I really appreciated this piece. As a white, anti-imperialist, Leftist American gentile, it resonated with some of what disturbs me about some of my comrades in the face of this. I am, like you it seems, vehemently against the occupation and utterly horrified by the slaughter of innocent people in Gaza, again. I was also horrified by the attacks on October 7th. I am also horrified by the wave of anti-Semitic violence and rhetoric that's reignited all around the world. I am also horrified by the wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab violence it's reignited around the world, and the way pro-Palestinian and anti-occupation voices are repeatedly silenced everywhere, most especially in Israel. I am also horrified that my tax dollars keep funding Israeli violence, keep stoking retaliatory Palestinian violence, keep the war machine churning on and there is no government here to vote for that won't perpetuate the slaughter of innocent people.
As a Leftist, I am on the side of peace and liberation. I am not on the side of one ethnic group over another.
Like other Leftists, I do think the context here is key. The context of course includes the occupation, but you're right, it does include that Israelis are there to stay. The context also includes that Palestinians are there to stay, unless Bibi gets his way, which seems to be happening horrifically. But if he does, the violence will never end and it will only spread. And what the fuck is the point of that?
I am also tired by people bringing up, in this context, that armed resistance is legal under international law in the face of foreign occupation. Slaughtering civilians is not legal. Period. Not for Hamas. Not for Israel. Not that international law has ever meant much of anything, but let's clarify that.
As an American Leftist watching Hell unfold once more from afar, what pains me most, other than the powerlessness, is the sense of recognition. I was very young when I first got interested in politics, and it was in the wake of 9/11 and the US' horrific, unjustified response. 9/11 was an atrocity. 10/7 was an atrocity. In both cases, the respective government knew it was coming and let it happen in an attempt to justify an unjustifiable response that fed into their geopolitical goals. Innocent Americans were sacrificed to slaughter innocent Afghanis and Iraqis. Innocent Israelis were sacrificed to slaughter innocent Palestinians. I know some Leftists will say that no Israelis can be innocent, and I get that too living here on stolen land on Turtle Island. I just like... okay, so what horrors does THAT justify? Because I don't think justice is about leveling scales. I think justice really just means "healing," moving towards peace and liberation.
I stand in solidarity with Palestinian liberation, but in truth, my own experience feels closer to yours: the pain of holding the very real, very legitimate grief of my countrymen while appalled, horrified, and vehemently opposed to the way my country has responded.
From an emotional perspective, I can understand why non-white Leftists around the world would have a hard time empathizing with Israeli grief right now. The grieving Israelis look, and are politically put in the position to be, like the racist, imperialist colonizers that cause violence all over the world.
And I can understand why well-meaning white Leftists who don't support Hamas at all would, out of a genuine desire to be allies, have a hard time using their voices to express empathy with Israelis and condemn Hamas' attacks. As an American, every major news outlet here, every major company and (nearly, bar like 12) every political representative is doing that just fine for themselves. So it can feel like, "Why would I even bother raising that point, when it's being raised by everybody else all the time? By everybody who has WAY more power than me to address anything, all the while my tax money is being used to slaughter Palestinian children? If I can be one more voice for the "other side," the side so few people in America ever get to hear about, that's a better use of my voice right now."
I understand and can empathize with all of those positions. I can also understand completely why seeing that from other Leftists would cause pain in someone, like you, grieving a very personal atrocity while also calling for justice. I can't excuse the pain it causes, nor remove it. I can just endeavor to understand it. I'm not saying I can truly empathize, having not been in your position, but I can do my best to understand it.
So, here's one white American Leftist saying: what Israelis suffered on 10/7 was an atrocity. The context of the occupation and decades of grotesque violence against Palestinians can explain it, but nothing can excuse it. The Israeli military response is utterly inexcusable too. The occupation is inexcusable too. "Inexcusable," what does that word even mean? What is international law even good for? What are my morals even good for when people are dying, will keep dying horrible deaths no matter what I have to say about it?
I moved to Tel Aviv for a summer when I was 18, knowing nothing about Israel or Palestine other than that there was a long, long conflict. I did a great deal of research that summer and after it, and came back utterly committed to Palestinian liberation while simultaneously caring for my Israeli friends, and Israeli people in general, and wanting their safety and liberation too.
I guess, to wrap up this very long reply, as an American I can understand what it's like to live under a genocidal, right wing regime you want nothing to do with and the horror of watching one atrocity being used as a veil to commit so many others. As a human, I know how it feels to have your grief go unacknowledged, and just on a simple level, to feel so alienated from your community. Beyond that, I can't pretend I can fully empathize because I haven't been through it, but I can make sense of it, y'know?
At the JVP rally in Washington DC the other week, Rashida Tlaib spoke about how important it is for Palestinians to see that Americans don't hate them. That we love them, feel their pain, care about their freedom. I can condemn colonialism and imperialism and war and atrocity, I can condemn the occupation and this current, more brutal iteration of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and I can also empathize with Israelis who are suffering, because I'm still a human being. If it helps, I see and honor your pain too, I honor your work and your words and your solidarity in building a liberated world. I do not hate you. I do not hate Israelis.
I'm a Leftist because I'm on the side of peace and liberation. So, ceasefire now. Ceasefire now. Ceasefire now.
