The Iconic Rebranding of Words: Genocide, Occupation, and Apartheid
They should be shouting “Free Palestine from Hamas”
I’ve lost much sleep over the horrific October 7th Hamas massacre in Israel, and have been writing to soothe my soul, but I do not have the bandwidth to argue via comments with every antisemitic ignoramus who spouts anti-Israel propaganda or who doesn’t understand that Hamas fights to kill Jews and destroy Israel while Israel fights to survive.
Genocide against the Jews is what Hamas advocates in its covenant. They want to kill all Jews. Everywhere. Israel’s goal is to stop those who are trying to destroy it. Israel is protecting itself from bloodthirsty terrorists. I hope that one day those screaming in support of Hamas will be ashamed of their antisemitism, ashamed that they supported a terrorist organization, ashamed that they wished for the death of people based on religion — that is genocide.
If Hamas and the PLO and all those who threaten Israel stopped trying to destroy us, there would be peace. Do you know what would happen if Israel stopped protecting itself? Think October 7th magnified. The correct word for that would be “genocide.”
The “Occupied territories” is a new name that removes all history, just like America did when it conquered the Pacific Northwest (for example) and created Washington, Idaho, and Montana from what were ancient grounds of several Indian tribes. Palestinians deserve to live in dignity and autonomy in a state of their own (one that recognizes Israel’s right to exist and does not educate its children to kill Jews). That state might rise out of Gaza and parts of Judea (from where the name Judaism comes).
You can be upset about building settlements in “disputed” land that Israel conquered in 1967 after its neighbors attempted to obliterate it. There were Arabs, Druze, and Beduin dispersed on parts of that land, but it belonged to what is now Jordan. Judea and Samaria, ancient names for the territory successfully rebranded as “the West Bank,” has been a part of Jewish history for millennia. It is disputed land, not occupied.
“Apartheid,” is a word some people lob as if they were geopolitical experts. Why are there Arab/Muslims on Israel’s supreme court? How are there Arab/Muslim doctors, nurses, professors, and lawyers in Israel (plus every other profession) if there is Apartheid? There’s a difference between separating people because they are of a different race or religion and separating them because they want to kill you. Do you know how many times surrounding countries threatened Israel’s existence, how many homicide bombers snuck in, how many innocent people were killed in terrorist bombings? Israel and its citizens must protect themselves, whether you think fences and checkpoints are fair or not. That is not Apartheid, it’s self-preservation.
I’m not saying that Israel is perfect — lots of social issues could use a retuning. Both Muslims and Jews from Muslim countries (over 800,000 were expelled from every other Arab country in 1947–48 during the creation of the state of Israel) are economically less successful than they should be, and there are serious issues between Jews of European and Jews of Eastern descent. There are drug problems and housing issues, and Israel turned to Thai workers (over 30,000!) to do jobs that could have helped Palestinian communities. It’s not as simplistic as I’m making it sound, but Israel could do much better (as can most countries).
Some are using these words “Occupation,” “Genocide,” and “Apartheid,” as if they correctly describe what’s happening, with the goal of delegitimizing Israel’s right to exist. Like the PR campaigns that sold us “Diamonds are Forever,” and “It’s the Real Thing,” these words are disingenuous, and they are helping spread misinformation.
For anyone who seeks a factual response to the myths and lies currently in vogue about Israel, here’s a new tool: https://david2050.com.
