claimed it was not their doing but instead a failed rocket from a Palestinian militant group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). . . . " Seriosly, does this look like the damage a failed Hamas rocket could, even at its most extreme destructiveness, accomplish?
Love your guys writing. I can always count on you all at collective evolution and the pulse to have balanced, (what I feel is) honest, and very well written articles. Thank you. Hope you all are able to stay at it for a long time, I know it’s been tough with all those that try to silence you through demonetization and other ways.
I thought Netanyahu was pro a two-state solution earlier, and because that hurt him politically, he changed tack. I was thinking it would appear unfair if American descendants of the Danes, wanted to move to Denmark and be given land there as part of their birth right. However, the situation has already occurred. The Jews have thrived in Israel, the Palestinians do not have an economically thriving culture, why is that? I don't see any solution other than compromise. It is understandable that Palestine will fight for their freedom against oppression, but terrorist tactics are not justifiable regardless, ever. We can't trust the visuals anymore, because editing is too easy. I would believe someone who witnessed the terrorist tactics and was a genuine person. None of us really know what goes on behind the scenes. One child killed is an unspeakable tragedy, a leader who lost a child to a war would know that, and perhaps try and work out the conflict in a reasonable, fair and humane way.
The saddest part of this is that the majority of people fail to see that not just the Israelis who were murdered by Hamas terrorists but the Palestinian civilians were murdered by the same acts of terrorism. There can be no justification for the action or the reaction. The fact is that innocent people on both sides are being murdered indiscriminately and governments are defending these atrocities.
"We live in a time where it’s almost impossible to know what is true anymore. Trust in government must be near an all-time low, and people have become wise to propaganda and power elite narratives.
...our existing ways of “solving global crises’” truly don’t work, and that world leaders are not leaders at all, but purveyors of destructive stories."
Indeed - and picking a side is exactly what we are all being provoked to do with Ukraine, now Gaza, etc. to initiate conflict and funnel us toward a totalitarian regime - let's not fall for it.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”
The invitations to do what we've always done are as strong as ever. The good news is there is more awareness to choose differently. Thanks for the great links there as well!
Agreed 100% Joe - your work is exemplary! Keep it coming brother, I continue to be a big fan.
"Self-importance, egocentricity, or wetiko by whatever moniker – manifests in us singularly and collectively at all levels: individual, family, community, congregation, city, region, race, nation, species, etc. More than any other single factor here in the 21st c., humanity’s hubris continues to slowly and steadily destroy us – from the inside out. We are consuming ourselves before our own deluded, denying eyes! The USA in particular – now with its shadow wetiko self exposed – epitomizes this expression of humanity that has nowhere left to go and can only accelerate humankind’s devouring of itself. The silver lining is the powerful expanding awareness that is awakening in response. What happens from here is as large and blank a sheet of paper to approach as there ever was. In filling it, we must push beyond what we believe is possible with each and every stroke – success means no less than manifesting a metamorphosis of humanity."
We now know that the ultimate trigger for these events is generational trauma. Blame or explanations cannot possibly heal such trauma; as you say a different (loving - compassionate) consciousness is needed. It's hard to see that as evolving currently but hopefully it is germinating in our youth.
Indeed and I agree. It is a tough thing to hold the space of wanting to work past trauma when the stakes are so high. As I've studied in that field now for 4 years, I'm reminded one of the key sayings: "work with your nervous system and trauma now before things get bad."
In some senses this means before you burn out, lose a job or have some crisis in life. In a collective sense it's before a major war or conflict breaks out. Because when that happens and survival takes over (as it kind of should) it's very difficult to dot hat kind of work.
This of course doesn't mean it shouldn't be done now or is impossible, only that it will be harder to turn focus to it.
I haven't finished the article yet but so far, it's excellent. EXCEPT for one point.....this drives me crazy. Every writer says," Hamas doesn't represent Gaza"...when they absolutely DO REPRESENT GAZA.! Literally....they are ELECTED. Which just means, as you imply....the Palestinians want their mosques to be respected, they want freedom of movement and they value self-governance by all means necessary. This is not unlike other oppressed groups in history...Black South Africans, Jews during the Holocaust, Haitians, American Native Americans etc
Thanks for the comment. I believe I understand where you are coming from with this: 44% of people in Gaza voted for Hamas therefore they represent Palestinians. But I don't think this is quite true.
1. I stated "Hamas, which does not represent Palestinians as a whole" because I was stating there are over half of Palestinians who don't support Hamas. We must consider Palestinians as a whole.
2. Representative governments don't ask their citizens "would you like us to commit terror?" they just do it.
For example, when were Americans asked whether their government should kill over 1 million Iraqi's? They weren't. In fact most people do not support those kinds of war, thus the American government doesn't represent Americans as a whole. Further, we must consider allegiances representative governments often have to more powerful people and interests.
The sentiment I was attempting to get across was that the actions of Hamas should not be held on Palestinians as a whole, neither should the actions of Netanyahu's IDF be held over Israelis as a whole.
Being Canadian, the same sentiment is seen during COVID when people said "Canadians chose Trudeau and his policies." Yet only 30% of Canadians voted for Trudeau, thus he did not represent Canadians in reality, only via the illusion of democracy.
Method of voting. The elected politicians assume they have a mandate from the electorate when they are declared winners. Whether it's first past the post as in Canada or preferential voting as in Australia, the winners make assumptions about their mandate.
Great piece as always! You do a great job of balancing the need to make sense in the mind and also appeal to the heart for resolve.
I have to admit I find myself skeptical that a message of forgiveness is possible in the actions of most current world leaders. Juxtapositionally, as I see your content spread maybe just 1 or 2 more people or even 10 begin to think this way. That must help right?
Thanks! I trust that it helps. If the last 15 years has taught me anything it is that we have made a lot of progress in opening our minds and hearts. Sure, it isn't always obvious and things look bleak at times, but generally I feel there has been meaningful openings and a deepening of the heart.
A few comments , speaking as an Israeli trying to make sense of what happened on 7th Oct .
I agree that often we are at the mercy of politicians and that mainstream media have their own agenda’s too and should not be trusted blindly.
Also, I agree too that doing the same as we have done before has not worked and new alternatives need to be assessed.
In response to the hospital bombing, whatever the failures on both sides only Hamas benefits from an incident like this. Simply looking at who said what seems to miss the point.
Hamas don’t care about their civilians, more civilian deaths are useful to them.
They have a long history of hiding behind civilian populations . You can be as cynical as you want about Israel but there is nothing to benefit us from this, the last thing we're looking for is more international condemnation.
You wrote “what else do we need to consider in the process of truly making sense of this situation and what is the cost of not doing so ?”
First, we need to realize that we don’t and cannot understand.
No western country can understand the mindset of any Arab country especially not one that is ruled by an extremist terrorist organization.
It is not within our frame of reference and understanding this will free our minds to thinking out of the box .
I exclude myself and other Israel’s at the moment as we are too distraught by our grief to think clearly at this point in time.
Let me some up my own personal crises as briefly as I can:
Up until 7th Oct there were many Israelis that supported the granting of work permits to Gazans as means of providing humanitarian relief to Gazans.
In September 2023 17,000 permits were granted and the number was supposed to increase to 20,000.
In addition millions of Qatar money flowed in for the same purpose of supporting the civilians.
This was supported by most of the public (I am sure that the government had other less altruistic intentions but I am trying to describe the beliefs and mindset of myself and the Israeli public).
To many of us it was easier, more humane, to separate in our minds Gazan’s from Hamas, much easier to cope with the idea that not everyone on your doorstop wants to kill in your bed.
Sad to say that those same Gazans that came into Israel to work every day are the same ones that mapped out the Kibutz houses that were attacked.
Everything was recorded , in perfect detail, the names, the number of household members, even if there was a dog. A cold-blooded planning of the atrocities to come.
I wish I could say that the attack was carried out by Hamas terrorists only but the truth is, when the fence was breached ordinary Gazans poured in and joined in such unspeakable violence that it is hard to breathe and my mind goes numb, I cannot describe them.
Following the brutal attacks there were many videos to show the Gazans dancing and handing out sweets in celebration of the successful slaughter. Very much like the celebrations after 9/11.
All of a sudden, the misconception became clear, our western values imposed on a problem to make it easier for us to deal with. Almost a deliberate misunderstanding of the situation to make it more palatable for us. There is no difference between the Gazan’s and Hamas, what a terrifying realization.
So, what do we do? It would be nice if the international community had something genuine to offer in terms of a solution but it’s hard to be persuaded that the UN has good intentions for Israel.
Even on a good day we’re the easy target of “Israel bashing”.
The UN resolution this week is like a sick joke, with no mention of all of Hamas, what a victory for Hamas, good job UN.
And as you mentioned Joe not sure how far we can trust government to solve this (certainly not the Netanyahu government).
So at this point I only have one suggestion for the Palestinian people :
Show the world that Hamas does not represent you.
Prove me wrong, I would like to regain my compassion for you.
I read this today, an interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef . He is the son of a Hamas founder.
I hope he’s right; he sees the Palestine’s as victims of the Hamas (there is a documentary on the “The Green Prince” which is very interesting).
https://www.timesofisrael.com/son-of-hamas-in-interview-terrorists-brought-wrath-of-god-with-october-7-attack/
War is a terrible thing. There’s always gonna be collateral damage. What both sides are doing is wrong, but until you’re in that situation you can’t call it!! It’s easy being on the bleachers rooting for your team but until we’re experiencing this carnage who’s to say what’s wrong or right. It is what it is!!!No amount of taking sides is gonna make any difference. Look around the world, chaos from all the hate for different reasons. It’s in our so called Gods hands.
I left Israel a year ago because of its corrupted government. I am an Orthodox Jew. The government, as you stated, does not represent its people. A real Jew does not take revenge. A real Jew, as Mr. Braham commented below does not support the current "Israeli State", it is not a Jewish State. The actions of the government are one-sided and with political intention. There is no such thing as a "good war." Your article was well thought out and wise, and what the world needs is to see more measured thinking and more emotional intelligence. After all, what has Netanyahu created now? More hardened enemies that want to destroy Israel - and for good reason.
As usual, your informed, informative and measured approach makes for peaceful reading on horrific events -unlike the actions of radical fanatics. Children and radical fanatics employ revenge and lies; adults use diplomacy and research. Whatever the truth (“the first casualty of war”),
one could say that Hamas tactics are driven by a view that puts much different value on a single human life than us “Western” Judeo-Christian folks do, must then face the fact that Israel is merely mirroring that attitude. …. And they invariably up the ante of lives lost in their revenge attacks.
It doesn’t really matter who blew up the hospital, the fact is that this brand new war is one sided. ( the HAMAS attack was not part of this war). I wouldn’t even discount yet the possibility that HAMAS’ initial invasions were triggered and sponsored by the Israeli and American spy agencies that created them in the first place, in a classic false flag.
Good balanced article. Any implication that Israel is not blameless results in cries of anti-semitism. In fact, Israel is only a Jewish state in name. The only real Jews in Israel are the Orthodox Jews who are against the existence of the Jewish state.
"After the hospital bombing, Israel claimed it was not their doing but instead a failed rocket from a Palestinian militant group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). . . . " Seriosly, does this look like the damage a failed Hamas rocket could, even at its most extreme destructiveness, accomplish?
It didn't even take the hospital and the death count according to EU and American intelligence community,was inflated.
Love your guys writing. I can always count on you all at collective evolution and the pulse to have balanced, (what I feel is) honest, and very well written articles. Thank you. Hope you all are able to stay at it for a long time, I know it’s been tough with all those that try to silence you through demonetization and other ways.
I thought Netanyahu was pro a two-state solution earlier, and because that hurt him politically, he changed tack. I was thinking it would appear unfair if American descendants of the Danes, wanted to move to Denmark and be given land there as part of their birth right. However, the situation has already occurred. The Jews have thrived in Israel, the Palestinians do not have an economically thriving culture, why is that? I don't see any solution other than compromise. It is understandable that Palestine will fight for their freedom against oppression, but terrorist tactics are not justifiable regardless, ever. We can't trust the visuals anymore, because editing is too easy. I would believe someone who witnessed the terrorist tactics and was a genuine person. None of us really know what goes on behind the scenes. One child killed is an unspeakable tragedy, a leader who lost a child to a war would know that, and perhaps try and work out the conflict in a reasonable, fair and humane way.
The saddest part of this is that the majority of people fail to see that not just the Israelis who were murdered by Hamas terrorists but the Palestinian civilians were murdered by the same acts of terrorism. There can be no justification for the action or the reaction. The fact is that innocent people on both sides are being murdered indiscriminately and governments are defending these atrocities.
In the end guns don't kill people governments do.
"We live in a time where it’s almost impossible to know what is true anymore. Trust in government must be near an all-time low, and people have become wise to propaganda and power elite narratives.
...our existing ways of “solving global crises’” truly don’t work, and that world leaders are not leaders at all, but purveyors of destructive stories."
Indeed - and picking a side is exactly what we are all being provoked to do with Ukraine, now Gaza, etc. to initiate conflict and funnel us toward a totalitarian regime - let's not fall for it.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
re: the current headlining conflict:
where did Hamas come from (posted 2018)
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/19/hamas-israel-palestine-conflict/
from an honest journalist who can speak from extensive personal experience:
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-culture-of-deceit?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=778851&post_id=138087465&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=3zi2o&utm_medium=email
how so-called "news" works these days from a seasoned journalist w/integrity:
https://www.racket.news/p/the-new-york-times-takes-another?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1042&post_id=138101052&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=3zi2o&utm_medium=email
We are ALL One of Us!!
peace
The invitations to do what we've always done are as strong as ever. The good news is there is more awareness to choose differently. Thanks for the great links there as well!
Agreed 100% Joe - your work is exemplary! Keep it coming brother, I continue to be a big fan.
"Self-importance, egocentricity, or wetiko by whatever moniker – manifests in us singularly and collectively at all levels: individual, family, community, congregation, city, region, race, nation, species, etc. More than any other single factor here in the 21st c., humanity’s hubris continues to slowly and steadily destroy us – from the inside out. We are consuming ourselves before our own deluded, denying eyes! The USA in particular – now with its shadow wetiko self exposed – epitomizes this expression of humanity that has nowhere left to go and can only accelerate humankind’s devouring of itself. The silver lining is the powerful expanding awareness that is awakening in response. What happens from here is as large and blank a sheet of paper to approach as there ever was. In filling it, we must push beyond what we believe is possible with each and every stroke – success means no less than manifesting a metamorphosis of humanity."
https://bohobeau.net/2017/02/10/shedding-wetiko/
We now know that the ultimate trigger for these events is generational trauma. Blame or explanations cannot possibly heal such trauma; as you say a different (loving - compassionate) consciousness is needed. It's hard to see that as evolving currently but hopefully it is germinating in our youth.
Indeed and I agree. It is a tough thing to hold the space of wanting to work past trauma when the stakes are so high. As I've studied in that field now for 4 years, I'm reminded one of the key sayings: "work with your nervous system and trauma now before things get bad."
In some senses this means before you burn out, lose a job or have some crisis in life. In a collective sense it's before a major war or conflict breaks out. Because when that happens and survival takes over (as it kind of should) it's very difficult to dot hat kind of work.
This of course doesn't mean it shouldn't be done now or is impossible, only that it will be harder to turn focus to it.
Yeah I noticed the survival stuff especially during COVID and finally relieved that quite a bit.
The ticket for me seems to be much rest and healing my nervous system.
But it's funny, when I was 30 a reader of one of my screenplays told me to get some therapy. Should have listened back then.
I haven't finished the article yet but so far, it's excellent. EXCEPT for one point.....this drives me crazy. Every writer says," Hamas doesn't represent Gaza"...when they absolutely DO REPRESENT GAZA.! Literally....they are ELECTED. Which just means, as you imply....the Palestinians want their mosques to be respected, they want freedom of movement and they value self-governance by all means necessary. This is not unlike other oppressed groups in history...Black South Africans, Jews during the Holocaust, Haitians, American Native Americans etc
Thanks for the comment. I believe I understand where you are coming from with this: 44% of people in Gaza voted for Hamas therefore they represent Palestinians. But I don't think this is quite true.
1. I stated "Hamas, which does not represent Palestinians as a whole" because I was stating there are over half of Palestinians who don't support Hamas. We must consider Palestinians as a whole.
2. Representative governments don't ask their citizens "would you like us to commit terror?" they just do it.
For example, when were Americans asked whether their government should kill over 1 million Iraqi's? They weren't. In fact most people do not support those kinds of war, thus the American government doesn't represent Americans as a whole. Further, we must consider allegiances representative governments often have to more powerful people and interests.
The sentiment I was attempting to get across was that the actions of Hamas should not be held on Palestinians as a whole, neither should the actions of Netanyahu's IDF be held over Israelis as a whole.
Being Canadian, the same sentiment is seen during COVID when people said "Canadians chose Trudeau and his policies." Yet only 30% of Canadians voted for Trudeau, thus he did not represent Canadians in reality, only via the illusion of democracy.
Method of voting. The elected politicians assume they have a mandate from the electorate when they are declared winners. Whether it's first past the post as in Canada or preferential voting as in Australia, the winners make assumptions about their mandate.
Great piece as always! You do a great job of balancing the need to make sense in the mind and also appeal to the heart for resolve.
I have to admit I find myself skeptical that a message of forgiveness is possible in the actions of most current world leaders. Juxtapositionally, as I see your content spread maybe just 1 or 2 more people or even 10 begin to think this way. That must help right?
Thanks! I trust that it helps. If the last 15 years has taught me anything it is that we have made a lot of progress in opening our minds and hearts. Sure, it isn't always obvious and things look bleak at times, but generally I feel there has been meaningful openings and a deepening of the heart.