I have hesistated to post about the remembrance of the Hamas atrocities of October 7 because, frankly, I feel burned when I post even excerpts from people — often people of profound Jewish faith and deep moral insight — about what happened last October...

William Lindsey :toad:

@ottomate Peter Beinart is citing the Talmud to make that very point — he's not ignoring it.

Cat C-B

@wdlindsy thank you so much for this thread. My sore heart required it today.

William Lindsey :toad:

"I want to focus on one particular aspect that captures the heartbreak I feel. I want to remember the children who have perished and otherwise been harmed in this abominable conflict. Because that was the first thing that came to my mind this morning.

There is nothing that captures the depravity of war more than the death of children."

~ Eliot Kirschner

#October7 #Israel #Netanyahu #Gaza #Palestine #Lebanon
/16

Thinking of the Children

A heartbreaking anniversary

(elliotkirschner.substack.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

"I write all of this knowing that it is not only Israel and Gaza. It’s also Lebanon, and Sudan, and Ukraine, and all sorts of other places where children are suffering. I think of children lost in the recent hurricane, and to the opioid epidemic, to gun violence, and to horrific (many curable) diseases. ...

If this precious world has any future at all, it will be because of the children."

#October7 #Israel #Netanyahu #Gaza #Palestine #Lebanon
/17

William Lindsey :toad:

@megmuttonhead You're welcome. My heart is sore, too. So much suffering, pain, injustice, and so much of it due to the evil, malice, and inflated egos of some men running things in our world.

Godfrey642

@wdlindsy
Thank you for this William.
There's an honest gentleness in your words that we all need in these desperate days.
And a profound grasp of truth in the words and thoughts of all those writers you quote.

I also feel that this is a pointless war between men who aren't leaders for the ppl they claim to represent, but are fighting for *their* ego and agenda.

I too look at the news reports and see the faces of those children. How are they ever going to grow up strong and whole when the world around them is shattered and poisoned.

James M.

@wdlindsy this is the crux of it, the ethnic supremacy that underlies virtually all justifications for the war I've heard. I've asked many people whether they think a Palestinian life and an Israeli life have the same value. I ask this in order to establish a basis for the discussion. When I ask, some are offended just by the question. Very few give a straight answer. It's telling.

We've seen what happens when ethnic supremacy is not called out. We're seeing it now.

Godfrey642

@wdlindsy
I've been reading everything i can find on Judaism and Zionism. I'm beginning to feel the latter is the problem and Netanyahu's government is unashamedly Zionist with Zionist donors and agitators.

All the time this is the case there will never ever be a peaceful fair solution for this region. Zionists want Palestinians out of Israeli territory.

This has been the growing *political* solution since Herzl conceived of Zionism in 1896 as an antidote to the centuries old persecution of Jews worldwide.

EV not Petrol

@wdlindsy The decision of not providing a tolerable future was written on day one and every time they steal land from those who live in the West Bank.

DJH

@wdlindsy

Thank you William. You are a good man in a violent world

DJH

@wdlindsy

For now I think it is three words:
Respect for other human beings
Trust that almost all people want to live in peace with their neighbours
Dialogue to work it out together

William Lindsey :toad:

@jamesmarshall Yes, I very much agree. Thank you for lifting up the phrase "ethnic supremacy." That coupled with nationalism produces such bitter fruits, and I think it's no accident we see these ideologies raising their ugly heads throughout the world right now as fascists seek to destroy democratic polities. Just yesterday, one Donald Trump was spreading Nazi lies about racial purity and gene pools.

William Lindsey :toad:

@DJHDJH Thank you.These are certainly the core values that resonate for me as I look at this situation.

William Lindsey :toad:

@DJHDJH Thank you for the positive feedback. I try. And I often fail!

William Lindsey :toad:

@samhkennedy And, prior to that, one could say the decision of not having a tolerable future was written by the Holocaust and centuries of atrocious antisemitic violence. The problem is that one act of violence — e.g., the dispossession of people from their land — is preceded by another, in a chain that goes on and on until someone decides to break it.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Godfrey642 Good points. What is happening now has stirred necessary debate within the Jewish community about Zionism.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Godfrey642 I agree. So much is bound up here with the huge egos of some men with power, with their crimes and determination to escape punishemnt for their crimes.