Ending the Genocide in Gaza: Peace Justice Food Medicine. Return of Land

 

It has been nearly two years since I wrote my last blog on this website.

It has always been fairly definite that my next blog was going to be about the situation between Israel and Palestine.

The situation over the last two years has been shocking, desperate, savage, and depressing for people all over the world, but no more so than for the Palestinians.

On many occasions over the last two years, I have mulled various thoughts, issues, insights and discoveries. Something has prevented me from publishing a blog; in fact, many things: will anyone read it? Is there any point writing my thoughts when I am not a big mainstream reporter? What will happen next?  How can I write it in a way that aims to understand issues and relate them for different readers or viewpoints? Will my writing be censored? Like many other humans, I can also be lazy and a great procrastinator!

As I begin this blog, I’m unsure how long it will be. Given that it is my first blog in two years, I am going to give myself permission to make it as long as I want!

So, let’s get to it!

Before I get into the current issues of the last two years, I am going to give some background into my own knowledge and experiences as they relate to all things to do with Israel /Palestine.

I grew up in New Zealand (Aotearoa) in the 1960s and 1970s. My father and uncles had all fought in World War II in one capacity or another. I learnt many stories from both of my parents about the war and how it had affected them and the world. Living in a fairly small town in New Zealand, I was mostly around other white New Zealanders. At school, some of my classmates were Māori and Pacific Islander. As far as I knew, there were no people around me who were Jewish or Arab. Our family went to the local Anglican church and my mother in particular walked the talk of being kind to others and supporting charities such as Red Cross and Save the Children Fund. My mother was often collecting door to door for these charities, and had a strong belief as a Christian to show compassion and help others.

My parents had no problem with me watching the TV series ‘The World at War’, a very confronting documentary series from Britain that was released in the early 1970s. As a child, the scenes of the war and the Holocaust in particular, were shocking to see. This series opened my eyes to the tragedies that the war had brought to so many people, but especially Jewish people. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, it was at high school when I heard a joke being made about Jews. I had been raised to show kindness and compassion for others, and I remember my main reaction to the joke being how strange that despite the Holocaust, people were still making jokes against Jews.

In my family, there were many issues and events that gave me a feeling of association with Jewish people. Growing up in a small town in New Zealand, where as far as I knew there were no Jewish people, I only had what I read and saw in the media, and what I heard from others, that defined my thoughts of what it meant to be Jewish. I remember seeing the play ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ with my mother and brother. From that play, I understood that Jewish experience for many included suffering and struggling with economic hardship and being on the move against persecution. There was an idea that misery and suffering and danger were all part of the Jewish experience. In my family, my father suffered from depression. My dad had his own business as a shoe repairer, and struggled financially. My dad had an olivey complexion. All these factors combined to make me think that maybe our family was Jewish. This continued to be a topic I wondered about until I got my ancestry DNA completed about 10 years ago and discovered that Iberian genes are connected to the Scots & Irish, thus explaining his skin type.

As a child, I suffered from phobias and anxiety, thus connecting me more to this stereotype of what it meant to be Jewish.

The 1970s also saw various terrorist events which I became aware of as a child. The media of the time was mostly sympathetic to Israel, and I don’t think that I really understood the Palestinian issue until I was at university.

In 1972 when I was near the end of primary school, the Olympic games were held in Munich, and our class studied and followed the games with interest. When the massacre happened against the Israeli athletes by the PLO, I don’t recall having much understanding if any, about why the terrorists had targeted the Israelis. All I seem to recall is the connection of how despite the tragedy of the Holocaust by Nazi Germany, here we were again with more Jewish people being killed in Germany. I remember the day I walked down to the letterbox to get the evening newspaper, and that was when I learnt of the killings in Munich. The front page of the newspaper had a heading (of the event) larger than any I had seen before. I remember feeling deep sorrow for Israel and the tragedy as it was for them. There was no discussion of why people had killed others. There was no discussion of the Israel-Palestine conflict, or at least at a level that I could understand as a 10-year-old.

This helps to give some understanding of how myself and millions of others, particularly Westerners, looked at the issue with strong support for Israel, in many ways amplified by an ongoing empathy for Jewish people because people were shocked so greatly by what had happened to Jews in Europe under the Nazis.

It was when I was at university, that I started to become more aware of the situation of the Palestinians. I was very involved in student politics campaigning around issues including anti-apartheid, anti-racism, anti-nuclear, and other national & international issues. Many students showed support for the Palestine struggle, and I began to develop some understanding and sympathy of their situation. I remember one of the other students I was at university with was Jewish and was strongly committed to supporting Israel.

In 1985, I had figured out I was gay and became involved in law reform in New Zealand, organising marches and other activities in support of lesbian and gay rights. Around this time, I became aware of the pink triangle and how it had been used in the Nazi concentration camps to identify gay prisoners. For me as a gay person, the connection to Jewish people was strengthened again.

Later in 1985, I made the move to Australia, having finished university, looking for new opportunities and experiences. Being in Sydney, I began to notice areas around Bondi where there were Jewish people dressed in clothing that identified them. For me, I felt a strong interest to build connections. During this time, I was also a member of a counselling group, where people swapped time to talk about their issues. Many of the people I counselled with were Jewish, which gave me an opportunity to learn more about their issues and challenges. One of the people I counselled with, told me how important it was for her as a Jewish person, to always hear the truth. She believed that one of the challenges for Jewish people is the pretence that all is well, while problems are developing. I developed friendships with a number of these people who I counselled with. I found that most Jewish people I met, had progressive views on most issues like myself. My own perspective on the Palestine Israel situation remained vague. I still had a continued support for Israel, having been raised to see Israel as a safety /protection arrangement to protect Jewish people. In 1990, I travelled to Hong Kong and the US, and while in New York was taken on a great tour around the city by one of these friends. It was great to see places and spaces with so much Jewish presence. From stores with dozens of bagels to choose from and a jewellery area where all the workers were Hasidic; it was a great experience for me. I also got to meet Richard Plant who had written ‘The Pink Triangle’. He was a Jewish German gay refugee who came to New York in 1938. For me, as a progressive person, the links between gay people, Jewish people and the rights of other minorities was very clear. At University I had also studied sociology and political science, and read works by socialists such as Marx and Trotsky who were both Jewish. I had high regard for many Jewish writers and thinkers. One of my favourite books simply because of its name and author was called ‘Capitalist Patriarchy and the case for Socialist Feminism’ written by Zillah Eisenstein. For me there was an attraction to all things Jewish.

Also In 1990, I decided to start a group within the Sydney gay community called Jews and Friends (Yehudim V’Chaverim). It began with a couple of people joining me for a meeting. Over the next 3 years numbers grew rapidly, and at some meetings we had 30 or 40 people. There were many lesbians at one point, but they mostly decided to create their own group. Most of the group was Jewish, but the group was open to all gay people, no matter what their background was. We had some wonderful meetings, and I enjoyed meeting lots of different people. Kitty Fisher was the only member of the group who was not gay, but we accepted her as a special member. At this time, many gay people were keeping their story secret from their families, so there was some caution about being in the group. Kitty was a survivor of Auschwitz and part of her survival was due to potatoes being passed through a fence from a gay Aryan prisoner. Kitty who was then about 14 asked the Aryan prisoner about the pink triangle he wore and when he explained it meant he was homosexual, Kitty asked if it was a religion! Kitty passed away in 2000 a few months after the Pink Triangle Memorial in Sydney was opened, where she told her story. Based on her experience of being helped by a gay prisoner, she did much work in the gay community during the AIDS crisis and built tolerance within Sydney’s Jewish community for its gay members.

I watched the news throughout the 1990s wishing for a breakthrough between Israel and Palestine. When Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, I reconnected with a good Jewish friend. It seemed at this time that such hope that had not been seen in a long time, was once again vanquished. Following on from Rabin, Israeli leadership began a downward spiral which it has never recovered from. My viewpoint continued to support the existence of Israel while wanting to see a resolution and return of Palestinian land. In a way though, my commitment to wanting to continue to support Israel, meant that I did not read or focus very much on the details. I had begun to understand that much of the violence being done by Palestinians was in response to repression, land grabs and violence by Israel. But somehow my commitment to wanting to support Jewish people, made me feel awkward about criticising Israel.

Times have changed!

Over the last 10 or 20 years it has become increasingly obvious how much conflict is occurring by the actions of Israel, not just Hamas.

I was staying in Morocco in 2023 when the Hamas attack occurred on October 7. I remember talking with a friend in Morocco at the time, and he was jubilant about the actions against Israel. I remember saying to him that this was going to be a big problem for Palestinians. How right I was.

There are so many new insights that have occurred over the last two years. Divisions within families and societies and countries are big. A lot of the divisions have come from biased media and misinformation. Every time we hear of starvation and killings by Israel, Israel and the media that it controls, lays claim that this is Hamas propaganda.

One of the biggest insights for me has been realising how many people have such limited information and knowledge about the situation between Palestinians and Israelis. There is also so much disinformation and misinformation spouted by different groups and people to justify their position. There have been people saying that there are bad people in every group and that each side has done bad things. But to be fair, this kind of argument does not explain the situation very well. About 1200 Israelis and others died on October 7^th, about how many Palestinians have died since then? At least 60,000 but some academics estimate it could be as high as 600,000. Even Israel acknowledged a few months ago, that over 200,000 Palestinians were missing. I am assuming missing means dead. That’s not an even arrangement. More children are now disabled from these actions by Israel than at any other time in history.

The reprisal by Israel, has seen support by lots of Westerners particularly Western leaders. The justification by Israel for blowing up a building because supposedly some Hamas terrorists were in the building, and we are expected to be okay about all the other people who died at the same time. This is one of the situations that has caused a big shift against support for Israel. Never before has the idea been so promoted to blame a whole population for the actions of some. Well, maybe not since the holocaust. Back then, the actions of Jewish Wall Street bankers, was used as a reason to regard all Jewish people, even all the thousands of Jewish people living in Shtetls in Poland, as the cause of people’s financial disasters.

The parallels between Israeli leaders and Nazi leaders has been another issue that has turned people away from supporting Israel. Hitler and his gang likened Jews to rodents, while several Israeli leaders have referred to Palestinians as animals. Some Israeli politicians talk of the need to kill all the children as well. No one is to be spared. Israel has illegally denied food, water, medicine, electricity to the entire population of Gaza and this idea has been promoted by Zionists to blame all Palestinians for the actions of Hamas. One of the arguments Israel uses against Palestinians is that over 80% of them have voted for Hamas in the past. This they argue proves that all Palestinians are terrorists and deserve to be killed. I see it more as that for decades Israel has punished, controlled and pushed Palestinians off their land as Israel expands into the West Bank. With so much continued violence by Israel, it cannot be surprising that Palestinians have come to support Hamas.

Interestingly, I recently learned that many countries do not regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation, but more as a resistance movement. The Palestinians are the indigenous people fighting for the return of their land. Similar to Australia or New Zealand, reparations and return of lands is required by Israel to the Palestinians.

When October 7^th happened, I quickly made contact with a friend on Facebook who is Israeli, because I had a feeling that Israel would go even more rogue in the days that followed. I checked that she was okay, to which she responded that she was part of a tough group and that they would deal with the animals. As Israel’s slaughter has intensified, I felt I no longer wished to be friends with someone who referred to other people as animals.

The interesting thing to me as someone who has studied psychology sociology and political science, is how little has been spoken about the psyche of the Israeli population. And for that matter we could say the same about the Palestinians too. What are their collective viewpoints and beliefs about themselves and others?

Over the last 2 years many people have shifted their views on Israel including many within the Jewish community. From what I can understand in the United States, many Jewish families have a division between younger people supporting the Palestinians and the older generation supporting Israel.

As I learned more about Jewish topics in the 1990s, one of my Jewish friends said to me that one of the big ideas that emerged post-Holocaust for many Jewish people was that there is no God. If we look at Israel today, there is a sense that many Israelis identify as Jewish but are not followers of Judaism, similar to many Westerners who no longer follow Christianity. To a large degree, the laws and morality that we follow originates from the religions. But the distancing for many Westerners from religion is different to the Jewish one I suspect. As my Jewish friend said how could there be a god if the Holocaust could happen? The other idea post-Holocaust for the Jewish community was ‘Never Again’. Innocent or naïve people may interpret that to mean for everyone. But as so often is the case, a group takes care of its own. History has shown that Jewish people have often been the ones taking care of their own, just as many other groups do. We may hope that Israel planned to apply ‘Never Again’ for anyone, but we have seen this is not the case.

Compared to the time of Rabin’s leadership in the early 1990s, Israeli politics has moved far to the right in the last 30 years. Today as mentioned, some Israeli politicians wish to eradicate all Palestinians. The majority of Israelis support the current government, and as is usually the case when there is a conflict, support their soldiers no matter what. As we know the conduct of some of the IDF is comparable to the actions of Nazis during World War II. Filming themselves destroying and blowing up buildings, killing people and sharing this on the internet, shows impunity and a sense of protection from their country.

As someone who has studied abuse and how it can affect people’s lives, it is interesting how little has been discussed about the connection between the Holocaust and the actions of Israel today. A group that came close to being annihilated has been given their own country, and little regard has been given to how the traumatised group would conduct themselves. How the British upper class thought it would be a great idea to give half of Palestinian land to the creation of Israel, is another topic for another blog!

The ‘kill or be killed’ mentality which is similar to ‘dog eat dog’, is something that human history knows a lot about. To give half the land in the Palestine region over to a new Jewish state, was a very questionable plan and many people now see this. In addition, because Britain lost control of the region in 1947 and Israel took control, the situation then emerged where Israel was able to take control over the Palestinians. To put a group of people who had survived a near extermination of their group, in a position of power over another group has disaster awaiting written all over it.

Over the last 2 years, so many ideas have been put forward to justify Israel’s actions and so many of them do not stack up. Up until recently, most of the support for Palestinians was coming from Muslims, progressive Jews and people involved in left wing groups or human rights. Now things are moving to a trickier position for Israel. Especially in the United States. For a long time, Israel through APAIC have had a very strong influence and control over politicians in the two main parties. Throughout the last 2 years, many Democrats have spoken against Israel’s actions. Now we are seeing many in the far-right question Israel as well. Israel has killed so many people, particularly civilians, particularly children. Bombing hospitals. Bombing schools. Bombing apartment blocks. Razing towns and cities. Cities that now look more like Hiroshima. There is a point where people start to question. And many Americans are learning how much money they are giving to a country that does all this bombing of Gaza and neighbouring countries. This is now creating opposition in groups where there is a tendency to disrespect minorities and Jewish people are no exception. Israel has been getting into bed with its enemies. Its biggest supporters in Europe today are the ones in the 1930s who would have supported Nazi parties. It seeks alliances against Islam, because most Muslim people & countries oppose the things they are doing to Palestinians.

The accusations of anti-Semitism on people opposing the actions of Israel, is seen by many now as an outright scam. People have become aware of how many Jewish billionaires who own media and support Israel. These owners are using their networks to promote Israel, silencing opposition on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and justifying the carnage. This is now creating an opposition that has the potential to fuse between Jewish and Israeli. This has always been a danger that I have been aware of. The strong Alliance of major Jewish organisations and their support for Israel has potential for blowback against the Jewish communities when the conduct of Israel is so wanting.

As I have written in a previous blog, there is a historical connection from the Middle Ages between Jews and Money. Jewish people in many countries in Europe were not allowed to own land or do certain jobs. Christians were not allowed to engage in certain economic practices. Over time this has created a group that is often more economically successful with initiative and creativity. In a world of capitalism, where being a billionaire is possible, despite so many people going without, and where 35% the billionaires in the United States are Jewish, but the Jewish population is only 3%, problems and conflicts are waiting to happen, with scapegoating, should there be another depression such as 1929. In the meantime, we see a serious issue of information being manipulated or suppressed on the Israel-Palestine conflict because so many large media corporations are owned by Jewish billionaires who are loyal to Israel.

Arguments by Israel include that the area was theirs 3000 years ago. Or that they were forced out by the Romans. Or that the Palestinians came from Arabia or that there was never such a country as Palestine. These issues have been illuminated for many people as we look into the details on these topics. Yes, there was a large Jewish community up until the Roman sacking of Jerusalem around 70 A.D. it seems that many Jewish people were already living in other places like Rome prior to this event. Many of the Jewish people may have left Jerusalem, but moved to other areas in the region. Over the last 2000 years, many Jewish people stayed in the region and converted to Islam by choice or pressure. Genetic studies show that the Palestinians of today share more DNA in common with the Jews of 2000 years ago in the region. They have not moved in from Arabia. The Jewish population is far more varied. The Ashkenazi DNA does have some Semitic connection, but not as much as the Palestinian. Much of the Ashkenazi DNA is European based. While the region was ruled by the Ottoman Empire for so long, this does not change the fact that the people living in the area were Palestinian. They may not have been self-ruling, but this was their homeland. They had houses, they had farms and cities and towns long before the Jewish immigration took off in the 1920s. Around 1920 the population in Jerusalem was about 15% Jewish.

There has been a move internationally by the Israeli lobby and certain members of the Jewish community who should know better to define Semitism as relating to Jews. This negates and confuses the truth that not all Jewish people are really that Semitic or that other groups of people such as the Palestinians are Semitic as well. The idea that anti-Semitism should relate to anti-Jewish and not against other Semitic groups such as Palestinian is extremely unjust and manipulative, masking the truth.

Support for humanity only resides in alliances.

Many people made a decision to support Israel, because they never wanted to see a repeat of what had happened to Jews in the Holocaust. Many people feel that Israel has abused and taken advantage of that trust.

Israel is a tough country. A group of people who came close to being annihilated. A nation that switched roles from being victim to being tough. A group that has experienced hardship and is determined to never be victimised again. A group that struggles with the truth that they are colonisers, because the media in Israel sells the lie that the land belongs to them and always has been theirs. Many an Israeli has left Israel because they could not stand the arguing and fighting. The country of people who when travelling as tourists, are increasingly turned away, not because of what they have done to the Palestinians, but because of their rudeness and arrogance and entitlement. 30 years ago, I heard a story of Israelis pretending to be Italian in Nepal because Sherpas would not work for them because of their rudeness and disrespect.

When we see how settlers treat Palestinians in the West Bank, even today, we see a group that were once victimised who have now turned into Victimisers, from abused to abusers. This has to end.

But a group that has a recent history of terror and a fear of it repeating, is highly unlikely to trust or put down the sword. As I have said on many occasions, not from spite, but from logic, Israel is not a country that can be changed through moralism. Israel will either make a deal because it sees a gain in it for itself or Israel if boycotted sufficiently, will realise it has no choice but to negotiate. At the moment with Trump in power, we are in the making a deal phase. Maybe some good can come from this. But maybe not much. How can we get back so much of the Palestinian land in the West Bank that has been stolen by settlers? I suspect that could only occur if boycotts, divestment and sanctions were significant enough and enforced by enough countries to give them no choice but to negotiate.

If you made it all the way through my blog, I thank you for your attention.

 

 

Death toll in Palestine: 6,546...2,704 children, 1,584 women among victims since October 7. How many more must die?

It’s been just over two weeks since Hamas launched its attack on Israel, killing about 1400 people. I consider this a tragedy as all killing of humans by others in my mind is a tragedy.

In this blog I will talk about the tragedy of October 7 and the tragedy of what has happened since. I’m also going to talk about the origins of the wars between Israel & Palestine & hopefully provide some solutions, but of course solutions only work when people are willing to sit down, listen to each other’s concerns & try & find a solution.

I have written about the Israel Palestine situation on various occasions & two blogs/ articles that I have written are listed at the end of this essay.

Over the years I have had the privilege to have made friends with many people who are Jewish. I have not met so many Palestinians, but in the last few years I have spent time in Morocco & Turkey & through those experiences I have made friends with people who are Muslim and in the case of Morocco, Arabic as well. All these friends have been fun to hang out with, full of compassion & love of life, dealing with challenges like all humans do, but also dealing with challenges of the groups they belong to.

As a child, when I learnt about the holocaust and other attacks on Jewish people, I felt much compassion and similarly when attacks occur against Muslim people, I feel compassion too. When the attacks on Muslims happened at the two mosques in New Zealand, I thought of how my friends could have been targets.

Israel- Palestine is a very complex issue so it is not surprising that there is so much conflict. The origins of the state of Israel & the history of Palestine is one where many people choose information that suits their viewpoint and much information is spread that is biased. The media manages to confuse with biased reporting and so many people in the world favour one group over the other. I am not Jewish or Palestinian, so that helps me to be more independent in my thinking & to try & see different situations & points of view. Growing up in New Zealand, as a nation, New Zealand has always believed in the right of Israel to exist, but New Zealand has also become increasingly concerned about the treatment of Palestinians by Israel.

So, let’s do some basic history first. And while I am a teacher, I am not a high school history teacher. But this year in particular, I have been doing a lot of reading on world history. So that has helped me form a better picture of general tendencies in the progress of humans.

As a child I learnt how important the Middle East was. Raised as a Christian, I learnt that Jesus was Jewish and that the area he had lived in was today called Israel. I later learnt about the holocaust & how Israel emerged after WWII as a refuge for surviving Jews. What I did not learn about at the time was that in the formation of Israel, many Palestinians had been displaced. But as a child there were many terrorist events against Israel, with the west condemning, while there was a clear message that these events were happening because of Palestinians being pushed off their land.

So, who was in the Palestine/ Israel area first? Depends how far in time we go back. If we go back 2000 years, then it was Jewish people, but if we go back further then we are looking at earlier groups of people & societies.

If we look at the area in the last 2000 years, since 70AD, not many Jews, as the Romans expelled Jewish people from Jerusalem which began the first major wave of Jewish people resettling in other parts of the world. While many Jews would have moved to other areas nearby, Islam emerged by the 7^th Century, so many people in the region converted to Islam. At different times with Christian Crusades, there were many Christians for a while. But for most of the last 1400 years, most of the area was under control of the Ottomans and therefore mostly Muslim.

Something I have come to learn more this year is that almost everywhere, societies and groups have been replaced by others, usually through violent take overs. The history of humanity is mostly about thuggish & crafty behaviour winning the day. The educated are often eliminated as are differences. 

This history of brutality by humans with invasions & genocide is unfortunately more the norm than the oddity. There are many groups who lived in different places in the past or have been conquered. This is part of the story of colonialism too. And the question emerges, if someone pushes you off your land do you have recourse to demand its return and if so for how long?

I suppose what makes the Israel situation different to many other situations is that Jewish identity remained strong through the 2000 years of living in different locations & so the idea of returning to Zion existed as an idea for many Jewish people, but it was in the 19^th Century that the idea of Zionism really grew. On the back of various pogroms and attacks on Jewish people, it’s not surprising that such a group of people would seek a safe haven.

It was interesting to hear a British politician saying a week or two ago that Britian should stay out of the Israel- Palestine drama as it is not their problem. I would argue instead that it is absolutely Britian’s problem. They created it. At the beginning of the 20th Century, various places were being considered as a location for a new nation for Jewish people. Well intentioned and wanting to create a place where Jewish people would be able to live without threat to life. The decimation of Jewish people in Europe in the last few centuries prior to the Holocaust is big. Uganda was considered by Britian. Other places were also considered.

After WWI, Britian took control of Palestine as the Ottoman empire crumbled. At that time 15% of the population in Palestine was Jewish but based on the historical link to the area, British politicians thought the area was the ideal for creating a Jewish homeland which would be half the area, while Palestinians living in the region would have the other half.

The Palestinians were never consulted about such a plan, and as Jewish migration to Palestine began, many Palestinians were wary of such a development. As anti semitism rose in the 1930s, more Jewish people sought out Palestine. At the end of WWII, Jewish people who had managed to survive the holocaust tried to seek refuge there too.

Palestinians never agreed to a 50% deal with Jewish people. At first Jewish people were willing. But if you think logically, why would Palestinians give up 50% of the land that they regarded as theirs? Terrorist events spiralled between Jewish & Palestinian groups, the British pulled out, war broke out & the Jewish faction gained control. And that’s the situation that has maintained itself since, with Israel taking control of the whole area, controlling Palestinians in all kinds of ways and increasingly turning land of Palestinians over to Israeli settlers.

Right from the word go, Israel has had to fight to defend its borders as all its neighbours are Arabic & Muslim and regard what Israel has done to the Palestinians as an attack on their brothers & sisters. Israel has survived several attacks by neighbouring countries or groups in neighbouring countries. Over time, walls have been built to create a divide between Israel & Palestinian territory as various terrorist events have occurred by Palestinians against Israel. Only through a strong military has Israel been able to exist along with the military backing of the United States.

Outside Israel, the United States is probably the only other country with a reasonably sized Jewish population. Many assume that is the reason that the US supports Israel, and while there is a strong influence by a Jewish lobby in the US, the US support to Israel is for other reasons I believe. A strategic player & ally in the region to access oil & other resources is one reason & I suspect the other is a moral response to the holocaust. There is also a powerful evangelical Christian lobby who see Israel as important in the ‘last days’.

There are varying opinions of how much Germans or other people knew about the holocaust at the time it was occurring. But what is clear is that at the end of WWII when the US and other western nations saw what had happened to Jewish people by Nazi Germany, there was a moment of shock, possibly unlike any other time in history. The scale & barbarity & efficiency with which the Nazi system eliminated 6 out of 9 million Jewish people was on a scale of efficiency that the world has not seen before and certainly for it happen in a European country, a supposedly civilised one, made many people the world over feel shame and despair for what had happened.

When Jewish people created the state of Israel, they achieved it on their own and have been playing hardball ever since. For many westerners, their sympathy & compassion towards Jewish people and what they had endured particularly under the Nazis has made a decision by many to never be critical of Israel. That is understandable, but it does not make sense. Because the group that has had to pay the price for this guilt or shame is not westerners, but the Palestinians.

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, it was not like this was the first attack against Israel. Attacks have been occurring all the time Israel has existed. But the scale of Israeli death was the biggest in its history.

Hamas got voted for by 50% of Palestinians in Gaza. Many Israelis argue that this proves all Palestinians are animals & deserve what they get. But when you start to read of all the attacks by Israel’s defence forces against Palestinians over the last few decades, you get a very different picture. Palestinians got sick of waiting for a peace solution. When you get 50% of a people voting for a terrorist organisation you can either say that it proves these people are terrorists or that they have given up on any other solution. Palestinians have been waiting 70 years and in this time it only has gotten worse.

The worst action in my view to sink the ship of peace & settlement has been the increasing moving by Jewish people into new settlements in the West Bank. That land is supposed to be Palestine.

Western countries are scared to censor Israel at all times. Other countries condemn, especially Arab nations.

There are some very strange things happening with this bias at the moment. Read different newspapers and explore how much they are reporting on the impact of October 7 to Israelis vs what has happened to Palestinians since that date. Same with most Western politicians.

The extension of this fear has been to curtail democracy, just to appear loyal to Israel. Banning a pro-Palestinian march in Berlin because of concerns of anti semitism; we must always understand that criticising Israel & its actions is very different to being against Jewish people. In fact, as I have always argued, real security for Jewish people lies in an Israel that is held to account. An Israel that kills as it wishes makes a world where anti-Israel sentiments can easily shift into hatred against Jews.

A similar story of a university in Britain where an academic was sacked for criticising Israel & its policies but was labelled anti-semitic. Israel manipulates this stuff to avoid criticism, but as I said, this can create a bigger issue.

Israel must be held to the same standards as any other country. Human rights are international. Israel will be done no favours by being allowed to bomb civilians. The animosity building in the world now towards Israel is huge because most western countries are not holding Israel accountable for the same standards required of other countries. Gaza is where the terrorists who committed the atrocities on October 7 are hiding out. But so are over 2 million people. So far, the bombings by Israel have killed over 6000 people including about 2000 children.

This kind of bombing of civilians is a war crime and Israel will be judged for it as will all countries who do not condemn it. Bombing like this does not make Israel safer in the long term. It amplifies the hatred that is very strong all through the Arab Muslim world. This hatred is amplifying and could lead to WWIII. Currently it is very easy to see an alliance emerging of Iran, Russia, China, North Korea as well as many countries in the Arab world.

Solutions lie in negotiation. When violence is used, it suppresses things only temporarily. With what is happening now in Gaza, all Israel does is increase the likelihood that many Palestinian children will become terrorists when they become older.

Israel should never have been allowed to be in control of Palestinians since they won the war in 1948.

Like other teachers in schools, we are becoming more aware of how trauma affects children and adults. The western education system is more mindful of helping children who are acting out and helping them address issues that could be causing their upset state. In the past a child was simply punished. Now an effective school has anti bullying programs to stop the bullying & also addresses the issues with the bullying child to determine if they are ok.

My sense is that Israel never has been seen the same. After what happened to Jewish people in WWII, there is this weird idea that some who support the rights of Palestinians say you would think they (Israel) would treat the Palestinians better. But of course, things are far more complex than that. When a group of people have been almost wiped out, there are various responses but what I see with Israel is them playing hard ball. NEVER AGAIN! That’s how Israel operates. It is a survivor and determined to survive.

But is it a psychologically balanced nation? Surrounded by countries that hate it for how it dominates the Palestinians, it survives by playing tough. But should it be allowed to have control over another group of people? Not if it dominates, diminishes, treats the other less than, continues to take more land, switches off electricity, water and food to cities because some of them are terrorists. Its like keeping in a whole class on detention because some did the wrong thing and you don’t know who… Except of course it is much more savage.

It is troubling to see another war, and it is equally troubling to see so many supposed leaders in the world say nothing about a ceasefire, let alone demanding it from Israel as over 2000 children have died in Gaza in two weeks

It is strange how people can fail to have compassion even for children…

Compassion is missing on all sides: How did all those Israeli families feel as their people were massacred …

And the same with the massacring/ bombing of Gaza and the deaths of so many.

Both actions are wrong.

As regards the increase in anti semitism, this is a concern. But If Israel kills massive numbers of civilians as we currently see and Israel is known as the Jewish state, then you are looking at the rise in anti semitism as some people will blame Jewish people, not just Israel. It is wrong, but this is what happens. So Israels actions are making things less safe for Jewish people.

 

Israel as a concept is opposed by some Jewish people. Whether Israel should exist if it means replacing another group is a valid topic too. Israel certainly needs to return the Palestinian territory in the West Bank.  It is valid to criticise all countries and how they conduct themselves. There are international laws and all countries are expected to follow.

Violence only puts a lid on a problem. Negotiations are the only way.

 

Graham A. Harvey: The debacle of Israel and Palestine (progressiveglobalcommunication.blogspot.com)

Graham A. Harvey: Poland and the Nazi death camps (progressiveglobalcommunication.blogspot.com)

The photos below found on internet. please advise if copyright concern.

Articles read in the writing of this article:

Israel-Palestine latest news: Israelis slaughtered and lit on fire, says IDF (msn.com)

Israel music festival massacre: My terror as Hamas bombs fell on us during desert rave | The Independent

U.S. in the Crosshairs: Schröder Pins Peace Talk Collapse on Washington (msn.com)

Israel-Palestine conflict explained: How was Israel created, who attacked first, and why is there a war in 2023? | The Independent

‘Honest broker’ needed to end violence between Israel and Palestine, says Yousaf (msn.com)

Germany: Thousands march in support of Gazans – DW – 10/21/2023

Antisemitism should be taught in all schools to tackle hate across society (msn.com)

Netanyahu is to blame for Hamas war, say four out of five Israelis (msn.com)

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf Offers Sanctuary to Gaza Conflict Refugees and Calls for Global Action (msn.com)

AOC slams ‘destructive and dangerous’ DeSantis for saying all Gaza refugees are antisemitic (msn.com)

Israeli ambassador’s comments on Irish president not helpful, says minister (msn.com)

Israel on brink of 'second war' as Netanyahu joins soldiers in 'double battle' | World | News | Express.co.uk

Is it safe to visit Tunisia? Latest travel advice (msn.com)

Israel Bombarded: Kremlin’s Strategic Maneuvers Cast a Pall Over Ukraine (msn.com)

Iran denies its security forces ‘helped plan Hamas attack on Israel’ (telegraph.co.uk)

Star of David graffitied on Berlin homes in chilling echo of Nazi crimes (telegraph.co.uk)

‘I hope it can endure’: examples of Jewish-Arab solidarity offer hope in Israel | Israel | The Guardian

The Hamas Apocalypse has crafted a New World Order (telegraph.co.uk)

The Hamas Apocalypse has crafted a New World Order (telegraph.co.uk)

Israel may be on verge of ‘mass ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians in Gaza, UN expert warns | The Independent

What is happening in Israel and Palestine: How was Israel created, who attacked first, and why are they at war in 2023? | The Independent

Hamas have revealed themselves for what they are (telegraph.co.uk)

China, Russia and North Korea 'using smokescreen of Israel to prepare for WW3' (msn.com)

At least 59 people killed in twin attacks on mosques in Pakistan (msn.com)

Israel Palestine LIVE: Iran's chilling warning to US as strikes on Gaza intensify - World News - Mirror Online

Celebrities are giving opinions about Israel as if they were members of the cabinet (telegraph.co.uk)

Taking sides is futile when innocents are being slaughtered across a tragic divide (msn.com)

Thunberg gets backlash for pro-Palestinian post – DW – 10/21/2023

Top US universities face funding fallout after students’ anti-Israel comments (msn.com)

Devastated British doctor loses 35 members of his family in airstrike on their Gaza home (msn.com)

A real friend of Israel would be making it face up to some uncomfortable truths | Haggai Matar | The Guardian

‘Do not use our pain to bring death’: plea to Israel from peace activists’ grieving families | Israel-Hamas war | The Guardian

Netanyahu is to blame for Hamas war, say four out of five Israelis (msn.com)

No 10 says pro-Palestine marchers have right to protest but should ‘be mindful’ (msn.com)

Academic’s career ‘effectively ended after sacking over Israel comments’ (msn.com)

Terrorist attack in UK linked to Gaza (msn.com)

US pushes UN to back Israel self-defense, demand Iran stop arms to Hamas (msn.com)

Muslims protest around world to demand end to Israel's Gaza campaign (msn.com)

Analysis-China and Russia find common cause in Israel-Hamas crisis (msn.com)

Resigning Oxford City councillors say party leadership ‘complicit in war crimes’ (msn.com)

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/10/23/eu-foreign-ministers-consider-call-for-gaza-humanitarian-pause-but-divisions-remain

Australian ministers say Palestinians are being ‘collectively punished’ for Hamas barbarism | Australian politics | The Guardian

Academic’s career ‘effectively ended after sacking over Israel comments’ | The Independent

Ed Husic calls for government to ‘push for de-escalation’ in Middle East – as it happened | Australia news | The Guardian

About 100,000 protesters join pro-Palestinian march through London | Reuters

What’s behind the war? Understanding the Israel-Palestine history of conflict | (thedailydigest.com)

Israel sends tanks to Gaza as Netanyahu vows to 'destroy Hamas' - world leaders warn of 'devastating consequences' (gbnews.com)

Angry old men set the Middle East ablaze. The young will pay the price | Simon Tisdall | The Guardian

What’s behind the war? Understanding the Israel-Palestine history of conflict | (thedailydigest.com)

Mohammed Deif, the man behind Hamas' attack on Israel (msn.com)

Israel kills 'senior Hamas leader in surgical strike' on Gaza 'terrorist headquarters' | World | News | Express.co.uk

China has 'sent clear message' through refusal to break silence over Hamas attacks | World | News | Express.co.uk

What’s behind the war? Understanding the Israel-Palestine history of conflict | (thedailydigest.com)

How should the US respond to the Israel-Palestine crisis? Our panel weighs in | Noura Erakat, Alex Kane, Joshua Leifer, Libby Lenkinski, Yousef Munayyer and Diala Shamas | The Guardian

Labour MPs are terrified of telling the truth about Hamas (telegraph.co.uk)

Death toll in Palestine rises to 4,651 with nearly 2,000 Palestinian children dead (msn.com)

Qatar's emir: Israel shouldn't get unrestricted OK to kill | Reuters

Israel is clear about its intentions in Gaza – world leaders cannot plead ignorance of what is coming | Owen Jones | The Guardian

Palestinian children write names on arms in case they are killed | World News | Metro News

Save The Children Announces Number of Palestinian Children Killed in First 17 Days of War - Palestine Chronicle

Gaza Death Toll: 5,791 Palestinians Killed, Thousands Injured in Israeli Attacks (msn.com)

Keir Starmer accused of ‘gravely misrepresenting’ meeting with Muslims in scathing statement (msn.com)

Starmer to meet with Muslim MPs as he tries to ease backlash over Gaza position (msn.com)

Justin Welby accused of ‘relegating’ plight of Palestinian Christians (msn.com)

Visitors to UK who incite antisemitism will be removed, says minister | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian

Varadkar says it is ‘wrong’ to be fired for views after Israeli firm sacks woman (msn.com)

Tens of thousands sign petition supporting Tube driver suspended over Palestine chant (msn.com)

Israel must be urged to ‘follow the laws of war’, ministers told (msn.com)

Scottish Labour leader Sarwar says Israel 'breaking international law' in Gaza - BBC News

Israel must be urged to ‘follow the laws of war’, ministers told (msn.com)

Israel Gaza latest: IDF hits West Bank with drone strike | The Independent

Australia approved 322 defence exports to Israel in six years as Greens fear equipment used in Gaza assault | Israel | The Guardian

Israel-Hamas conflict casts a shadow over Saudi Arabia’s ‘Davos in the Desert’ (telegraph.co.uk)

 

Latest travel update: Hi from Chefchaouen, Morocco

Welcome to my latest blog

It’s been two months since I last wrote. At that time, I was just about to leave Tbilisi in Georgia.

When I made my plans earlier this year, Georgia looked like it might be less likely to be impacted by extreme heat. Similarly, Turkey in the northern area by the Black Sea looked cooler than in the south. Although these places were hot at times, it turned out to be a better spot to be in late July & August.

Malta had got very hot after I had left there in late July & Morocco had some places reaching 50 degrees in August, so overall, I have been out of the worst areas. I will write more about climate, soon, but first a recap on my journey so far.

After leaving Tbilisi, I travelled to Borjomi, a resort town in Georgia. I found a place to stay there which was an old house with so much character & beautiful nature all around. It is a nice town to spend a couple of days. There was a rain storm while I was there, which cooled things down. It is a location I recommend as a place to relax & read.

From Borjomi, I got another minivan across to Batumi, also in Georgia, on the Black Sea. Batumi is right next to the border with Turkey. It is quite a big city with massive building projects underway. Many older areas but also much new development. I only stayed one night, as I had already made plans for Turkey with bookings and flight plans.

Being around the Black Sea, it often does make you think of the war between Russia & Ukraine raging up in the north, and also wondering how safe this region would be if the war got worse.

My return to Turkey was crossing at the border which was a challenge for sure. Getting to the border in a mini van was not so difficult, but getting across the border was the most unsafe I have ever seen. Hundreds of people cramming into a hallway to exit Georgia & an even worse arrangement in the hall area to enter Turkey. A very dangerous situation with people pushing each other and no security managing the crowds. I got through alive, but this could have gone so badly. Apparently, this border crossing has become much busier since the Russian Ukraine war. Just as 600,000 Russians have entered Georgia since the war began, equally many Russians heading to Turkey in search of work & security or to avoid conscription.

It felt good to be back in Turkey as I had enjoyed my week in Istanbul the month before and was pleased to be returning. I had originally planned to do the train trip back to Istanbul, but I also wanted to see locations in Turkey on the Black Sea. From there it looked easier to bus to Istanbul than head south to catch the train and then when I saw that I could fly from Trabzon to Istanbul for the same price as the bus and do it in an hour or so rather than 24 hours, the decision was made.

So, from the border crossing, I found a mini bus going to Trabzon, a Turkish city on the Black Sea, about a 2-hour journey. The driver was a good guy who spoke reasonable English. When I told him I was from New Zealand, he smiled and told me he liked the ‘President’ of NZ. She is good lady he said. Whenever I am in countries with large Muslim populations, it feels right to mention my NZ identity. While I am Australian citizen too, the New Zealand identity feels the important one to share. Many Muslims I meet know of NZ because of the massacres at the mosques & of the clear response by government & people to support Muslim people and stand firm against hatred.

Trabzon turned out to be a brilliant place to stay. I had seen two sites on the internet that I had to see. There is a monastery built into the side of a cliff and a mosque which sits by a small lake (see pictures below), so that was my motivation to visit. I had an air bnb with a local family. The mother was very kind, spoke no English, and there was no internet for translating, but she plied me with wonderful lashings of Turkish tea & nice food. I travelled to the monastery at Sumela on a day tour & met some good people, one of whom spoke English, so we now keep in touch which is great. The day tour included visits to many other sites, but visiting the monastery was the highlight. The next day I caught a local bus to Uzungol where a mosque sits by a beautiful lake. I was surprised to be almost the only foreigner on these journeys, but I actually kind of like that, as it increases my experience of difference, and that’s a lot of what makes traveling so enjoyable.

Trabzon is a good city to visit. Lots of shops and things to see & buy, but not too complicated.

After a few days, I flew from Trabzon to Istanbul. A fairly straight forward journey & great to be returning to a big city like Istanbul, and actually knowing many locations by now.

Being back in Istanbul, I stayed at the same guesthouse as previously, in fact in the same room. Weather was still quite hot but in the ten days I was there at the end of August & beginning of September, weather was shifting from hot to not so hot. And at night I could sleep with the window open & the night air cooled things down. My second visit to Istanbul on this year’s travels was even better than the first. Not all Turkish people speak English, but many do & many are just keen to welcome you. People talk of being hassled in the Grand Bazaar & that’s fairly true, but if you visit other places, you tend to be given space. There are many cafes everywhere selling Turkish tea and there are monster mosques everywhere! Its incredible. One afternoon, as my confidence grew, I got a bit lost, so jumped on a ferry not knowing its destination. I ended up in this area where people visit a tomb of a Sultan and other important people of Muslim history. Once again, the only foreigner as far as I could tell, certainly westerner, but as long as you show respect & friendship, you get that in return. I really got a sense in Istanbul, that as a society, Turkish people take care of each other. Older people are respected too. I have noticed this in Morocco too. In Turkey, I found there was an openness about visiting mosques for foreigners except Haglia Sofia in Istanbul, which has been turned back into a mosque from a museum. Turkish friends explained to me that Islam is being used by the current leader to keep & build his power, by turning museums back into mosques & other actions that show his commitment to the religion. Fortunately, as Turkey celebrates 100 years this year as a republic, huge respect continues for Ataturk & how he created a separation between religion & state.

After my return to Istanbul, it was time to return to Malta. I flew September 6 via Budapest & then stayed with my mate Raff for 3 more weeks. Most of the time I was there, the weather was still warm so I enjoyed morning & afternoon swims most days but in the first & last weeks there, big storms roughed up the Mediterranean. The same storms that did massive damage in Greece & then the disaster with dam collapses in Libya with massive loss of life. There were two more visits to the lovely island of Gozo, sister island to Malta.

Being from New Zealand – Australia region, Schengen rules allow me to be in the Euro zone three out of six months, so it was time to head to a non-Schengen country again. So back to Morocco I travelled on September 29. I have been staying here since then and am staying a month in Chefchaouen at the same place I stayed in May-June. Chefchaouen is a small city on the side of the Rif Mountains. In the north of Morocco, about half way between Fes and Tangier. I was due to fly from Malta via Valencia in Spain to Tangier, but a delayed flight from Malta meant I missed the connecting flight. I was extremely lucky to find another cheap flight to Fes. It meant waiting quite a few hours at the airport in Valencia, but I still got to Morocco that day, had a place to stay that night in Fes & the next morning caught the bus to Chefchaouen.

Here in Chefchaouen I have been enjoying the warm weather until the last couple of days. Now things have cooled down a bit and there has been lots of rain, the first this area has seen in months. I have been enjoying the chance to rest, read & explore.

I have another week here in Chefchaouen then will head via Tangier next weekend down to Marrakesh for a few days. From there I will fly up to Berlin to visit a friend who I stayed with there in 1999! Then I will travel back to Malta via Venice, Florence, Pisa. A couple more weeks back in Malta, then Raff & I will travel to Athens for a few days then back to Sydney via Singapore. All plotted & planned as well as I can.

It’s been a great year of seeing some new locations, meeting people many from places that I had not before. Especially in Istanbul where I managed to meet someone from every ‘stan’ country I think 😊

This blog is long enough to post. I was going to write more about Climate Change and the current conflict in Israel- Palestine, but I will do that in the next blog.