Judaism - Israel - Palestine - Part IX - Resources - Self-Education - Becoming (More) Active!

Link to Part VIII - This is Part IX

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-viii.html

I would recommend starting by reading my reviews of two incredible books - which I hope - will help change your views of:

Palestine + Palestinians

and

Specifically - Hamas

and Notably - (our) United States Government - 

Woodrow Wilson - to Harry Truman

to Lyndon Baines Johnson

to Joe Biden

- I doubt that many of you will buy this book (I did - upon the recommendation of Rashid Khalidi - so my review - in its entirety is going to follow:

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/hamas-contained-tareq-baconis-excellent.html

February 11, 2024

 

Columbia University’s: Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies Professor Rashid Khalidi ( - incredible interview by Peter Beinart --- www.journalism https://.cuny.edu/faculty/peter-beinart/    ---   of January 19, 2024) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EDypq6cKDM), is the author of multiple excellent books on the Palestinian People, including: 

The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood  -------

(      https://www.georgemarx.org/2022/12/the-iron-cage-must-read-on-palestine.html )   .

On December 6, 2024 – I emailed both:  Peter Beinart and Professor Khalidi asking:  Do either of you know of any good resources- written, oral or visual (such as on YouTube) in English to learn from and share/refer others to?

Professor Khalidi responded suggesting: Tareq Baconi's book, Hamas Contained, and Sara Roy’s Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza. 

 

Baconi accomplishes a number of important things in:   Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance (written in 2017 and published in 2018).   As I write on Super Bowl Sunday, February 11, 2024, this book is a perfect introduction to understanding and putting into perspective what has happened from October 7, 2023, through the present day. 

I’m not optimistic!   I hope, against hope, that the Bidens and Blinkens and Schumers of this world will do an “about face” and sincerely:  read, listen and deeply hear – what I would call “Extremely Close to The Truth”.

Sitting in the darkness of the theater, I thought of Palestine.  Lacking the clarity of historical hindsight, the Palestinian struggle for self-determination seems frozen in time, in many ways an anticolonial struggle unfolding in a postcolonial world. …

“Palestinians have a culture of hate,” commentators blast on American TV screens.  “They are a people who celebrate death.”   These familiar accusations, quick to roll off of tongues, are both highly effective at framing public discourse and insulting as racist epithets.  On the other end of the spectrum, I recalled conversations with Europeans and Palestinians who critiqued my reference to Palestinian armed struggle as “violence.”  They saw this framing as a form of condemnation, casting armed struggle in a negative light.  (x - Preface)

During the summer of 2014, when global newsrooms were covering Israel’s operations in the Gaza Strip, I watched Palestinian analysts being rudely silenced on the air for failing to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization outright. 1    This condemnation was demanded as a prerequisite for the right of these analysts to engage in any debate about the events on the ground. (xi – Preface)

In Peter Beinart’s January 19, 2024 interview with Rashid Khalidi, there is a “strange” parallel.  

Khalidi spoke on January 19, 2024 as to how No television networks or local stations or similar had sought his comments from October 7, 2023 through the (then) present.   I have heard Professor Rashid Khalidi multiple times on Amy Goodman’s show on: Democracy Now  - https://www.democracynow.org/ - which most readers of this have probably never heard of as well as on KPFA – perhaps the most alternative/radical leftist radio station in the U.S. (Berkeley).

It's not “censorship”.   Most people never hear – Khalidi – because:  MSNBC, CNN, FOX, PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal +++ ignore – him and a lot of others who “dissent” in serious ways that are not based upon fear-mongering or profit.

Baconi summarizes the history of Palestine leading up to the founding of Hamas in an effective manner.   He notes as the first Intifada was building on December 9, 1987:

After intense discussions, it was decided that the brotherhood would finally leverage all its preparatory work and spin off a small militarized offshoot that would join the likes of Islamic Jihad in armed confrontation against Israel.  The Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS , was officially launched in January 1988 96 .  Although intended as an offshoot, Hamas rapidly subsumed the parent organization’s institutional infrastructure. (p.20-1)

The charter spoke of how such an Islamic polity would allow for Christians and Jews to live in peace and harmony under Muslim rule. 103 .  Despite this assertion, the rest of the charter shed light on Hamas’s understanding of Israel, Judaism, and Zionism at the time it was released. 104   The text was replete with anti-Semitic references that build on age-old stereotypes about the Jewish people, including their alleged accumulation of immense wealth, their treacherous and devious nature, and their ability to influence global media.  (p.22)

This book documents in detail the history of Gaza, Hamas, and the PLO (and later on The Palestinian Authority) in opposition to Israel.

Patterns seemingly repeat themselves over and over again.   The moderate forces – PLO/Palestinian Authority have sought a peace agreement with Israel with no success.   Whenever it seems at least faintly possible, Israel (not Hamas) attacks (generally) Gaza – breaking truces.   Islamic Jihad – and others – send rockets into Israel – and a purported chance for peace disappears.

Similarly, whenever Hamas and the PLO/Palestinian Authority are close to a binding agreement to work cooperatively, Israel and the U.S. and others refuse to continue working for peace because Hamas is “a terrorist organization”.

Hamas is not a simple, united organization with a clear, obvious basic structure.   Most commonly it has significant influence on other radical forces in Gaza.  At different times it both encourages, and discourages forces such as Islamic Jihad in their rocket attacks into Israel.   It has a “political” side and a side that is openly engaging in military or military-like efforts at “liberating” Palestine.

Commonly there are endless pressures upon Hamas, and the Palestinian People to compromise and: “recognize Israel”, “renounce claims to Palestine”, “renounce terrorism”, “renounce violence” and similar.

Where there are agreements, nearly uniformly they either are token or are broken by Israel (and sometimes by Hamas, particularly in response to Israeli duplicity and avoidance of clear agreements).

Critically, critically important in all of this are facts such as:

1.    The seizing of more and more and more Palestinian land in the West Bank and in Jerusalem,

2.    The stranglehold on Gaza – including making self-sufficiency impossible there, increasing destruction of residences, the power supply, and other possible ways Hamas could “succeed” in leading Gaza,

3.    Gaza is “independent” in the way(s) that a Native Reservation is in the U.S. is and/or in the ways that Black communities have been “free” in the U.S. over many decades.

4.    All – the – non-violent options – have been tried both by Hamas, and other Palestinian entities.   Appeals to the U.S, the U.N., filing lawsuits, negotiating with Israel, periods of no “terrorism”, unilateral “ceasefires” of Hamas itself and more - all have been tried.   Despite all of this, there has never been a “fair” or “close to fair” offer made for a lasting peace agreement which allows any type of true autonomy for the Palestinian People – whether de-militarized or not – etc. etc.

5.    As of the conclusion of the book’s writing in 2017 – there was both:

a.    A status quo – that – was not changing substantially beyond Palestinian land possession decreasing endlessly, as Israeli (illegal) settlements expanded, and as the author succinctly states,

b.   The increasing impossibility of the status quo remaining – endlessly – that at some point – significant Palestinian violence – such as from Hamas and/or other Palestinian causes or supportive others – such as from other Middle Eastern Nations – would – seek to break the status quo.

Israel has had a huge advantage in maintaining a split between Hamas in Gaza and The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.   Israel has a difficult, long-term issue with its Jewish population becoming a minority in a “Greater Israel” including both Gaza and The West Bank.   Where Gaza is (allegedly) separate, its over two million population “severed” from The West Bank can maintain an illusion of “majority rule” of Jews vs. Non-Jews.

A simple example of the patterns follows with quotes below:

While the Palestinian leadership offered full support, the Israeli government boycotted the investigation and prevented the investigators/ access into the Gaza Strip 75  The UN’s investigation accused both Hamas and Israel of carrying out war crimes.  In response, Israel retaliated that the United Nations was “taken hostage by terrorist organizations” given its anti-Israel bias. 76

A domestic investigation by Israel’s state comptroller, released in 2017, highlighted troubling findings regarding this operation. 77   The report noted that in 2013, during the period of calm that Hamas had successfully instituted from Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government was warned explicitly and repeatedly that Gaza was on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, and that the situation had to be addressed to prevent another conflagration between Hamas and Israel.   Such warnings went unheeded.   Rather than meeting its obligations under the 2012 ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which necessitated easing the crossings into Gaza, Israel’s political leaders appeared willing to maintain the blockade while expecting calm to prevail in return.  (p.222)

As Tareq Baconi moved into his conclusions, his explanations became more and more significant for me as a reader.

Instead of Palestinian reconciliation, the outcome is two administrative authorities operating under an unyielding occupation.  The crucial difference between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, however is that Hamas performs its role of managing resistance in language that remains ideologically pure, leaving room for future escalation.  While in the West Bank the Palestinian Authority’s interim nature has effectively been made permanent, the situation is likely to be temporary within the Gaza Strip. 139  The Palestinian Authority’s permanence has been drive by the illusion of sovereignty and economic development that leaders such as former  prime minister Salaam Fayyad have cultivated.  There is no such illusion in the Gaza Strip, where there will more likely be an expiration date for Israel’s ability to manage what has become one of the globe’s bleakest humanitarian catastrophes. (p.234-5)

I would note that this by itself in 2017 – can be seen in retrospect as being relevant for October 7, 2023.

The author noted a number of times a clear issue that has been distorted by most of the media and politicians for some time   Hamas has fairly consistently in the past 10-15 years at least a willingness to recognize Israel and accept a permanent peace settlement if it would include a return to the pre-1967 boundaries allowing a Palestinian State to be established which would include:  Gaza, The West Bank and probably most significantly East Jerusalem including The Old City.

Israel has consistently responded that it will not negotiate with “terrorists” – which means Hamas.  It has also indicated that IF Hamas settles, that this will only be a starting point – quoting the original Gazan “charter”.   This plays on common fears – e.g. “From the River to the Sea”  and “Intifada” and similar.  Such fears are that Hamas and the Palestinian People will force its Jewish population either out of what is now Israel or attempt to kill all of them.

Obviously, the return to prior borders is made “unrealistic” in that:

1.     this would require Jewish Israeli’s to move out of the Settlements and much of the “expanded” Jerusalem,  or

2.    for many of these Jews to live within the to-be-formed Palestinian state.

In early 2017, Hamas issued a new “Political Document” after months of speculation that it was looking to revise its problematic charter.   … It demonstrated that on the most official level, Hamas accepted creatioin of a Palestinian state on the 1967 border, UN Resolution 194 selfor the right of return, and notion of restricting armed struggle to operate within the limits of international law.  Although not breaking any new ground in terms of political concessions, the document was a powerful intervention that restated more forcefully than before the position that Hamas has adopted since at least 2007, if not since the 1990’s. (p.245)

Hamas’s document was released without a formal renunciation of the movement’s charter, alluding to internal power struggles. (p.245)

One of Baconi’s 2017 – concluding written statements sounds, in retrospect to ironically “predict” October 7, 2023.

But there is little doubt that another conflagration is forthcoming.  This will mark the continuation of Israel’s strategy of “mowing the lawn” as well as the perseverance of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.  The manner in which the next war unfolds will be event-specific, but the underlying drivers remain unchanged. 162 (p.248)

The book concludes aptly:

This status quo allows Hamas to sustain its power and Israel to maintain its colonization of the West Bank and its stranglehold on the Gaza Strip, where the besieged Palestinians continue to pay the highest price of all. (p.249)

This is an excellent book for anyone who is not extremely, extremely extremely knowledgeable about Hamas, and who is open to listening and hearing a lot.   I’m one of those people and I hope many others are as well!

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/the-hundred-years-war-rashid-khalidi.html

A M A Z I N G   B O O K - link to review - and shown above also

“In March 1919,on the eve of the post World War I Paris Peace Conference, ‘Julius Kahn, the German-born Jewish congressman from San Francisco, delivered to President Wilson “A Statement to the Peace Conference” endorsed by 299 Jews.  …[T]he document denounced the Zionists for attempting to segregate Jews and to reverse the historical trend toward emancipation.’  Its signers ‘objected to the creation of a distinctly Jewish state in Palestine’ not only because they feared it would jeopardize the status of Jews like themselves in the home countries, but because they found it ‘contrary “to the principles of democracy’ to elevate Jewish immigrants over Palestine’s Muslim and Christian native inhabitants.  They explicitly denied ‘the existence of ethnic ties among Jews’ and ‘asserted their wish not to see Palestine “either now or at any time in the future’ become a Jewish state.’  They petitioned instead for Palestine to be ‘made into an independent , free, and democratic state that would not recognize any distinctions of creed, race, or ethnic descent among its citizens.’ “ (18) (p. xii)  - quoted - see my review of another excellent book - 

https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/06/reclaiming-judaism-from-zionism.html

Rashid Khalidi - This Moment in Palestinian History

Peter Beinart interview of Rashid Khalidi - January 19, 2024

https://www.georgemarx.org/2021/05/progressives-palestine-book-review.html  - EXCEPT FOR PALESTINE: The Limits of Progressive Politics by: Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick

Professor Marc Lamont Hill is leaving Temple for CUNY

He says he could have stayed at his alma mater another 20 years, but a great opportunity knocked

https://www.inquirer.com/education/temple-university-marc-lamont-hill-leaving-cuny-20230822.html

The embattled City University of New York is facing another backlash as being hostile to Israel and condoning antisemitism for hiring controversial professor Marc Lamont Hill.

Hill was appointed a “presidential professor” for Urban Education at CUNY’s Graduate Center.

“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of,” Hill, 44, told the Philadelphia Inquirer of his jump from his alma mater of Temple University to CUNY and teaching graduate studies.

In 2018, Hill was fired from CNN after his speech on Israel drew outrage from the Anti-Defamation League and other groups.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/23/cuny-hires-anti-israel-professor-marc-lamont-hill/

Oh, My, My - is it a coincidence that he is Black?!

https://www.georgemarx.org/2019/03/dr-marc-lamont-hill-american-muslims.html

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, American Muslims For Palestine and Respect - March 4, 2019

The American Muslims For Palestine's Chicago Chapter Annual Dinner on March 3, 2019 was a most significant event for me.   I am a white, Jewish man, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace - Chicago, seeking a better world for Jews, Palestinians, Black people and others. 

Most of my father's family lives in Israel.   My great-uncle S.Y. Agnon was Israel's first Nobel Laureate and is a beloved, well-known figure to (virtually) all Israeli Jews.   While I have opposed Israeli government policies towards Palestinians for over 30 years, only now am I really seriously trying to help bring about positive change.

I came last evening hoping to hear inspiring words from Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, a man I greatly admire.   I experienced Dr. Hill's brilliance and warm heart far more than I could have hoped for.  I also was welcomed and loved by the warmth of many members of the greater Chicago Muslims for Palestine, who gave me far, far more than I could possibly have imagined.

Respect is important to me.   I was shown so much from so many people.  I am thankful!  I am blessed!

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill gave a powerful, impassioned speech!   He spoke directly to Palestinian Muslims.   His speech was far different than his incredible November 29, 2019 speech at the United Nations.  where he spoke to all of us.   While Dr. Hill did not speak directly to me as an American Jew, his words resonated in their inclusivity.   He explicity made clear that he was not speaking against Jews and white people.  Dr. Hill was very clear that Israeli governmental policy is the problem.

Dr. Hill's love for the Palestinian people was made very clear in the speech.   He also spoke strongly about the importance of both Black (and White) people supporting Palestinians and for Palestinians to support the struggles Black people including in cities like Chicago and Detroit.   His words were powerful, emphasizing non-violent struggles that may of necessity take more than our own lifetimes to succeed.

Equally significant to me was how well we were treated by both our hosts of American Muslims for Palestine and the others who attended the dinner.    Our hosts included both women and men of varying ages.    Many, if not most of the women's heads were covered.   I surmised that they were devout Muslims.   References to the Muslim religion were made throughout the presentation.

The people I met were far, far more caring of us than I could have imagined they would be.   We were shown to our table by several very helpful people.   Before the proceedings begun, a man came to our table thanking us as Jewish Voice for Peace Members for doing our work.    The American Muslims for Palestine Annual Report in its page on the Chicago Chapter included a picture showing Jewish Voice for Peace members demonstrating with Palestinians.

While many people we met were exceptional individuals, they were also wonderful in talking with us, in the varied parts of the presentation and in other ways .  This pointed clearly to the lies we face daily of the violent, not to be trusted Arabs, who allegedly prevent peace in Israel.   Yes, there are extremists who kill, but they are dwarfed by far more who seek a just, lasting peace.   It was very sad for me to hear that the "Volunteer for the Year" had never been in Palestine.   It was also uplifting to hear and feel the warmth and spirit of so many.

I am reminded of stories I've heard in the past.    I remember hearing of Palestinians in 1948, who warned neighboring Jews, preventing them from being killed.   I am reminded of the story one of my Israeli relatives told me circa 1980 in Jerusalem.   Her sister in Tel Aviv lived in a protected world where she spoke primarily German with her peers and English with her nieces and nephews and those younger.   Her husband and she had a fancy dress shop in Jerusalem dating back to well before the 1948 war.   She told me of how their customers had been both well off Palestinians and Jews who wanted custom made women's apparel.

My cousin told me of how in 1967, after the Six Day War, an older Arab man came to her shop, asking for her husband.   She told him that he had died.   The man wept.  She hadn't recognized him. He had been their porter in the store, until the War separated him,  putting him in then Jordanian run East Jerusalem.   My relative spoke admiringly of how this man insisted on carrying her bags when she went into the Old City until he died several years later.   He would not take any money from her.

I can not possibly understand the loss that Palestinians have faced for over 70 years losing their homeland.   I do admire their dignity in continuing the struggle for justice through (mostly) non-violent resistance.  I hope that a lasting, just peace will be achieved sooner, rather than later.

Thank you!

What follows is NOT - a Resource.  It reflects a Cry to be Heard - to STOP the Silencing - the IGNORING - of the Voices of the Palestinian People - in this case reflected in a 25 year old - religious, military member - NOT - a "radical" not - a "Muslim" - Not - "A HAMAS Murderer" - not a Palestinian - an individual - troubled by - the Genocide and the SILENCE of Joe Biden and most of the Democrats - and All, or Virtually All of the Republicans!

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/2/28/who-was-aaron-bushnell-the-us-airman-who-died-protesting-over-gaza

Desperate for Peace: From Libya to Gaza

by Ashraf Nubani Posted onFebruary 28, 2024

Twenty-five-year-old Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the United States Air Force, died on Sunday after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC as an act of protest against the slaughter in Gaza. Unfortunately, the act is noteworthy not because of the resulting suicide but for the underlying motivation behind it. That underlying motivation—and his last words, “Free Palestine”—was initially missing in American media coverage of the tragic incident until social media prompted mainstream coverage.

There is a growing sense that corporate America and our politicians just don’t care about our youth, especially those who serve in the military. This extreme form of protest took the life of a serviceman, not in combat abroad, but here at home in defiance of American foreign policy.

For those politicians who profess to genuinely care about our men and women in the armed services, answer this: How many active-duty personnel and veterans took their own lives since 1980 when the U.S. started documenting military suicides? Some estimate it’s in the six figures. That’s double the fifty-eight thousand killed in combat in Vietnam. America’s enemies don’t have to go to war to kill American soldiers. We are doing it to ourselves when we send our boys and girls to go fight in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan under false pretenses. They come back with PTSD, moral quandaries, and a host of other issues that prevent them from successfully reintegrating into society. Urinating on dead Taliban bodies doesn’t make America great.

If things are not bad enough with growing economic disparities between the rich and the poor, the opioid epidemic, the $34 trillion national debt, mass shootings, a growing divide in American society that are turning into battle lines, our best and brightest are killing themselves over a failed foreign policy that is polarizing the world against us. And Aaron is not the first to set himself on fire over the carnage in Gaza. Last December, a woman did something similar in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta.

It’s almost thirteen years to the date that Tunisian vendor Tarek Bouazizi self-immolated, igniting the “Arab Spring” in March 2011. He was harassed and humiliated, and had his wares confiscated by municipal officials. Many Arabs and Muslims live under corrupt authoritarian regimes that oppress their people. Those same broken promises of wealth, freedom, and democracy are robbing Americans of their dignity.

Before engaging in such an extreme act of protest documented on social media, Aaron said, “I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people are experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.” Indeed, AIPAC-bought politicians have decided death and destruction, even at home, is the new norm.

All these acts are born of desperation. If young American men are willing to die in their pursuit of freedom and justice, our politicians should take heed. Yet the Joe Biden administration and Congress continue to green light Israel’s atrocities as it fails to achieve any of its stated goals like destroying Hamas, returning the captives, or bringing security to Israelis.

The entire world is fearful of a wider regional conflict. The worse it gets for Israel the more it will want the United States to get involved militarily on its behalf. Israel is drowning, and it has no problem in taking us down with it. America cannot afford more wars, especially in the Middle East.

All too often our elected officials have been hearing from their constituents, “How many Palestinians have to die before you call for a ceasefire?” The question now is, “How many Americans have to die before you call for a ceasefire?”

Ashraf W. Nubani is a Palestinian-American attorney based in the Washington DC area. He holds a Master’s degree in history and writes on Muslim issues and the West.

Link to:  Conclusions

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/03/judaism-israel-palestine-conclusions.html