Our call this week will be at its regular time, Friday at Noon EST. Our guest will be Fadi Quran, a Senior Campaigner at Avaaz and an activist for Palestinian popular resistance, based in the West Bank. Fadi’s one of the most inspiring people I know. He’s inspiring because of his bravery in non-violently opposing both Israeli oppression and the oppression of Israel’s subcontractor, the Palestinian Authority. And he’s inspiring because he’s deeply invested in convincing Jews that Palestinian liberation can be our liberation too. (As a student at Stanford University, he even pretended to be Jewish and began attending events at Hillel in order to better understand Jewish culture. The
Peter, I have been listening to your weekly podcasts and I'm truly grateful for this profound analysis of "Purim After Hawara". I was upset seeing hundreds of armed and violent illegal settlers brutally rampaging Hawara and burning homes with children and elderly inside them!!! it brought to my mind the Crystal Night from 1938 when Nazis burned Jewish properties and businesses in Nazi Germany! and why so-called Halacha Jews are doing similar brutal/racist acts to the innocent Palestinians. Please keep on talking and exposing acts of ethnic cleansing so our people in America are aware that this is not acceptable by anyone in this country. Thank You, Toda Rabah, Merci and Shukran!
As you Palestine apologists always say, what goes around comes around. Live by the sword, die by the sword. As you sow, so shall you reap. And so on.
This event, that I do not support, wasn’t unprovoked. Palestinians murdered two Israelis, including an American, this week. And then they threw a party. They also recently murdered two Israeli children. And then they threw a party. And before THAT, they murdered seven civilians outside of a synagogue. AND THEN THEY THREW A PARTY.
What, did you think Palestinians would just be able to slaughter innocent Jews and dance on their graves forever without any significant consequences? This is an ethnic conflict, and shitty things happen in ethnic conflicts. If the Palestinians don’t like settlers attacking them, they should stop attacking settlers.
Yes Peter, you do need to fight the Amalek inside. You have been one of Palestine’s most stalwart apologists for years now. Every Palestinian war crime you can be consistently called upon to justify it, including on national TV, and you enable their worst tendencies through columns like “there is no right to a state.” You sure got over that recent synagogue shooting pretty goddamn fast, didn’t you? I sure don’t remember you writing about the evil in Palestinian hearts when that happened.
Palestine is reaping a whirlwind of its own bad actions right now. If you don’t like it, maybe you should take action to attack the problem at its root rather than crying over its consequences. Palestine’s intransigence, refusal to recognize the Jewish peoples rights, and its campaign of terrorism and murder over decades is the problem here. You want to look for “extermination figures?” Look at your own camp: Nasrallah, Haniyeh, Abbas. People who have been in power for years, not three months! The settlers are only responding in kind.
A lot of what you say is very interesting and true, but I think you are insufficiently critical of Arab and Muslim culture (especially the intersection of the two). Is this because you feel it would be presumptuous for you to do so since you're not Arab or Muslim? I feel you underestimate the backwardness and irrationality and immorality of many Arabs and Muslims, especially when it comes to this issue. It's not only dehumanization of Palestinians by anti-Palestinian racism that results in some people pointing this out, it's also our observation and experience with this. As a Pakistani I have been harmed by Arabization, and I see how Arabs and Muslims routinely and regularly talk about and behave toward Jews and Israelis. I just don't see any criticism of that from you, only the allegation of dehumanization of Palestinians when people bring this up. I'm not Israeli or Jewish, I was never taught to dehumanize Palestinians: on the contrary I was taught to elevate and glorify them as angels from heaven, and degrade and dehumanize Jews and Israelis instead. Yet I still can see deep-seated cultural and ideological problems among Palestinians, and Arabs and Muslims more broadly, that have clearly contributed in a significant way to the Israel/Palestine conflict. I really value your commentary but PLEASE criticize Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims more. Thank you.
Peter's commentary is beautiful and rings true. One either believes he's/she's/etc. is exceptional and there is no potential for evil inside oneself or one does not ... and should not. Otherwise, we deceive ourselves and the trouble begins, continues.
I found Peter's essay to be quite compelling and relevant. Readers may be interested to know about Erich Neumann, a German born physician and later Israeli who wrote many important Jungian depth psychology books. Of relevance to Peter's argument is his short but profound work, Depth Psychology and a New Ethic (1949), in which he explicitly calls for this kind of interior self examination, especially around violence, which otherwise remains "justified" on the social screen of projection. Thinking about things this way may help everyone from getting caught up in the adversarial passions which are so easy to succumb to.
I have asked Professor Beinart several times for a clarification on why he addresses Israel and Palestine as Israel-Palestine. This is not a state that exists. He has thus far refused to respond.
As I have written in a previous message, I am here to hear the interviewees who support the Palestinian position. Because I am doing research on the history of Israel and Palestine. But at some point I have to ask am I supporting someone who wants to undermine the State of Israel, after all I am funding this position. I will now end this relationship. What follows here is my observation of what goes on on this site and a brief response.
First, I would like to address the constant mantra for the Jews who are the “colonial settlers” to return to Europe. Regardless of the fact that the Jews would not be welcome to come back to those European countries (we know this from the fact that at the end of WWII those who tried were threatened with pitch forks.) We even today hear from many that “Hitler should have finished the job” even here in America where we have a new epithet “Zios” (one of my kids was in fear, while in Oberlin, that she would be found out as the daughter of an Israeli-American). But the primary reason I mention all of this here is that approximately 45% of Israel’s Jewish population originates from Arab countries. These are the descendants of Jewish refugees from Arab countries—approximately 850,000 left Arab countries where they had been living and in some cases pre-dating the Arab expansion of the 7th century. And of course, like many Palestinian Arab refugees from the 1948 war they left their property behind. These Jews are not addressed by those who regularly suggest that the Jews return to Europe. Imagine the Jews returning to the Arab countries. Many of these countries do not permit Jews in their midst.
Let’s next address the “indigenous” issue. A cockamamie concept once you spend some time with any modern human genetics book. Please show me a country that the people somehow came to be without having previously been elsewhere. If this sounds like a cheap shot to you, may I ask why Palestinian Arabs are called “Arabs”. Arabs are indigenous to Arabia not elsewhere—they came from Arabia and conquered other regions of the Middle East. As for the Jews they have maintained residence in Palestine since Judean times.
Let’s be more direct about Palestine. Palestine had almost 250,000 people as the 19th century opened that population mushroomed to almost 600,000 by the end of the century. That population expansion had little to do with natural growth. It had everything to do with the contraction of the Ottoman Empire which resettled almost 3 million people from Crimea, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Chechnya, Algeria and more as their holdings contracted and the Muslims in those countries which had returned to the Christian fold requested to be moved. Those people were resettled in Syria, Trans-Jordan and Palestine in the 19th century.
In addition to this resettlement which was state supported (unlike the Jews) many local peoples from Egypt and the Levant emigrated to Palestine as conditions there improved. They were improved by the imperial powers. That’s right the imperialists: England, France, Germany and Russia all had a share in developing Palestine in the 19th century. Germany even created settlements in Palestine not for Jews but for Christians. In fact the Jews traded the remaining German templars (as they were called) during WWII for Jews that Nazi Germany held.
The Jews came back to Palestine in significant numbers starting at the end of the 19th century. They came without the support of any of the imperial powers, in fact they came despite the traditional anti-Semitism in all those countries. And they came primarily from Russia because Russia had a policy of killing Jews, called Pogroms that were state supported. The later waves came because of anti-Semitism. To suggest these were happy colonial settlers shows a certain lack of education and knowledge about Jewish history in the 19th and 20th century. My father was typical, he loved Germany (Go see They Were So Beloved) he was never comfortable in Israel, but had he not left Germany who would have been dead!
Am I inventing this? Nope but my experience on this site is that today people hold on to their ideas regardless of the facts. I shudder to think if during the Vietnam war when I was a at the U of Wisconsin and we held teach-ins on the Vietnam War, if today’s rules of engagement were observed. I recall that people were shouted down but they were shouted down as follows: “Show us your sources”. Can you just imagine a Tucker Carlson back then? I have tried to share sources here and frankly it was just LOL. But if asked I will provide them.
Finally, let’s get to Professor Beinart’s ‘why can’t we all just get along thesis and one country “from the River to the Sea”. Really? Why? Because the Palestinians committed so many strategic mistakes that we must make up for it? Were the Palestinians not offered their own country from the 1920s on? It wasn’t big enough. It wasn’t “yudenfrei” (without Jews) Sorry. Those were the reasons for rejection. Worse their leader supported Hitler while England was at war with Nazi Germany. These two people have been at each other’s throats for 100 years and Professor Beinart expects Kumbaya. His solution is basically “thanks for the memories” Israel but we don’t need you anymore. I am sorry but I can’t financially support anyone who openly advocates for the end of the State of Israel. Israel is far from perfect and is in fact in a very bad space now but that is hardly a reason to end it. If that were a reason I can think of a fair number of countries with worse sins in their history and in going forward. Let’s stop asking the Jews to do what no one else would be willing to do and that is commit national suicide.
Very profound and moving commentary, almost in a Talmudic tradition of sacred reflections, a call to change one's heart and one's thinking. You did it again, Peter, and we who follow you do so with renewed hope.
Peter, I have been listening to your weekly podcasts and I'm truly grateful for this profound analysis of "Purim After Hawara". I was upset seeing hundreds of armed and violent illegal settlers brutally rampaging Hawara and burning homes with children and elderly inside them!!! it brought to my mind the Crystal Night from 1938 when Nazis burned Jewish properties and businesses in Nazi Germany! and why so-called Halacha Jews are doing similar brutal/racist acts to the innocent Palestinians. Please keep on talking and exposing acts of ethnic cleansing so our people in America are aware that this is not acceptable by anyone in this country. Thank You, Toda Rabah, Merci and Shukran!
Powerful, Peter. Thanks for the education. God help us all in the coming days.
🙄
As you Palestine apologists always say, what goes around comes around. Live by the sword, die by the sword. As you sow, so shall you reap. And so on.
This event, that I do not support, wasn’t unprovoked. Palestinians murdered two Israelis, including an American, this week. And then they threw a party. They also recently murdered two Israeli children. And then they threw a party. And before THAT, they murdered seven civilians outside of a synagogue. AND THEN THEY THREW A PARTY.
What, did you think Palestinians would just be able to slaughter innocent Jews and dance on their graves forever without any significant consequences? This is an ethnic conflict, and shitty things happen in ethnic conflicts. If the Palestinians don’t like settlers attacking them, they should stop attacking settlers.
Yes Peter, you do need to fight the Amalek inside. You have been one of Palestine’s most stalwart apologists for years now. Every Palestinian war crime you can be consistently called upon to justify it, including on national TV, and you enable their worst tendencies through columns like “there is no right to a state.” You sure got over that recent synagogue shooting pretty goddamn fast, didn’t you? I sure don’t remember you writing about the evil in Palestinian hearts when that happened.
Palestine is reaping a whirlwind of its own bad actions right now. If you don’t like it, maybe you should take action to attack the problem at its root rather than crying over its consequences. Palestine’s intransigence, refusal to recognize the Jewish peoples rights, and its campaign of terrorism and murder over decades is the problem here. You want to look for “extermination figures?” Look at your own camp: Nasrallah, Haniyeh, Abbas. People who have been in power for years, not three months! The settlers are only responding in kind.
thank you for this lovely sentiment. The comments on Ireland are especially valuable.
Ran--i saw your interesting question. barring some big news event, i'll devote next week's newsletter to my response
A lot of what you say is very interesting and true, but I think you are insufficiently critical of Arab and Muslim culture (especially the intersection of the two). Is this because you feel it would be presumptuous for you to do so since you're not Arab or Muslim? I feel you underestimate the backwardness and irrationality and immorality of many Arabs and Muslims, especially when it comes to this issue. It's not only dehumanization of Palestinians by anti-Palestinian racism that results in some people pointing this out, it's also our observation and experience with this. As a Pakistani I have been harmed by Arabization, and I see how Arabs and Muslims routinely and regularly talk about and behave toward Jews and Israelis. I just don't see any criticism of that from you, only the allegation of dehumanization of Palestinians when people bring this up. I'm not Israeli or Jewish, I was never taught to dehumanize Palestinians: on the contrary I was taught to elevate and glorify them as angels from heaven, and degrade and dehumanize Jews and Israelis instead. Yet I still can see deep-seated cultural and ideological problems among Palestinians, and Arabs and Muslims more broadly, that have clearly contributed in a significant way to the Israel/Palestine conflict. I really value your commentary but PLEASE criticize Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims more. Thank you.
It's not been written about it and it's not online. The author send me the pdf of the letter he sent, which Carter's response.
Thanks Sam. I hope you and your family stay safe
Thank you
appreciate the recomendation, thank you
sure, thank you. He clarified that he does not consider Bedouin Palestinians the equivalent of Amalek
Peter's commentary is beautiful and rings true. One either believes he's/she's/etc. is exceptional and there is no potential for evil inside oneself or one does not ... and should not. Otherwise, we deceive ourselves and the trouble begins, continues.
I found Peter's essay to be quite compelling and relevant. Readers may be interested to know about Erich Neumann, a German born physician and later Israeli who wrote many important Jungian depth psychology books. Of relevance to Peter's argument is his short but profound work, Depth Psychology and a New Ethic (1949), in which he explicitly calls for this kind of interior self examination, especially around violence, which otherwise remains "justified" on the social screen of projection. Thinking about things this way may help everyone from getting caught up in the adversarial passions which are so easy to succumb to.
I have asked Professor Beinart several times for a clarification on why he addresses Israel and Palestine as Israel-Palestine. This is not a state that exists. He has thus far refused to respond.
As I have written in a previous message, I am here to hear the interviewees who support the Palestinian position. Because I am doing research on the history of Israel and Palestine. But at some point I have to ask am I supporting someone who wants to undermine the State of Israel, after all I am funding this position. I will now end this relationship. What follows here is my observation of what goes on on this site and a brief response.
First, I would like to address the constant mantra for the Jews who are the “colonial settlers” to return to Europe. Regardless of the fact that the Jews would not be welcome to come back to those European countries (we know this from the fact that at the end of WWII those who tried were threatened with pitch forks.) We even today hear from many that “Hitler should have finished the job” even here in America where we have a new epithet “Zios” (one of my kids was in fear, while in Oberlin, that she would be found out as the daughter of an Israeli-American). But the primary reason I mention all of this here is that approximately 45% of Israel’s Jewish population originates from Arab countries. These are the descendants of Jewish refugees from Arab countries—approximately 850,000 left Arab countries where they had been living and in some cases pre-dating the Arab expansion of the 7th century. And of course, like many Palestinian Arab refugees from the 1948 war they left their property behind. These Jews are not addressed by those who regularly suggest that the Jews return to Europe. Imagine the Jews returning to the Arab countries. Many of these countries do not permit Jews in their midst.
Let’s next address the “indigenous” issue. A cockamamie concept once you spend some time with any modern human genetics book. Please show me a country that the people somehow came to be without having previously been elsewhere. If this sounds like a cheap shot to you, may I ask why Palestinian Arabs are called “Arabs”. Arabs are indigenous to Arabia not elsewhere—they came from Arabia and conquered other regions of the Middle East. As for the Jews they have maintained residence in Palestine since Judean times.
Let’s be more direct about Palestine. Palestine had almost 250,000 people as the 19th century opened that population mushroomed to almost 600,000 by the end of the century. That population expansion had little to do with natural growth. It had everything to do with the contraction of the Ottoman Empire which resettled almost 3 million people from Crimea, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Chechnya, Algeria and more as their holdings contracted and the Muslims in those countries which had returned to the Christian fold requested to be moved. Those people were resettled in Syria, Trans-Jordan and Palestine in the 19th century.
In addition to this resettlement which was state supported (unlike the Jews) many local peoples from Egypt and the Levant emigrated to Palestine as conditions there improved. They were improved by the imperial powers. That’s right the imperialists: England, France, Germany and Russia all had a share in developing Palestine in the 19th century. Germany even created settlements in Palestine not for Jews but for Christians. In fact the Jews traded the remaining German templars (as they were called) during WWII for Jews that Nazi Germany held.
The Jews came back to Palestine in significant numbers starting at the end of the 19th century. They came without the support of any of the imperial powers, in fact they came despite the traditional anti-Semitism in all those countries. And they came primarily from Russia because Russia had a policy of killing Jews, called Pogroms that were state supported. The later waves came because of anti-Semitism. To suggest these were happy colonial settlers shows a certain lack of education and knowledge about Jewish history in the 19th and 20th century. My father was typical, he loved Germany (Go see They Were So Beloved) he was never comfortable in Israel, but had he not left Germany who would have been dead!
Am I inventing this? Nope but my experience on this site is that today people hold on to their ideas regardless of the facts. I shudder to think if during the Vietnam war when I was a at the U of Wisconsin and we held teach-ins on the Vietnam War, if today’s rules of engagement were observed. I recall that people were shouted down but they were shouted down as follows: “Show us your sources”. Can you just imagine a Tucker Carlson back then? I have tried to share sources here and frankly it was just LOL. But if asked I will provide them.
Finally, let’s get to Professor Beinart’s ‘why can’t we all just get along thesis and one country “from the River to the Sea”. Really? Why? Because the Palestinians committed so many strategic mistakes that we must make up for it? Were the Palestinians not offered their own country from the 1920s on? It wasn’t big enough. It wasn’t “yudenfrei” (without Jews) Sorry. Those were the reasons for rejection. Worse their leader supported Hitler while England was at war with Nazi Germany. These two people have been at each other’s throats for 100 years and Professor Beinart expects Kumbaya. His solution is basically “thanks for the memories” Israel but we don’t need you anymore. I am sorry but I can’t financially support anyone who openly advocates for the end of the State of Israel. Israel is far from perfect and is in fact in a very bad space now but that is hardly a reason to end it. If that were a reason I can think of a fair number of countries with worse sins in their history and in going forward. Let’s stop asking the Jews to do what no one else would be willing to do and that is commit national suicide.
Very profound and moving commentary, almost in a Talmudic tradition of sacred reflections, a call to change one's heart and one's thinking. You did it again, Peter, and we who follow you do so with renewed hope.
Hi there, Shalom. Am from Hong Kong. Just wondering, if it's possible for me to translate your insight on Purim into Chinese?
And what's Dovid Katz clarified (sorry I do not have access to Apple Podcast)?
Cheers.