Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Randy Rice's avatar

On October 6 I was likely a fairly typical, moderately conservative American. I had a vague, general understanding of the Palestinian question. I politely tolerated my leftist friends pushing Jimmy Carters "Peace not Apartheid" as gospel; making concerned statements about the plight of Palestinians and the oppression by Israelis. I tolerated it as just another meaningless expression of leftist ideologues and their unrealistic views of the world. After October 7, no more being polite. I was shocked by the barbarity. I was shocked even more by those same leftist friends who start a discussion with "Hamas is not innocent, but..." Even more shocked by outright support in US for Hamas desire to rid the world of Israel. Someone said that sometimes, for principle, you will lose friends. That time is now. As it happens, my Christian son is marrying a Jewish girl soon. Our grandchildren very well may one day be at kibbutz similar to those overrun. The time for polite talk with ideological antisemites is over.

This article very much helped me understand the history of the region: https://www.hudson.org/node/44363

Expand full comment
David Parmly's avatar

In the middle of the knife fight is a hard time to ask "How should I best respond to this threat?" The combination of twin toxins of "Intersectionality" and "Institutional Capture" is freezing the places and the voices where dialog and education should be occurring. It's not just at college levels, but rolls right down to elementary schools in the US. Moral equivalence, the triumph of feelings as primary...it's all of a piece.

Expand full comment
19 more comments...

No posts