War

I am woken by the wail of a siren, followed by a couple of explosions, which I later learn are interceptor rocket attack missiles fired by the Palestinian group Hamas from Gaza.

Later, my host in Tel Aviv appears, commenting that we are at war, very dismayed, insisting that it is a repetition of what happened in 1973 (exactly 50 years ago) because of the surprise attack, which now has been by air (missiles and paragliders) and by land (they broke through the Gaza-Israel border fence), attacked an Israeli tank and advanced several Hamas groups to southern Israeli cities), attacking at least 2 kibbutzim and 2 cities (Sderot and Ashkelon), taking hostages, shooting at people and positioning themselves in the Ashkelon prison and in people’s houses … .

Apparently, there have been rocket impacts in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which has TV commentators shocked.  The silence in the city is total, hardly anyone is on the streets, and everyone is communicating with each other by phone (just like when there is an earthquake ….).

I watch news on CNN and Al Jazeera, as Israeli news channels seem to be very careful about what they show, and they say that more than 5,000 missiles have been fired, which speaks of a long and careful planning strategy.

In Israel, the feeling is that again the army was caught off guard, there is anger and grief over the more than 800 wounded, more than 50 hostages taken and no one knows how many possible casualties (TV talks of more than 100 Israeli civilians killed). The attack has not yet been brought under control, there is still gunfire and there are dramatic phone calls to media people from children locked alone in shelters who are told NOT to come out because Palestinians are in the area where they are hiding. Palestinian analysts in Al Jazeera speak of the profound anger among Palestinians at the ongoing human rights violations in the occupied territories, the provocative acts of Jewish religious groups, and that the time has come to say “enough” to so much abuse by Israeli authorities, clerics and police.

The Israeli government immediately warned that it was facing a war and threatened the people of Gaza with very serious consequences.

We are watching what is happening minute by minute, the entry of Palestinian groups continues, but already the Israeli army has begun to bombard Gaza in an attempt to arrest the leaders of Gaza or destroy their places of action. At 5 p.m., more than 1,600 Palestinians are already reported dead in Gaza.

For my part, all today’s activities have been suspended, possibly including tonight’s protest against the policies of Bibi Netanyahu, the President of Israel (although in my look it is a peak moment to hold Bibi responsible for the absolute lack of preparation and prevention).   In fact, I am surprised that many hours after the start of the Palestinian Hamas attack, the President does not appear on TV at least to calm the population ……

To try to explain a little, I must clarify that the situation in Israel is very complex: the country is deeply divided in its internal dynamics, with 50%+ of the population supporting a very nationalist government that is in government thanks to the support of Jewish ultra-religious groups (which make up 15% of the population but by being in the government coalition allow it to reach the minimum percentage to stay in government), most of whom are very extremist and very nationalist (not all of them).

The other half of the population is very open and liberal, they define themselves as progressive, and they dominate in Tel Aviv, Haifa and the coast, for 10 months they protest every Saturday night in all the cities against the government’s policies (and they do it in a 100% non-violent way, leaving the streets without a single paper, without stones and with a lot of care, it is quite notable).

With this, the Israeli society is on the one hand the most open, free and advanced in all of Asia, with the best situation of openness to issues of Gender, Race, Religion or non-religion, and everything they can think of, they live with an amazing freedom), while on the other hand there are these very Nationalist groups with totally biblical concepts, and that block and stop any attempt of social, cultural, etc. progress. These religious Jews have managed to get the Israeli government to authorise them NOT to be part of the army or pay taxes, which angers the rest of the people who risk their lives and their taxes to maintain and look after religious groups who only maintain that their way of protecting and looking after the state is by praying to God!

It is in this situation of internal conflict, and with permanent attacks by ultra-illegal settlers on Palestinian villages in the Israeli-occupied zone, in which property and houses are taken from them, looked after by a police force that must serve the government, even though such demonstrations are legally forbidden, that the Hamas paramilitary groups of Gaza have launched this bloody offensive on civilian populations in Kibbutzim and towns in southern Israel.

I have just been out for a walk in the nearby streets, Tel Aviv is empty, everyone locked in their homes, waiting to see how this drama will continue to unfold. There is much fear of possible Hezbollah intervention from the northern border with Lebanon. And the greatest fear is always centered on the strongly perceived Iranian threat.

For my part, I never cease to meditate on the human condition, the enormous solidarity that is generated with those we feel for whatever reason as “close”: family members, or a group with which one identifies as a people, nation, social class, or whatever one chooses as a parameter for evaluating closeness. And how extremely difficult it still is for us to show solidarity with those who are different or distant, even though their pain and suffering is equal to our own.   Obviously, this is something I understand, closeness generates more intense feelings. But why can’t we bring this feeling for example to the group “human race”, how far are we from it, will it ever be possible in the future, what would it be like?

I mention that the same pain that my friend Poly feels towards the Israelis affected by this attack, could be felt towards the Palestinians oppressed for so many years, towards the Palestinian mothers crying for their children and/or for the lack of future, towards the young people growing up oppressed by the foreign occupation and affected by poverty and bad education.  And I realise that if I talk about this now, or even if this comment is written or published, I would be “stepping on toes”, hurting susceptibilities, these are issues that could be discussed in a “liberal” space and in times of peace, but that now are sensitive issues and that every Israeli feels personally attacked, not being the time to reflect on the pain of others, injustices and false assumptions of “progressivism” that do not translate into facts and concrete actions in times of greater peace when so much could be done ……

Of course, I am just another theoretician, who thinks and writes while doing very little in concrete terms.   But I try nowadays to “think and write”, perhaps dreaming that one day this might be useful to someone else ……