On January 11, an estimated 10,000 people rallied in front of the Israeli consulate in midtown New York in support of Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip. The rally, which was organized by UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York in cooperation with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, featured speeches by New York’s most senior lawmakers. While the crowd was riled to righteous anger by speeches about Hamas evildoers, the event was a festive affair that began and ended with singing and joyous dancing.
Sen. Chuck Schumer highlighted Israel’s supposed humanitarian methods of warfare by pointing to its text messaging of certain Gaza Strip residents urging them to vacate their homes before Israeli forces bombed them. “What other country would do that?” Schumer shouted from the podium. Gov. David Paterson appeared on stage wearing one of the red hats distributed to demonstrators as symbols of the red alerts some residents of Israel endure when Palestinian groups fire rockets their way. Paterson cited the many Qasam rockets that have fallen on Israel as a justification for the country’s operations in Gaza, a military assault that has resulted in over 800 casualties and thousands of injuries.
Then Paterson highlighted the anti-Semitism that has followed in the wake of Israel’s attack on Gaza, highlighting the beating of a teen-age girl in France. “This kind of anger and hatred spreads like a disease,” Paterson said, “and one thing I’ve always pointed out is there’s no place for hate in the Empire State.”
But hatred was plentiful at the rally Paterson addressed. Right in front of the stage, a man held a banner reading, “Islam Is A Death Cult.” Rally attendees described the people of Gaza to me as a “cancer,” called for Israel to “wipe them all out,” insisting, “They are forcing us to kill their children in order to defend our own children.” A young woman told me, “Those who die are suffering God’s wrath.” “They are not distinguishing between civilians and military, so why should we?” said a member of the group of messianic Orthodox Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch group that flocked to the rally.
No one I spoke to could seem to find any circumstance in which they would begin to question Israel’s war. No number of civilian deaths, no displays of human suffering — nothing could deter their enthusiasm for attacking one of the most vulnerable populations in the world with the world’s most advanced weaponry. There are no limits, no matter what Israel does, no matter how it does it.
The rally reminded me of a passage from “The Holocaust Is Over, We Must Rise From Its Ashes,” a powerful new book by former Israeli Knesset speaker and ex-Jewish National Fund chairman Avraham Burg:
“If you are a bad person, a whining enemy or a strong-arm occupier, you are not my brother, even if you are circumcised, observe the Sabbath, and do mitzvahs. If your scarf covers every hair on your head for modesty, you give alms and do charity, but what is under your scarf is dedicated to the sanctity of Jewish land, taking precedence over the sanctity of human life, whosever life that is, then your are not my sister. You might be my enemy. A good Arab or a righteous gentile will be a brother or sister to me. A wicked man, even of Jewish descent, is my adversary, and I would stand on the other side of the barricade and fight him to the end.”
Brilliant video. Just wanted to let you know I’ll be passing the video along.
Esther
Dear Mr. Blumenthal, You are the best interviewer since Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and that is some high praise. Thanks for this excellent interview. Signed, an Anti-Zionist Jew
Max:
You’re not really fooling anyone with videos like these. There are always a few extreme people at every rally on both sides. They tend to attract the true believers. The vast, vast majority of the pro-Israel movement would not advocate “wiping out” the Palestinians, and even the person you interviewed was likely referring to wiping out Hamas, not the Palestinian people. So I don’t find what you did particularly honest.
At the Free Palestine rally in DC this weekend, the slogans chanted by the protesters included “Olmert, Hitler, they’re the same, the only different is the name” and “Palestine free from the River to the Sea.” These were slogans chanted, not opinions expressed by a few rally attendees. I’m sure if you went into that crowd, you’d have no trouble finding people who support the suicide bombings and people who say filthy things about Jews.
I think you know very well that no one called for wiping out the Palestinians from the podium.
There’s a lot of anger on both sides. Both Jews and Arabs have lost a lot of friends and relatives over the past 60 years. Most Jews and Israelis take no pleasure in the bombing of Gaza. The Israelis see it as necessary because it has been going on for most of the last decade and is getting worse and because negotiating with Hamas has usually resulted in Hamas re-arming, as they did during the truce. Making a joke out of the conflict is kind of perverse.
For the record: Israel did not bomb a school. They fired munitions in an area near a school. It’s urban warfare. It’s not perfect. The allegation is not that Hamas uses schools to make bombs. The allegation is that they shoot from school buildings and compounds, using civilians as cover. Amnesty International has documented Hamas’s use of civilians as human shields.
Making a joke out of conflict could be perverse, i find it far more insulting that people can, in one breath, speak out against facial slashing(which i am admittedly ignorant of) an innocent child, and at the same time cheer lead a one-sided conflict that is murdering innocent children every day. I am not against Israel or Palestine, I am against senseless and violent killing upon innocent humans. Using human shields is abhorrent, but collective punishment is a war crime as well. I refuse to excuse killing under any flag. It saddens me that people cheer on death…
BS”D
If by “collective punishment” reflux1 means going to war, then no nation would have the right to defend itself against agressors. Untenable in the world as we know it. If John Lennon’s dreams someday come true and we all sing Kumbaya, I’m with you, but for now…sorry. Aint’ happenin’.
As for the many and oft repeated accusations against Israel whenever she finally decides to take action on behalf of her citizens, I refer the readers to the following article by Avraham Bell.
“International Law and Gaza: The Assault on Israel’s Right to Self-Defense”. Google it or link it below.
http://jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=378&PID=0&IID=2021&TTL=International_Law_and_Gaza:_The_Assault_on_Israel%12s_Right_to_Self-Defense
Oh, and my response to this video:
“Max Blumenthal Has Fun at the Expense of Truth” by Ellie Katz
http://elyakatz.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/max-blumenthal-has-fun-at-the-expense-of-truth/
Copied and archived 14 Jan 2008
Best,
Ellie
Looks like the hasbara brigade has found my blog. Only the mentally disturbed, extremely ethnocentric, or ignorant support Israel’s war at this point. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anyone at the rally on Sunday who didn’t fit into one of these categories. And I interviewed no less than 45 people.
I’m not from the pro-Israel hasbara brigade anymore than you’re from the pro-Palestinian hasbara brigade. If you’re looking for only fellow travelers to leave comments, I’m not sure why you’re an activist.
Your fatuous argument that “[o]nly the mentally disturbed, extremely ethnocentric, or ignorant support Israel’s war at this point” is indicative the of echo chamber that you seem to inhabit, which by and large does little to find out the viewpoints of real Israelis on the ground. Israelis are not mentally disturbed, ethnocentric, or ignorant. Neither are the Czechs, and neither am I. The Israelis support this war because they are tired of their citizens in the South being terrorized and living in bomb shelters.
If you couldn’t find anyone at the rally who didn’t fit into the categories you listed above, then you weren’t trying very hard, or more likely, you were deliberately looking for people you found so you could make your little video.
As I said Max, you’re not fooling anyone.
BS”D
Max,
You’ll figure it out someday. The only question is when. Either in time, or not.
All the best,
Ellie
Good on you Max.
Dear hophmi, when the war is over, Hamas will be stronger (along with conservative regimes across the Middle East), and the rockets will continue to fall. Israel has not won a war since 1973. Israel’s only accomplishment — if we can call it that — in Gaza is the hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians it has killed. Palestinian blood is cheap, indeed. Is there any number of civilian casualties that would lead you to question Israel’s conduct in its war against the people of Gaza? 10,000? 20,000? 30,000? Forgive me for taking the pro-life position and not the nationalistic, ethnocentric one.
Thank you so much for comparing circumcision to other disgusting acts of religious tradition. Mutilation is mutilation. I noticed Democracy Now! removed that segment of your film. Shame on them for contributing to the silence.
Circumcision is Mutilation and a humans rights issue.
Considering the destroying the lives of innocent civilians can produce support rallies, we’re far from anyone ever realizing this.
Ignorance runs deep in America.
Max wrote:
“[W]hen the war is over, Hamas will be stronger (along with conservative regimes across the Middle East), and the rockets will continue to fall. Israel has not won a war since 1973. Israel’s only accomplishment — if we can call it that — in Gaza is the hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians it has killed. Palestinian blood is cheap, indeed. Is there any number of civilian casualties that would lead you to question Israel’s conduct in its war against the people of Gaza? 10,000? 20,000? 30,000? Forgive me for taking the pro-life position and not the nationalistic, ethnocentric one.”
I don’t believe Israelis believe that Gazan blood is cheap. Most people I know have no desire to kill Gazans. They want to see Israel’s South secured, and they want people not to have to run to bomb shelters. They also realize that if nothing is done, the rockets will get worse and worse. And after suicide bombings, belligerent rhetoric about murdering Jewish children around the world, and rhetoric about how temporary ceasefires are simply opportunities to prepare for additional warfare, few see sitting down with Hamas as a viable option for a long-term peace agreement.
I also don’t believe self-righteousness will get you anywhere, and I don’t believe you can call yourself pro-life if you belittle Israeli casualties, as most on the radical left do. I turn the question to you – how many dead Israelis is enough to justify an invasion?
If Israel was truly indiscriminate, many more Gazans would be dead. Israel could level Gaza completely from the air if they wanted. They don’t, because they don’t want to kill 10,000 or 20,000 people, a la Hafez al-Assad in Hama or King Hussein during Black September.
This is urban warfare, and unfortunately, many civilians get caught in crossfire. Many, many more civilians have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq than in Gaza. Remember how many times the US tried to kill Saddam before they caught him? The US is not as careful as the Israelis are. If you have a cleaner way, please let us know. And quite a number of the dead are Hamas casualties; apparently around 70 members of Fatah in Gaza have been shot by Hamas operatives since this all began.
I simply don’t buy that this outrage around the world comes from a good place; there are so many other conflicts, bloodier than this, that no one gets exercised about; as an MP said in the House of Commons, which is debating the issue of Gaza today, the Sri Lankans are bombing the Tamils today, and no one seems to care much about it. There aren’t thousands of journalists sitting in Columbo waiting to see what happens. The same is true about Darfur and Congo.
Elyakatz, you seem to be totally content excusing murder for the indefinite future because peace “aint happenin”. How are humans supposed to rise above senseless killing with people like you totally dismissing the concept of peace. I also don’t buy that Israel is the total victim, with a most modern military and the aid of the U.S.(which has helped block and stifle peaceful solutions for decades now). I am not saying that palestinians are totally innocent either, but again, killing by anyone, under any flag is still killing. Who is the real aggressor here?
By collective punishment, I mean blockades of humanitarian aid, shelling urban centers with white phosphorous etc. Although war in and of itself could be considered collective punishment, i am talking specifically about the definition of collective punishment used in the Geneva conventions.
How does shelling a hospital fit in with the attack against Hamas, and deterring its rocket firing capabilities? And I am supposed to buy that any nation, in self defense, in “war” has a right to punish the whole population? Not a chance.
I do not excuse the U.S.’s misadventures in Iraq or Afghanistan. Because no one in or from Iraq attacked us on 9/11, it is simple to understand that we did not have a right to attack, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. I don’t excuse any Hamas member shooting off rockets, but I still do not see how Israel is defending itself by shelling hospitals, showering white phosphorous in population centers, blockading humanitarian aid, and blocking rescuers from helping people already bombed. Or is that just arab propaganda??
http://uruknet.info/?p=m50583&hd=&size=1&l=e
I am not fully informed about the issues but i will side with Professor Noam Chomsky and his beliefs. I think you are tremendously brave.
Just to clarify, the ritual that the woman in the video was talking about where the father “slashed the daughter’s face” is ashura. In the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh, Shia inhabitants have for many years made a superficial cut at the front of participants’ heads (above the hairline, not in the face) to remember the suffering of Hussein, who was murdered at the battle of Karbala. This ritual of cutting is performed by supporters of the “secular” Amal movement and it is condemned by clerics and not practiced by the more religious Hezbollah. It is not a religious ritual but rather cultural-specific to certain towns in southern Lebanon. Neither women nor little girls participate, but young boys do. While the ritual might seem distasteful or even grotesque, it is not akin to slashing someone’s face and nobody is in fact harmed or disfigured.
In other words, lobbing of a newborn baby’s foreskin is, clinically seen, a greater physical violation.
BS”D
Reflux1,
Do you get just as hopped up when Hamas sends suicide bombers into Israel and bombs Israeli buses, sending bolts and shrapnel into the brains of Israeli schoolchildren?
The claims of white phosphorous bombs being used as weapons against innocent civilians in Gaza are disingenous.
A few rebuttal links below:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/01/gaza-jihad-fires-phosphorus-bomb-at-israel.html
http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Media_War_Crimes.asp
Cheers,
Ellie
BS”D
ICRC’s position on the use and/or abuse of phosphorous weapons in the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, as of 17 January 2009 –
Quote:
“‘Does the ICRC consider white phosphorous weapons as they have been used in Gaza to be legal under international humanitarian law?’
If ICRC delegates in the field gather credible and precise evidence of violations, or if ICRC medical personnel corroborate reports by others, the ICRC would begin by discussing this with the party concerned – rather than speaking publicly – in keeping with our standard practices. We have not commented publicly on the legality of the current use of phosphorous weapons by Israel, contrary to what has been attributed to us in recent media reports.”
Link to entire article at the ICRC’s site:
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/weapons-interview-170109
Ellie
If ICRC delegates in the field gather credible and precise evidence of violations, or if ICRC medical personnel corroborate reports by others, the ICRC would begin by discussing this with the party concerned – rather than speaking publicly – in keeping with our standard practices. We have not commented publicly on the legality of the current use of phosphorous weapons by Israel, contrary to what has been attributed to us in recent media reports.”642-586
Max, great text and video despite the sadness of watching rational people becoming barbaric and shouting out hate-slogans. But it´s important to be registered and you did. Congratulations.
Elyakatz, I-ve already left a comment on your blog, but just in case…
About Israel´s right to self defense, you should read a text by Michael Neumann, “Hamas and Gaza”. He concludes that “Israel’s (..) must defend itself at the least cost to others. It should keep its families from harm by giving the Palestinians complete control of their external borders and allowing the creation of a Palestinian state. After this, if Israel is attacked, it can respond. Before, its response is not legitimate self-defense but continued aggression. ”
You can read the whole article at http://www.counterpunch.org/neumann01132009.html
Other interesting texts:
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/11568 (”Always a fighter, always a terrorist” – Amira Hass)
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2009/01/legal-aspects-of-operation-cast-lead-in.php (”Legal Aspects of ‘Operation CastLead’ in Gaza”, by Amos Guiora)
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-do-they-hate-the-west-so-much-we-will-ask-1230046.html (”Why do they hate the west so much, we will ask?”, by Robert Fisk)
http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein01132009.html (”The facts about Hamas and the war on Gaza”, Norman Finkelstein)
http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein08172005.html “The shame of it all: watching the Gazan Fiasco”, Jennifer Lowesntein.)
Last but not least, there´s a book by Yoram Binur, an ex-IDF and journalist who spent a year living in the occupied territories and working in Jerusalem disguised as an arab. The title is “My enemy, myself”.
Max, I appreciate what you do. Keep up the good work.
Matt
Hi Max, thanks for the video and all that you do. I also interviewed people at the Pro-Israel rally and counter protest that day in Denver. My video is not a good but is a little revealing. This was my first time trying something like this plus I was so full of emotion that it was difficult. I seriously felt ill. You can watch my video at http://www.argusfest.org I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
BS”D
Sofia,
HAMAS, THE GAZA WAR AND ACCOUNTABILITY UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=378&PID=0&IID=3026
and
NGO campaigns on Israel´s Gaza policy
http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/analyzing_the_ngo_campaign_on_gaza_beyond_the_rhetoric_
The only reason Israel must keep her borders closed to Gaza, which she has a perfect right to do, as well as monitoring the Egyptian/Gaza border as well as the waters off of Gaza is due to the massive smuggling of weapons on the part of Hamas…which are used to target Israeli civilians.
Those Arab nations who want peace with Israel, have peace.