Not thought through

Since October 7 I have read a number of open letters and forms of communication aimed mostly at the UK Prime Minister but also at people outside the UK, such as Israeli politicians.  The overwhelming impression I have is that so much of this is not thought through.  It seems that many of those signing letters and demands have not understood very much at all about the war between a country on the one hand and a terrorist organisation on the other.

So, in an attempt to try and unravel this, let’s start at the beginning.  Well, perhaps not the very beginning but at a point which is easy to work from.  In 2005 the Israelis withdrew from Gaza.  The idea was that those living there would be able to organise themselves into an entity which would be prosperous and ultimately live alongside Israel.

It didn’t work.  In June 2007 there was effectively a short civil war in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority were defeated by the terror organisation Hamas.  Rather than seize the opportunity to create an effective functioning state, Hamas set about turning Gaza into a base from which to attack Israel.  Over the succeeding years, thousands of rockets were fired from Hamas into Israel, indiscriminately, with the sole intention of killing Israeli citizens.

Until October 7, 2023, there was effectively a stalemate.  Hamas were able to build or acquire rockets to fire into Israel, and Israel worked on keeping these at bay.  There was the usual hyperbole alleging Israeli occupation of Gaza and further, the usual dishonest portrayal of Hamas as freedom fighters despite all evidence to the contrary.

Then came October 7.  In the run up to this there had been considerable internal dissent in Israel about proposed changes to the Israeli constitution.  Outside of Israel, for reasons I couldn’t understand (and still don’t) various Jewish organisations got involved giving their view on the dispute and at the same time choosing to criticise various Israeli politicians they didn’t like.  Not that was really any of their business, but they got stuck in anyway.

I am sure that the Hamas leadership was watching this with keen interest, both the internal dissent and the criticism from outside.  There was a picture being painted of a divided society.  The claims by reservists in Israel saying they wouldn’t fight for their country can only have helped Hamas believe that any response to their intended attack would be muted.  I of course don’t know, but I suspect that the criticism from diaspora Jewish communities would have operated as an encouraging sign that Israel would be isolated.

After October 7, with the murders, rapes, burning alive and kidnapping of hostages, all the above turned out not to be correct.  The claims by reservists that they wouldn’t serve disappeared.  The Jewish communities around the world rallied behind Israel.  At the same time, around the world anti-Semites under the banner of pro-Palestine marched through cities intimidating Jews, spreading hate against Israel and to all intents and purposes supporting Hamas.

So how is all this background helpful to understand those writing to the UK Prime Minister?  Simple. Once you see the background, then the letters and demands to those in power at the same time make so much less and so much more sense.

The letter (or letters, I cannot remember how many there have been) from celebrities I understand.  They operate in a fairly closed environment, have little to do with politics generally and desperate to make sure they are on the inside track.  Whilst some of them do have a point of view, most of them are just virtue signalling without understanding what they are doing.  On yes, some of them are not that bright so for them it is easy just to say yes when asked to sign.

The letters from lawyers though do leave me confused.  These are educated people, intellectually able and well capable of rational thought and examination of the facts.  But their letters demonstrate the opposite.  They are all about blaming Israel, demanding a ceasefire and making no mention whatsoever of the hostages.  The reference to genocide would be laughable if it wasn’t so badly wrong.  I am sure that in any other environment, most of the signatories to the letters would say – correctly – that the document is nonsense.  And so it is.

So why do these educated articulate people get it is so badly wrong.  Some of them don’t care, they just want to bash Israel and the Jews.  That I understand.  There are anti-Semites in the legal profession just as there are everywhere.  As for the rest I wonder if it is an exposure thing.  The hate marches, the BBC and other media all feeding poison to all who are watching or listening.  Inevitably some are going to be taken in, whether they went to university at Oxford or Huddersfield.

I wonder though whether there is a built-in attitude which manifests itself as an antipathy towards Jews, as if their DNA retains the traditional anti-Semitism expressed over the last centuries.  Something which we cannot explain but can certainly experience.  If nothing else, it would explain the irrational attitude towards Israel. A sort of resentment that the Jews have a state of their own when they don’t really deserve it.  It is a departure from the usual societal structure of the Jews being the outsiders, the people who are tolerated by those in power.

Now though they have a state, they can sit at the table with other nations, and it all feels wrong.  Maybe it is that feeling that these lawyers have, that the Jews are not worthy to have a state and so irrespective of the murders, rapes and kidnappings, it can only be Israel which should be criticised. Otherwise, that would mean accepting Jews as equals and since the State of Israel was only created in 1948, it is too early for most people to take such a step, consciously or unconsciously.

For us though, seeing and reading the nonsense that has been written or spoken, we need to accept that it is just that, nonsense.  Dangerous nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless, irrespective how bright or accomplished the authors might be.  Sadly some things just do not change.