Views on Gaza among Americans are tepid. Most do not support what Israel is doing, most support a diplomatic settlement. That’s about it. In Israel, the public opinion polls are abhorrent: most (by a lot) support ethnic cleansing—that is, relocating the population in Gaza elsewhere—and most (by a lot) take the view that there are no innocents in Gaza.
I am not comparing them, but when the Nazi Holocaust was happening, few cared. It was only in the 1980s that people developed deep feelings on the subject. We started filing into movie theaters, conducting anguished, fervent conversations afterward about “How did it come to that?” So sincere, so spirited, so profound.
What has been happening in Gaza is still happening every day. People (hungry ones) being shot like dogs while lining up for food aid. Children shot by snipers. We aren’t supposed to be concerned. Criticizing this is anti-Semitic? So, if I take issue with school children being shot by snipers, or school children becoming amputees, it reflects my feelings toward Jews?
There was recent talk about me visiting a university in Chicago (I won’t say which one), and the people on the committee or whatever began wringing their hands. Needless to say, I will not be giving a lecture on Gaza at that university. My speaking would constitute activism. And expressing concern for Palestinians has been deemed not in the interest of US foreign policy—deemed as such by the White House. (I thought universities were hotbeds of leftist thought.)
The university campus demonstrations last year were quickly condemned as anti-Semitic and violent (which they were not), so some guy in a wheelchair talking about children now in wheelchairs due to Israeli savagery? Can’t have that. Too sensitive. Best to keep quiet. The potential controversy!
Like I said, I’m not comparing them, but this destruction in Gaza will one day be viewed as one of those failures of humanity like the Holocaust. Israel leveled a territory it occupies. Then terrorized the population on a daily basis for years afterward. There will be documentaries. And while it won’t receive the attention of the Holocaust, there will be conversations—y’know, profound ones—about how this all happened. It’s quite simple really. It happened with American apathy and Israeli approval, that’s how.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving prime minister, has been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court. But his population seems no different than him in attitude. He is representative of what Israel has become.
Meanwhile, the doddering former US president gave Netanyahu green light after green light. Biden not only let this happen, he authorized it; no Israeli prime minister can commence operations on such a scale without authorization from the boss. But Joe Biden represented his population, too. Even the people chanting “F*** Joe Biden” at sporting events are guilty of complacence. It’s okay to dislike Joe Biden (I sure do), but the FJB crowd never seemed to find the right reasons to do so. Now 3-4,000 children are amputees in Gaza—probably more. So, right chant, wrong reason. Yes, Joe Biden, represents the American population. He represents indifference.
Just like the sentiment “All Lives Matter,” some still cling to what Hamas did on Oct. 7, 2023. The former dismisses racist police violence, the latter dismisses the situation in Gaza on Oct. 6. Yes, what Hamas did was truly ruthless. But, have you ever noticed why Denmark is not ruled by a resistance movement? Or Sweden? Hamas exists because of the situation in Gaza. I have been there and have seen it for myself. But I do not get the sense many of my fellow Americans understand what those people were living with on a daily basis. They sure aren’t informed on the matter by CNN or Fox.
Groups like Hamas emerge in a certain context. And Israeli intelligence understands that context. Many former heads of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, have said (repeatedly) that Israel’s security concerns are due to the occupation. They’re due to the wretchedness and despair of the Palestinian people.
I have said it many times before, but I have heard numerous men (it’s always men) bellyache about where their tax money is going. It’s draining. “My tax money is paying for that??” However, I have never once heard someone complain about Gazan children becoming amputees. And yet, your tax money is going toward just that.
So, there are two possibilities: either (1) the tax-complainer approves of the murder and maiming of children, or (2) he’s unaware that it is happening. In the first instance, I think the discussion of psychopathology would be appropriate. And in the second, what might we say about someone who is indifferent to learning about what is going on in the world—especially when it involves the murder and maiming of children? What word might we use? I know what word(s) I would use. What do you think would be the appropriate judgment?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/01/gaza-israel-iran-war-idf
