One simple fact destroys a lot of narratives. Some of the most powerful criticisms of Zionism and Israel’s campaign against the Palestinians comes from Jews. They are even more powerful when they come from Jews inside Israel. From Sam Stein at 972mag.com:
Like many American Jews, I was brought up to see Israel as infallible. Living among Palestinians taught me vital truths about the reality of the occupation.
The writer among residents of Umm al-Khair, in the southern West Bank, December 2024. (Khadija Toufik)
Growing up in the American Orthodox Jewish world, spending a post-high school year studying Torah in Israel was simply what one did. I chose to attend a “mechina” – an Israeli military preparatory program — unaware that what I considered my “year in Israel” would actually place me on occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
“Mechinat Yeud” operated from Efrat, an illegal settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem. Our days there were largely split in two: the first half was spent immersed in Torah study, and the other half was devoted to hiking, community service, and Krav Maga training.
I finished that year with little understanding of Israel’s occupation. While I noticed more “Arabs” (the word “Palestinians” never crossed our lips) around my settlement than in Israel proper, I remained oblivious to their reality of living under foreign military rule, with no citizenship or voting rights.
The first time I recall hearing the word “occupation” was when my rabbi — a resident of the illegal settlement Alon Shvut — grumbled about Israelis having restricted access to the Temple Mount. “Israel,” he declared, “is occupied by Arabs.”
Five years later, while studying at Hunter College in New York, a Palestinian student from Bethlehem spoke at our Hillel club. Having lived a short distance away from him during my time in Efrat, I naively thought of us as “neighbors.” But when he explained that attending university in New York required him to first secure Israeli permits just to cross into Jordan for the right to board an international flight, the stark contrast between our lives became impossible to ignore.
You must have strong stomach to watch that Al Jazeera War Crimes in Gaza video.
NO viable military targets, all women and children.
Attack a hospital, really?
I was cheering for Al Qassam by the end.
Their two man bazooka teams push them around in a wheelbarrow!
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