A Passover Reflection on Protest, Palestine, and Empathy
Empathy for the other, as expressed in the Passover seder, seems to have been lost for supporters of Israel
Chag sameach to all who are observing Pesach at this time.
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Monday night was the first night of Pesach, or Passover in English. For many Jews, especially those of us who are politically active, regardless of where we fall on the political spectrum, it is perhaps the seminal Jewish holiday.
Pesach, of course, commemorates the exodus of the Hebrews, the descendants of the biblical Jacob, from bondage in Egypt because of the intervention of God. Other Jewish holidays celebrate miracles or praise God, but Pesach is the only one where God intervenes directly and visibly in human affairs to right a terrible wrong.
Pesach is a celebration of both the relationship to God and to the very concept of liberation. But how do we, as Jews, relate to this holiday of liberation when an ostensibly “Jewish state” is committing a horrific act of genocide and while Jews of conscience, in solidarity with Palestinians, and a full, diverse array of allies, are being silenced, penalized, even thrown in jail or evicted from their residences for demanding that their tax dollars and their very identities, not be used to perpetrate this most heinous of crimes against humanity?
Many Jews are holding sederim that endeavor to draw attention to this sad reality. Others cannot bring themselves to participate in a seder this year. I won’t be participating in a seder, but it’s not much of a statement as I haven’t done so in years. Nonetheless, it feels like a time to reflect on Pesach, as a Jew who is crushed and dismayed by Israel’s horrific crimes and by the collaboration of so many aspects of American society—from media to politics, all the way up to the White House—in a genocide that will devastate the Palestinians and will, ultimately, diminish us all, harm the Jewish people, and go down in history as one of the greatest crimes humanity has committed, even if its scale is smaller than many.
Spilling blood for enemies
One of my favorite parts of the seder comes during the portion known as magid, the telling of the story of the exodus. When the story reaches the point of the ten plagues God afflicted Egypt with, we recite each of them, holding our wine cups in our hands. For each plague, we drop a bit of wine out, to symbolize our empathy with the suffering of the people of Egypt.
I have always felt a particular affinity for this ritual. The expression of empathy for the suffering of others is easy enough, but when it is being expressed for those cast as your oppressors, there is an even deeper meaning.
There is no suggestion that we would alter the action (as we should, especially when it comes to the tenth plague, the killing of the first-born) or that the tribulation meted out to the Egyptians is not just (it isn’t, as it’s a clear example of collective punishment, which may be modern terminology, but it’s hardly a new idea that this is unfair). Rather, it says that despite those things, the fact of violence and harm occurring is still tragic. Suffering, pain, and killing are never desirable, regardless of the provocation. They may be necessary, and we debate this point. Indeed, other parts of the exodus story raise disturbing questions on this matter. But violence is always tragic. Always.
That notion has become a basic staple in my approach to political questions and, especially, in international affairs. These are realms where violence—whether direct with guns and bombs or indirect with policies meant to coerce with the threat of grave suffering or penalties—are often the first, rather than the last resort.
This speaks in a strong voice to the history of Zionism, and, indeed, to nationalisms of many kinds. From the beginning of the Second Aliyah, which took place from 1904-1914 and represented the formation of the ideological and exclusionary underpinnings of Zionism as we understand it today, the idea of finding an accommodation with the Palestinians without first defeating them was dismissed out of hand. Instead, Palestinians would be forced to either leave or acquiesce to “Jewish,” actually Zionist, rule.
What might have been possible if, rather than trying to engineer a permanent Jewish majority in a state privileging Jews above others, Zionists had, from the start, tried to work with the Palestinians to strengthen Palestine to a point where it could achieve an independence and a more just society as it emerged from the era of neglectful Ottoman rule is something we will never know. There were, to be sure, those among the Zionist immigrants who wanted to try this route, and there are many stories of Palestinians sympathetic to the Jewish plight in Europe who might well have been happy to work with the newcomers if they had not been intent on displacing them. But, despite the stature some Zionists—like Judah Magnes and Martin Buber—held in the Yishuv (the pre-state Zionist settlement), their ideas never gained real traction, and Palestinians who argued for coexistence had little space for their arguments in the face of what was a colonialist movement.
Instead, there has been generation after generation of conflict, one where outside powers gradually worked to strengthen the European immigrants and, later the settler-colonial ethnocratic state they created. Such states can only be sustained by violence and coercion.
Since the Nakba, state violence is a part of every Palestinian’s life in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. It can range from harassment at checkpoints, to housing discrimination in Israeli towns, to massive military attacks on civilian populations, killing hundreds or even thousands. But it’s a daily and constant reality.
The discrepancy of power means Israeli Jews face less constant violence, although they live every day with the threat. Dominance always brings with it insecurity and fear. As is usually the case, Israel, the more powerful, wealthy, and comfortable side—the side with a lot to lose, as opposed to the one that has already lost almost everything—reacts to every attack by the oppressed peoples as a moral outrage, and proof that they cannot allow their boot to relax from the others’ necks, lest the sporadic violent attacks become daily occurrences.
That same power discrepancy also renders the daily suffering of Palestinians, whether in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or Gaza, largely invisible to both Israelis and their supporters in the U.S. and Europe. As a result, when the oppressed people do fight back, their actions are seen as “unprovoked,” and we get repulsive arguments like “There was a ceasefire in place on October 6 and Hamas broke it.” This is a view that ignores not only the horrible state Gaza was in due to Israel’s seventeen-year siege on the already poor and overcrowded territory, but also the fact that the United States and Israel were, on October 6, moving to make that state of affairs even more permanent through a deal with Saudi Arabia.
Weaving a false narrative to harden hearts
That distorted lens through which many see the events in Israel and Gaza has also permeated the West, even in some well-meaning circles. For example, in a tweet about the Columbia University protests for Gaza, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander made an interesting statement: “But let’s also be very clear: Jewish students who are not part of the protests have a right to go to class, to visibly support Israel if they choose, and to celebrate Passover safely and without reasonable fear of harm. And of course Muslim and all students deserve the same.”
I hasten to note that Lander also explicitly defended the right of Columbia students to protest in defense of Gaza and rebuked Columbia’s president for calling the NYPD in. Lander’s thread is one that calls for justice and liberation for all, Jews and Palestinians. I’m good with it.
Still, there’s a deeply problematic equivalence here. Lander argues for the right of students to support Israel loudly and proudly and for others to have the very same right to support Palestine. That is fine. But it’s not the applicable equation for the events on and since October 7.
There is sharp criticism directed at those who support Hamas and its actions on October 7. I am among those critics, although such expressions are much rarer than the media, the Biden administration and, not be redundant, pro-Israel propagandists claim it is. They are isolated events, are routinely disavowed and pushed back at by protest organizers and very much seem to be the product of outside agitators, and perhaps provocateurs.
As to October 7, however, some nuance is required. There were many Palestinians, inside and outside of Palestine, who celebrated the action. This was portrayed as celebrating attacks on Israeli civilians. While that may have been true for some celebrants, the overwhelming majority expressed views similar to those of CAIR President Nihad Awad.
On one hand, Awad noted, “Ukrainians, Palestinians and other occupied people have the right to defend themselves and escape occupation by just and legal means, but targeting civilians is never an acceptable means of doing so, which is why I have again and again condemned the violence against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7th and past Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians, including suicide bombings, all the way back to the 1990s—just as I have condemned the decades of violence against Palestinian civilians.”
But Awad also said, “The average Palestinians who briefly walked out of Gaza and set foot on their ethnically cleansed land in a symbolic act of defiance against the blockade and stopped there without engaging in violence were within their rights under international law; the extremists who went on to attack civilians in southern Israel were not. Targeting civilians is unacceptable, no matter whether they are Israeli or Palestinian or any other nationality.”
This is exactly right. And it goes further. To the extent that the October 7 attack targeted military sites, it was, indeed, an act of resistance and completely legitimate under international humanitarian law. To the extent that it targeted kibbutzim and concerts it was a war crime, as are the taking of hostages and any incidents of sexual or other forms of degrading attacks.
But supporting Israel by waving an Israeli flag at people protesting the utter destruction of Gaza is a statement not just in support of Israel but in support of Israel’s current action in Gaza. That action has seen the destruction of most of the Strip, the killing of over 34,000 people by official count (the actual count, if we include people buried under rubble and those who have died of starvation, malnutrition, preventable disease and other effects of Israel’s actions, is much higher), including over 14,500 children.
Flying an Israeli flag in general might be a statement that you support Israel’s continued existence in its current form as a Zionist ethno-state, and it leaves room to be critical, even outraged, by what Israel is doing now in Gaza. Support for Zionism and Israel’s future as an ethno-state, which many of us define as an apartheid state, is debatable, but certainly falls under the rubric of free speech, and I agree with Lander that anyone, Jewish or not, should be free to make that expression without fear of attack. However, as with any statement of political views, they should not expect to be free from challenge or debate.
But counter-protesting a demonstration against genocide indicates support for the current Israeli action. How can that reasonably be seen as less reprehensible than celebrating and supporting Hamas’ attacks on civilians on October 7?
The answer, of course, is that it cannot be. Neither of those things is an expression of pro-Israel or pro-Palestine sentiment, but both are expressions of support for murder and war crimes. But only one—the one that is theoretical at best, and largely fabricated at worst—is being prosecuted.
Supporting Israel’s actions in Gaza is supporting mass murder and wanton killing of civilians. It is, I would also argue, support for ethnic cleansing and genocide. Yet that is treated as legitimate speech.
The obscene hysteria that has been manufactured about campus protests being antisemitic is belied by the fact that, at these protests, there are not just a handful of token Jewish students, but enough that Jews make up a large part of the protests, as we stand with our allies in solidarity against the genocide of Palestinian brothers and sisters. While Israeli leaders and pro-Israel demagogues try to whip up panic about rampant antisemitism on campus, the lived reality for Jewish students is completely different, even if some of them are made uncomfortable by the anger that is being leveled at Israel.
That anger is entirely justified, though. Genocide is not just another policy debate when your country is the funder and enabler of that genocide. In the exodus story, the Torah tells us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he would not release the Hebrews until all ten plagues rained down on Egypt. Pharaoh had that as an excuse. Those supporting genocide in Gaza, the deaths of over 14,000 children, over 34,000 people in all and the complete destruction of the Strip’s health care, education, housing, and all other infrastructure—actions which will lead to a lot more death and destruction in the years to come—have none. Maybe they should recall why we spill the drops of wine at the seder.
News Roundup
I Am a Jewish Student at Columbia. Don’t Believe What You’re Being Told About ‘Campus Antisemitism’
By Jonathan Ben-Menachem, Zeteo, April 23, 2024,
https://zeteo.com/p/i-am-a-jewish-student-at-columbia
Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality - Final Report for the United Nations Secretary-General
ReliefWeb, April 22, 2024,
https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/independent-review-mechanisms-and-procedures-ensure-adherence-unrwa-humanitarian-principle-neutrality-final-report-united-nations-secretary-general
How Rep. Summer Lee Cruised to Victory
By Ryan Grim, The Intercept, April 23, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/23/summer-lee-primary-win-aipac/
‘Using US-Made Munitions’ – Amnesty Says Israel Makes a Mockery of Intl. Law
Palestine Chronicle, April 24, 2024,
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/using-us-mademunitions-amnesty-says-israel-committing-war-crimes-in-gaza/
Why the leaked New York Times Gaza memo is just the tip of the iceberg
By Mohamad Elmasry, Middle East Eye, April 24, 2024, https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/leaked-new-york-times-gaza-memo-tip-iceberg-israel-why
Is International Law Still Relevant after the Carnage in Gaza?
By Susan Akram and John Quigley, Arab Center Washington DC, April 23, 2024, https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/is-international-law-still-relevant-after-the-carnage-in-gaza/
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