When you heard the news a year ago, were you crying tears of joy or tears of sadness? I was shocked to learn how many people were celebrating the success of Hamas in making a mockery of Israel’s defenses on October 7, 2023. Perhaps bewildered is the better word. I simply did not, and still do not, comprehend that anyone could celebrate the savagery of that day. 

In fact, so many people were as bewildered as I was that it was not that difficult to create conspiracy theories around the narrative that Bibi pulled back the army to enable something like October 7 to occur. The more likely narrative is that naive Israelis made themselves vulnerable by believing that peaceful coexistence with Palestinians in Gaza was possible. “If we trust them, they will learn that they can trust us.” How silly.

Perhaps you did not celebrate the savagery, but feel that Gaza was truly an “open air prison” prior to the pogrom. If so, I have to wonder how Gazans today think of their life in the “before times.” Perhaps take a moment to view this video highlighting things to do on a visit to Gaza:

 Or here is just one of many videos that compares the open air prison of before to today:  

If you have taken the time to watch these, please tell me what you think of the narrative of “open air prison.” Or consider the term “occupation.” Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, forcibly removing Jewish communities who lived within the boundary of Gaza. No Israeli police or military have worked in Gaza since then. Was it “occupied?” 

I will not pretend that Israel did not limit Gazans’ freedom to enter and leave the area. But despite Israel’s attempts to limit arms shipments to Gaza, it’s obvious from the year of warfare that many munitions evaded the best laid plans. Still, people in the before pictures do not look as if they are starving, or even that they are miserable on a daily basis. Rather, they are going about their day. Shopping, going to work, playing on the beach, doing what most people do during their day. Hence, I protest the terminology of “open air prison,” “occupation,” and, of course, “genocide.”

About genocide: Seriously? Here’s a graphical presentation of the population of Palestinians from 1950 to today. How can this be called a genocide? 

And then there’s “apartheid.” This term is accepted by many respectable journalists, historians, and others who scrutinize Israeli policies. If you use this term, it’s important to differentiate between the treatment of Israeli citizens and the treatment of residents of the West Bank, which is occupied. (Yes, occupied. Quite different from Gaza.) It’s absolutely true that Palestinians in the West Bank have a lot of rules and restrictions that don’t apply to Israeli citizens within Israel proper, within the Green Line, if you will. But it’s important to acknowledge that people who consider themselves Palestinians live within Israel and are citizens of Israel. Israel also has citizens who are Bedouin, Christian, Muslims who don’t refer to themselves as Palestinians, Druse, and secular Jews. Members of these groups may differ in economic status just as parts of our society differ in economic status, but the laws apply equally. Not apartheid. 

For me, it’s important to use words correctly. When meaning is eroded over time we can get to a point where we are not speaking the same language. There’s value in clarity, in using language that we agree on. 

At some point I want to come back to Gaza and Lebanon and talk about tunnels. I’m very curious to learn what you think about tunnels in particular and asymmetric warfare in general. But I’ll save that for another day. Meanwhile, you’re welcome to disagree with me. Maybe you’ll even change my mind about something.