Four Questions (and More)
Is there another group for whom, upon learning that they had suffered organized mass sexual violence and infanticide, the world’s first reaction would be to look for “context" or “explanations”?
How come “Zionist” never means Israeli, and “Israel” never means Jews — but “Hamas” always means Palestinians?
How come left/liberal politics hold that ethnic/cultural/religious groups have the right to self-determination via statehood, but not the Jews, and not there?
How come it’s always important to take regional circumstances into account, but for Israel it’s permissible to apply a North American understanding of colonialism that only looks back 75 years while simultaneously ignoring the millennia-old archaeological evidence substantiating a Jewish land claim?
Is your response to these questions an example of whataboutism or special pleading? Do you need to set up some sort of psychological safety net for yourself before decrying Hamas’ actions as morally repugnant?
And are you unwilling to sit with the possibility that the answers to these questions is: because it is the Jews?
