Me too, unless you're a Jew

December 4th demonstration
Photo by Barbara Mazor

I've spent much of this week trying not to give myself a stroke from reading the news. Seriously. I can feel my blood pressure going through the ceiling as I watch and read some of the absolute bullshit batshit going on around the world. I am constantly astounded by how, even now, in the weeks following the massacre in Israel, the voice of Jewish women is ignored. 

UN WOMEN remained silent in the face of the October 7th atrocities against women until forced to issue a statement on December 1st, 2023. Their statement is absurd in its focus. Past some lip service mentioning October 7th, it says nothing about heinousness of the crimes committed against Israeli women. Doubt me? Read the statement:

We deeply regret that military operations have resumed in Gaza, and we reiterate that all women, Israeli women, Palestinian women, as all others, are entitled to a life lived in safety and free from violence.

 

We unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October. We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks. This is why we have called for all accounts of gender-based violence to be duly investigated and prosecuted, with the rights of the victim at the core.

 

In all conflicts, UN women fully supports rigorous investigations and Commissions of Inquiry where they exist. We are actively supporting the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which began its investigation into sexual violence very shortly after the attacks occurred. We welcome that the Commission has opened its call for submissions on gender-based crimes since 7 October.

 

We also welcome that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten has activated the UN Action network, of which we are a member, to proactively share UN-sourced and verified information on incidents, patterns, and trends of conflict-related sexual violence to aid all investigations.

 

We continue to call for accountability for all acts of gender-based violence committed on and after 7 October, the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages, and a humanitarian ceasefire.

 

For the sake of everyone in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and especially women and children, we call for a return to a path of peace, a respect for international humanitarian and international human rights law, and an end to the suffering of people in Gaza and in Israel, and those families still waiting for their loved ones to return.

Rigorous investigations. Hmmm. They want more tape? 

In response to this exercises in absurdity, Jewish women marched on the UN this afternoon...Monday, December 4th, 2023, demanding that our voices be heard. Rape as a weapon of war is a crime against humanity.  

Hear Our Voices was an event held today at the UN. If you can handle it, watch the whole thing. I will tell you it's hard to do, but I strongly urge everyone to watch it from start to finish. The list of speakers include Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Superintendent of the Israeli National Police Yael Richert who oversees identification of bodies, Sari Mendes who is part of the chevrah for preparing female IDF soldier...and civilians in the massacre...for burial, Simcha Glaiman of Zaka who was part of the body recovery team, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and others. Each is critical to hear. 

But Mendana Dayani, the last speaker, is an absolute must listen. She calls out all those with whom we have stood with shoulder-to-shoulder to protest violence against women across the globe, to support the Black Live Matter movement, to stand with the LGBTQ+  community for full civil rights to account for the collective silence they have given us since October 7th. She emphasizes that when we, as women, talk about being heard, we are talking about ALL WOMEN and not just a select few. She tells them

You ignored our pleas.

She calls out the UN's long history of siding against Israel, the demands that the UN do its job for the women and girls who were raped, mutilated, and murdered on October 7th. 

There is no ignoring the eyewitness testimony, or the audio clips of Hamas terrorists bragging to their families about how many Jews they killed. Recognition of the intentionality, planning, and execution of the attacks cannot be dismissed as acts of passion in war. THEY WERE ORCHESTRATED. 

What becomes unfathomable and unconscionable is the silence from our so-called allies in the women's movement. Justifying rape and mutilation because you don't like a particular government or religion is never justifiable. 

Or maybe, it does us a favor. It gives us a window into the real-world politics of being a Jew. Maybe, just maybe, it reminds us that we are not one of them.  We are white only when it suits their purposes, otherwise, we are the other. That we are not inherently entitled to the same protections under international law. That singling out the only democratic state in the Middle East is okay because it's a Jewish state. 

I read a lot about genocide this past week because a certain person asked me what it meant. In this case, we were at MIA's exhibit In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now, a brilliant and thought-provoking exhibition. The word genocide was used in several of the descriptions of the photographs, and the question was asked. Considering the age of this certain person, I explained in very broad terms that it basically meant when one group of people tried to permanently get rid of another group of people. 

But that, in turn, took me down a rabbit hole on the meaning of genocide when I saw it used in a letter signed by over 1,000 British artists about Israel. Three of the signers happen to be actors I greatly admire: Olivia Coleman, Harriet Walker, and Juliet Stevenson. I always thought they were intelligent women.... but not anymore. It was pretty clear they don't do their homework before signing on to stuff. 

The letter as described in the UK's Jewish Chronicle cites an Israeli “genocide” against the Palestinians" and "accuses cultural institutions across Western countries of “repressing, silencing and stigmatising Palestinian voices and perspectives”.

The statement says its signatories “refuse to pit one community against the other, and stand firmly against all forms of racism including Islamophobia and antisemitism” but does not mention the Hamas atrocities on October 7 that kick-started the conflict.

 

The letter says: “The scale of violence unfolding in Gaza demands our collective attention and action. Members of Israel’s far-right government are openly calling for ethnic cleansing.

 

“The use of starvation as a weapon of war, along with denial of water and electricity, is cruel beyond words.

 

“The wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure, the bombing of hospitals, schools, churches and mosques, the killing of 14,500 people in a matter of weeks, amount to a policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.

 

“The United Nations and hundreds of legal scholars have called on the international community to prevent genocide.”

 

The main targets of the letter are arts institutions that, in the words of the letter, “cancel performances, screenings, talks, exhibitions and book launches” and “threaten livelihoods of artists and arts workers who express solidarity with Palestinians”.

 

The letter goes on to say: “While catastrophe unfolds, we have observed a glaring absence of statements of solidarity with Palestinian people from most UK arts organisations.

 

“We find it deeply troubling and, frankly, indicative of a disturbing double standard that expressions of solidarity, which have been readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression, have not been extended to Palestinians.”

Really? Here are some of the standard requirements for the designation of genocide:

• The Palestinian population has flourished and grown exponentially since 1948. 
• That's not genocidal.
• Law or cultural power excludes groups from full civil rights:
• In Gaza: yes. In Israel: no. Israeli Arabs have all civil rights including voting
• Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity
• In Gaza: yes. In Israel: no; all religions have equal rights to pray as they see fit. 
• Killers refer to murder as 'extermination' because they do not believe their victims to be fully human: 
• In Gaza: yes. See LGBTQ+ legal status. In Israel: No.

These are just  few. When you get into war and war crime, the definitions shift a bit because of offensive and defensive positions. But you can't use those to layer a different set of blames. They get their own, and I think we all understand that. 

But using the standards above, I'd like to know more about the double standard to which they refer. Is that the one where it's okay to kill Israelis because Israel isn't allowed to defend itself? Or the one where it's okay for Hamas to fire thousands of missiles into towns and villages without fear of reprisal? I particularly like the part about ethnic cleansing. I guess they don't understand that river to the sea requires TOTAL ethnic cleansing...or that the status of homosexuals and trans people in Gaza require execution. Hmmmm. Maybe someone should mention that, not that they would be believed because, after all, it must be a Jewish plot to discredit the kind folks of Gaza City.

I am so tired of the trope, the hate, the blame-casting, and the refusal to see us a people. We can no longer ask, Do we not bleed? because we have proof in all forms of media that we do, in fact, bleed. But it will never be enough for the Jew haters of the world. Jewish body count apparently is a thing, and you get to brag about it to your family and friends from your victims cellphones  or uploading video to Facebook so families can watch family members die. I guess that's okay, too. 

Yes, there are thousands of casualties in Gaza. That's a fact of war. But Israel wasn't preventing them from evacuating; it was Hamas refusing to let their human shields leave the area. If you start a war, Hamas, guess what? Israel will fire back. Israel's obligation is to its citizens; yours, however, is to your bank accounts. When the leaders of Hamas are the richest oligarchs in the region, it's not because your people are successful and thriving; it's because you are stealing from them. They are starving while you're partying in Qatar.

But British entertainers don't want to hear that. Nor does the UN or most of the world. No. They are happy to close their eyes and close their drapes.

Elizabeth Robertson/
Inquirer staff photographer

Don't let yourselves think it ain't here either. It is. Just ask Chef Michael Solomonov of Philadelphia. The Pro-Gaza Gang apparently doesn't like falafel prepared by Jews. Last night they were protesting in front of one of his restaurants. And here, some of you thought it was political. Silly you. Next, they'll be trying to shut down Russ & Daughters or Ben's. 

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Barcelona's city government is supporting Hamas.

No Antoni Gaudí for me. 

(sigh)