The texts, which faculty members said appeared to have gone to nearly all Barnard staff members, appear to be part of an aggressive new tactic by the Trump administration to collect reports of alleged antisemitism at Barnard, a women’s college affiliated with Columbia University that has come under heavy criticism for pro-Palestinian demonstrations on its campus.
If I could pick a nit or two, Jewish people internationally are not responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. Israeli citizens might be – and while Netanyahu and Likud are extremely controversial in Israel, they do represent a significant and very vocal portion of the Israeli voting public. Worse, general Israeli sentiment towards Palestine and Palestinians is not good – 60% of Israelis still support the war after 18 months of wholesale civilian slaughter in Gaza. 70% support the ongoing settlement and annexation of the West Bank. The positions of the major Israeli parties on Palestinian lives and rights differ from Netanyahu’s “kill 'em all” approach mostly in degree rather than in kind.
To put the rotten cherry on the shit cake, Israel has one of the highest rates of dual citizenship in the world, with ~10% of Israelis holding two passports. Unlike the other countries you named, a significant fraction of Israelis could just leave if they no longer wanted to co-sign their government’s genocide in Gaza. I am perfectly willing to hold the Israeli people responsible for the actions of their government, moreso than I am for the other countries you mentioned. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine was not forced on them against the popular will. They chose this, and continue to choose this, by a large majority.
Yeah. I mean. It’s the Middle East. There’s no clear moral solution (though it sure as fuck isn’t genocide). There is a huge grain of salt that needs to accompany any hot takes including mine.
If the parties involved wanted a clear moral solution there’s a very clear precedent in the form of South Africa’s truth and reconciliation process. For that to happen, though, Israelis would have to be willing to acknowledge Palestinians’ fundamental right to exist, and as I noted above they’re currently opposed to that by a 2:1 ratio, and Palestinians do not have the power or tools to force the issue. The international community would have to drag Israel to the negotiation table kicking and screaming, and as long as they’ve got the US on their side that’s not going to happen. Realistic political solutions seem remote right now, sure – but if you’re just talking about a moral one, it’s shockingly simple.
You are right that coming together and accepting one another’s right to peacefully coexist is the moral thing to do, but as that is a practical impossibility I didn’t/don’t really credit it as a moral solution (failing the second word of the phrase, not the first).
But look, people way smarter than me have tried to crack this nut and failed. I guarantee it won’t take a lot of effort to poke holes in anything I could say about this. I have my thoughts but always tempered by the understanding that I have more ignorance than knowledge about the realities of that situation.