Harry Targ
The essay below was written
one year ago. More recently Amnesty International declared that Israel was
committing genocide against the Palestinian people: “Israel’s actions
following Hamas’s deadly attacks on 7 October 2023 have brought Gaza’s
population to the brink of collapse. Its brutal military offensive had killed
more than 42,000 Palestinians, including over 13,300 children, and injured over
97,000 more…, many of them in direct or deliberately indiscriminate attacks,
often wiping out entire multigenerational families. It has caused unprecedented
destruction, which experts say occurred at a level and speed not seen in any
other conflict in the 21st century, levelling entire cities and destroying
critical infrastructure, agricultural land and cultural and religious sites. It
thereby rendered large swathes of Gaza uninhabitable.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/end-israels-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/
Also Israel, with United
States weapons, has bombed and killed people in Lebanon and Syria as well as
the Israeli war spreads throughout the Middle East.
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Jewish families assemble
at dusk on December 25 (this year), to light the candles for the first of eight
days of celebration of Chanukah. While elements of the Chanukah story remain
relevant today this time the resistance against attacks from an armed enemy
bent on destroying a people is reversed. While Jewish people were the targets
on October 7, since then the victims of brutal violence are Palestinians.
Unfortunately, the state of Israel (not the Jewish people) is the enemy.
The point of Chanukah is
for families, young and old, to assemble, admire the candles, share presents
and sweets, and enjoy the time that they can be together. But today’s
Chanukah requires reflections on the murderous destruction of
Palestinian families in Gaza and the West Bank.
Therefore, in the spirit
of the eight nights of Chanukah, and the lighting of candles of remembrance of
the eight nights of the holiday, celebrants should reflect (as they light
candles) and act on the violence being perpetuated in Gaza and around the
Middle East.
First,
continue to demand, through words and actions, a complete ceasefire in Gaza.
Even the corporate media, usually beholden to Israeli lobbyists cannot bear to
be neutral in the face of the bombings and destruction (particularly the
killing of children) they must report day after day.
Second,
assess the enormous role the United States is playing in fueling this violence:
sending arms, finding ways to avoid the transparency of such actions, and
advocating for increasing military aid to Israel beyond the yearly $3 billion
(almost $20 billion since October 7, 2023).
Third,
reflect on the extent to which the United States economy is driven by military
spending, a permanent wat economy. Huge profits have been recorded for the five
leading defense contractors since the Ukraine war began (the Raytheon CEO in
fact spoke in celebratory tones in early 2022 about how the Ukraine war was
good for its business). The war on Gaza and the Middle East in general has been
an extra benefit for the militarists.
Fourth,
think about how the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have rekindled the long historical
narrative of American exceptionalism. From Theodore Roosevelt’s praise of the
special role of the white race in building civilization to the
Clinton/Obama/Biden claim that the United States is “the indispensable nation,”
the old ideology has been dusted off to rationalize a new drive for global
hegemony. This time the US faces a changing world order in which the Global
South is rising up angry and large and powerful nations such as China are
asserting their influence (Two hundred years after the proclamation of the
Monroe Doctrine, the US declaration of its right to control the Western
Hemisphere, it is said that the Doctrine
is seen as being extended from Latin America to the Middle East).
Fifth,
mobilize against a “new McCarthyism,” that is being spread across the land,
particularly in educational institutions, claiming that criticisms of Israeli
policy are in fact manifestations of antisemitism. In fact, thousands of
self-described Jewish activists have been hitting the streets and organizing
lobbying campaigns demanding a cease fire in Gaza and registering support for a
free Palestine. They see the historic role of the Jewish people as bound, as
the Maccabees in the Chanukah story, to resistance against repression.
Sixth, for
those who are appropriately concerned about the possible impacts the war on
Gaza supported by the United States might have on the ascendency of Donald Trump
to the presidency reflect on how opposing what is commonly called fascism at
home requires opposing fascism overseas. During this Chanukah season Jewish
activists need to support politicians who have been calling for a ceasefire, a
reduction of military aid to Israel, and the defense of the rights of
Palestinian people. Liberals and progressives should be aware that the loss of
support for former candidate Kamala Harris was partially the result of the young, people of color, Muslim Americans, and peace activists
generally who were outraged by US/Israel
policy.
Seventh,
revisit “root causes” of Middle East violence over the last 75 years.
Unfortunately, the horrific violence against the Jewish people for centuries
and particularly the Holocaust was followed by what Illan Pappe has called
“ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians resulting from the creation of the state of
Israel in 1948 and the 1967 war and Israeli policies ever since. There are many
issues to reflect upon and debate but the violence in the Middle East did not
begin with the founding of Hamas or their terrible violence on October 7, 2023.
Eighth, finally
as we celebrate with families while lighting the candles, peace activists
should revisit peace alternatives. A two-state solution is not enough; one
secular state is needed. Expropriating Palestinian property and land
must be addressed while protecting the rights of Israeli citizens as well. The
two peoples who have so much in common historically and culturally must find a
way to live together much like the diverse families who assemble for the
Chanukah season.
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/12/26/christ_in_the_rubble_christmas_sermon?jwsource=em
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Jewish Voice for
Peace: An interview with Rabbi Brant Rosen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWgx2OMxZcE
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Interview with Harry
Targ
