Yes, I see the children
But so long as critics demonize Israel, progressive Jews are stuck in a bind
Everyone is asking the same thing.
“Do you see the children dying in Gaza—rockets are just an inconvenience, but Israel is destroying Gaza!”
Yes, I see the children.
I see the children, I follow the politics, I know the history. I live in a bubble of progressive Jews who have seen the light and intend to stay there. Ostracized if we speak up in the mainstream Jewish establishment, we nonetheless refuse to give ourselves over to the darkness of virulent anti-Zionism.
We criticize the Israeli government, the occupation and much of the military action. We are viscerally repulsed by “price tag” attacks and the hilltop youth. If anything, the heart-wrenching photos of suffering in Gaza are a harder gut punch because of our inevitable connection to Israel, not in spite of it.
Cringing at Israel’s supposed supporters who glibly lament that, “Hamas has forced so many innocent Palestinians to die” we reappropriate former prime minister Golda Meir’s famous quote.
We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive Golda Meir for saying we have no choice but to kill their children.
Yes, I see the children.
I see the children and I condemn their deaths. I know the critiques of Zionism inside and out; I know the abuse the Palestinians have suffered better than many critics, and I am sympathetic.
Yet the politics behind those marching in the streets to condemn Israel are scary, and nearly impossible for many of us progressive Jews to align ourselves with. Implied in much criticism of Operation Protective Edge is the call for a binational state: All the Jews and Arabs of Israel/Palestine living under a single, democratic government.
It sounds like a beautiful idea, but after the Nobel Peace Prizes rest comfortably on the mantels of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders; after the menorahs and Star of Davids have been scrubbed from official state symbols; after Arabs surpass Jews in population and Israel is no longer a Jewish state—what then?
If one day the head of Israstine’s military bars Jews from the armed forces; if restrictions are imposed on Jewish worship; if anti-Jewish riots breakout across the country; if the government tells Jewish citizens they have twenty-four hours to leave the country because their security can no longer be assured—what then?
This is a genuine fear. The death toll in the current conflict is lopsided, but Israelis and Jews have something real to fear from Hamas and Palestinian terrorism.
We hear the chants of “Long live the intifada” at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and we remember 2000, when following the rejection of a succession of Israeli peace deals, Palestinians began the Second Intifada, or uprising. We remember the suicide bombings and the way Palestinian terrorists pulled the rug out from under the Israeli peace movement. We see the murals celebrating those terror attacks, and we hear the calls for more of the same.
We know that when people condemn “Zionist scum,” they are often referring to any Jew who likes the idea of having a country where there can never be another Holocaust.
What’s more, we know many of the Israeli soldiers that so many people consider monsters. We know that in fact they are more earnest than most soldiers when it comes to keeping their country safe. We also know that they do protect Israel, even if they are often sent to fight or to occupy for the wrong reasons; even if they violate Palestinian human rights.
We know that if Hamas wanted peace in Gaza, there would be peace in Gaza.
Israel has committed, and may yet commit, unforgivable sins. But please know that there is nothing progressive about demanding that a minority group that has suffered centuries of discrimination give up their only absolute refuge.
Many people are baffled whenever progressive Jews defend Israel, venerate its soldiers or condemn the Palestinians, reacting as though we are promoting slavery or Nazism.
We decry the Israeli government’s refusal to make sacrifices for peace, their occupation of the West Bank and even their provocation of Hamas. Now Israel’s citizens are under rocket fire and the country is engaged in asymmetric warfare as it tries to destroy a military infrastructure built inside and underneath the civilian residences of Gaza. This is a war Israel could have avoided, and it is one they could now be fighting more humanely. Israel has accepted that its bombs and bullets will kill hundreds of innocent men, women and children. We have not accepted that.
Yes, we see the children.
But in many critics’ eyes, there is no difference between 150, 155 and 551 civilians killed. Israel will be accused of genocide no matter the details.
If more critics could sympathize with Zionism, with Israel and with Jews, the coalition calling for peace and justice in Israel would be much stronger. Yet their refusal to do so means our bubble will only go so far in its condemnations of Israel. We don’t know what we can expect in a post-Zionist world. We still aren’t going to stop agitating for change, even if that gives ammunition to vicious critics of the state. But, at the end of the day, most of us will hold our nose and tolerate Israel’s odious right-wing politics, occupation and human rights abuses rather than throw the entire Zionist enterprise under the bus.
War is hell. Israel likely could have avoided this war, but now that it’s being fought even the most progressive members of our bubble are hard-pressed to offer blanket condemnations and call for boycotts and sanctions. We share the world’s outrage over civilian casualties. However, until you see things from our perspective, Israel and the mainstream Jewish community won’t see things from yours.
Yes, we see the children.
What do you want us to do?
