Posts: 25288
posted on 9/4/2026 13:48Re: Is it Apartheid? - AbbeyHeyLaner
This is a pinned post in my FB account, from almost a year ago:
I am of my time, which is why I may have been so wrong, for so long. I was born in 1958. The fading aftermath of WW2 was ever-present as I grew up. The state of Israel is ten years older than I am. The holocaust was a nightmare hidden behind the heroics of the allied forces that had fought and defeated fascism. I remember the struggles of early Israel as it fought to survive in 1967. I remember Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir being emblemetic of that struggle. The tales of the founding of the kibbutz seemed to my young self an ideological oasis in a parched world still trying to recover from hate. I had no knowledge of the Nakbah despite being vaguely aware of the activities of the Jewish people who had fought violently against the British forces and institutions in what was the Palestinian mandate prior to the birth of Israel. Later, terrorism stalked not just Israel, but Jewish people no matter where they were. It seemed obvious that there should be a safe homeland for these people who had been persecuted for so long. Israel's other wars came, but this time they came with uncomfortable and difficult questions. Who were these people being massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps (ghettos?) in Lebanon. Where did they come from? Did Israel really help those participants in the chaotic civil war in Lebanon in their attacks on Palestinians? I was able to put aside these awkward questions as there seemed a hope for peace. But each time men of peace tried to step forward they seemed to be killed, dragging all back into darkness and hate by religious and nationalist fanatics. Harsh lands where simple people had tried to live simple lives for generations were now walled in, and dotted with encampments that seemed far from the idealised kibbutz of my youthful naivity. The walls grew with the hatred. The ghettos seemed to multiply. And now we are here, with seemingly nowhere to go for another persecuted people. How could I have been so wrong, for so long?
I am of my time, which is why I may have been so wrong, for so long. I was born in 1958. The fading aftermath of WW2 was ever-present as I grew up. The state of Israel is ten years older than I am. The holocaust was a nightmare hidden behind the heroics of the allied forces that had fought and defeated fascism. I remember the struggles of early Israel as it fought to survive in 1967. I remember Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir being emblemetic of that struggle. The tales of the founding of the kibbutz seemed to my young self an ideological oasis in a parched world still trying to recover from hate. I had no knowledge of the Nakbah despite being vaguely aware of the activities of the Jewish people who had fought violently against the British forces and institutions in what was the Palestinian mandate prior to the birth of Israel. Later, terrorism stalked not just Israel, but Jewish people no matter where they were. It seemed obvious that there should be a safe homeland for these people who had been persecuted for so long. Israel's other wars came, but this time they came with uncomfortable and difficult questions. Who were these people being massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps (ghettos?) in Lebanon. Where did they come from? Did Israel really help those participants in the chaotic civil war in Lebanon in their attacks on Palestinians? I was able to put aside these awkward questions as there seemed a hope for peace. But each time men of peace tried to step forward they seemed to be killed, dragging all back into darkness and hate by religious and nationalist fanatics. Harsh lands where simple people had tried to live simple lives for generations were now walled in, and dotted with encampments that seemed far from the idealised kibbutz of my youthful naivity. The walls grew with the hatred. The ghettos seemed to multiply. And now we are here, with seemingly nowhere to go for another persecuted people. How could I have been so wrong, for so long?
- Is it Apartheid? - Gramsci. 31/3 11:53 (read 77 times, 3 posts in thread)
- Re: Is it Apartheid? - AbbeyHeyLaner 9/4 13:48 (read 17 times)
- That's the truth of the matter - Gramsci. 11/4 11:39 (read 3 times)
- Re: Is it Apartheid? - AbbeyHeyLaner 9/4 13:48 (read 17 times)