My Uneducated Take On The Crisis In The Middle East.

I want a ceasefire, but not for the reason you may think.

Image provided by Sky News

I’m going to start this newsletter by saying something I wish so many other people had the courage to say:

I am not educated on the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Yes, I’ve watched some YouTube videos and read some articles, and yes, I’m a Jew who learned about Israel’s side of the story when I visited the country on Birthright.

But I’m not the person who actually understands the conflict, and 99.99999999999% of the people who say “Free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea,” set up camps on college campuses, and prevent Jews from going to class don’t understand it either.

But I do support their right to say what they think. That’s the point of America. You don’t have to work in foreign policy or have a PhD in international relations to share your views on the conflict.

Now I’m going to share my views on this conflict.

My lack of education on the matter is what stopped me before. What could I honestly contribute?

But frankly, this shit is escalating. And while I haven’t ever experienced any direct instances of antisemitism other than stupid Jewish jokes in grade school, recent events have made me nervous.

Soon I’m going to visit every college campus in the Denver area to apply to be a tutor in their writing centers. I have a Star of David tattooed on my wrist. If one of these campuses has a pro-Palestine encampment, and if someone staying there sees my tattoo, it’s not insane to suggest that I may be harassed.

Writing this newsletter won’t stop those anti-semites (Yes that’s what they are. Not everyone in the camps is an anti-semite, but the ones harassing Jewish students are) from harassing Jewish people. But this is me doing what I can, and before I go further I must say:

I want a ceasefire.

Just not for any reason that I’ve heard anyone propose.

From what I’ve seen there are three primary reasons people are proposing a ceasefire. I’m going to start with the most repugnant:

1. Israel deserved what happened on October 7

This is just plain dumb and proves a lack of education period. Let alone a lack of education on Israel and Palestine.

Anyone who says this is a blatant anti-semite. They were just waiting for an opportunity to express their beliefs without being demonized. It’s the same reason that a bunch of Nazis walked the streets of Charlottesville after the rotten orange was elected president. They needed something to happen on a larger scale to make their beliefs seem more acceptable even though they’re fucking disgusting.

If your logic is “Well the people of Israel forced Palestinians from their homes 75 years ago,” then Israel should have complete freedom to invade the following countries and murder indiscriminately: Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. Collectively, hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced out of their homes in these countries.

2. Israel is committing “Genocide.”

Here’s how the United Nations defines “genocide:”

“…a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part.”

The key word there is intent.

If you can say, with certainty, that you know Israel intends to do the above, then I will agree they are committing genocide.

This is where I find a key issue with people’s approach to the conflict: certainty.

I’ve discussed the idea of certainty in previous newsletters. I think certainty is the devil incarnate. Being so obstinate and stony in your beliefs that nothing anyone says can change your mind. Certainty is appropriate in some situations (I don’t apply certainty to my views on certainty), but certainty causes so much suffering.

One example: Devout Christians are certain homosexuals will go to hell. That’s why the monstrous business of conversion therapy exists.

The word “intent” introduces the idea of uncertainty into the accusation of genocide, which is a good thing! If there is no surefire answer, then people can debate, discuss, and educate each other.

From the uncertain point of view of intent, couldn’t it be argued that Hamas’s intent was genocidal? To me, the nature of the violence informs intent as well. On October 7, Hamas soldiers burned babies in ovens in front of their mothers. They raped women even after they were dead. They attacked people at a fucking music festival for Christ's sake. Were those people militants? No. Hamas just wanted to kill everyone they could. That seems genocidal to me.

I’m sure there are IDF soldiers who are being similarly and inexcusably ruthless to Palestinians. I do not doubt that the soldier mentality is often just one step above the cop mentality.

“I want to beat and kill people so let’s figure out a way to do that with impunity.”

I have no doubt Israeli soldiers are looking for vengeance and want to kill as many Palestinians as possible. I do not condone that. At no point will I ever say that Israel is blameless here.

I do think there is a question that few of Palestine’s supporters have answered:

What should Israel have done in response to October 7?

A hostile force invades their country murders over 1,000 people and takes hundreds of people hostage. Is Israel allowed to respond? If the answer is no, then you’re actually in the first category.

If your answer is yes, then the next question is, to what degree? How could Israel respond to the massacre in a way that wouldn’t be considered genocide? Are they only allowed to kill the exact number of people that Hamas killed?

I am asking these honest questions because I am uneducated here. These are also important questions because many Palestinian supporters hone to the numbers. They believe Israel is committing genocide because of the number of people they have killed in this conflict.

Which brings me to my third point.

3. “34,000 Palestinians have been killed including 14,000 children.”

This is the closest reason to why I want a ceasefire, but it’s not quite there. It’s close because I don’t want any innocent Palestinians (or innocent anyone) to die, and frankly, no other person I know who supports Israel wants any Palestinians to die either (unlike the people who agree with the first point in this list who do want Israelis to die).

What people rarely consider is that the death toll in Gaza is often cited as inaccurate. The Hamas-run health ministry is providing these numbers. If Hamas sent a kill squad into Israel to murder as many civilians as they could, isn’t it also possible they’re lying about the numbers to inspire sympathy to their cause and create animosity towards Israel?

Questioning the numbers doesn’t discount the horrors happening in Gaza. War is fucking terrible. Almost none of the people who died deserved their fate.

But there are so many other wars happening right now where innocent people are dying. Sudan’s paramilitary RSF is committing ethnic cleansing in Darfur right now. Tens of thousands have been killed. 8 million people have been displaced from their homes. 5 million people are at risk of starvation. Where is the outrage?

What makes the conflict between Israel and Palestine so special to these people?

The fact is, I don’t know. Maybe there is some underlying historical aspect I don’t understand that makes this conflict particularly worth being enraged about. Maybe it’s just millennia-old antisemitism manifesting in its unique way.

I don’t know.

But to me, this conflict doesn’t seem that different than any other. Two groups of people killing each other over control.

And that’s why I want a ceasefire.

Because…