It is possible to recognize historical events as they unfold, even if it is still difficult to assess their significance. Although October 7th does not have the scale of the fall of the Roman Empire or the Industrial Revolution, it has the characteristics of a “big” event. A major event is one that has an objectively large impact on the people involved. It is something that has been found to be important by the participants. And it has a “before” and “after”.
October 7thth It meets all of these conditions. It was experienced by Israelis and stateless Palestinians alike as the most dramatic event in living memory. Around the world, this event caused a major rift in the perception of Jews about themselves and their relationship to modern times. And in retrospect, even if the outcome of the ceasefire and Trump’s 20-point program is not yet known, it may have caused a flicker of hope in this dark region. As is sometimes the case in life and world affairs, disaster and hope are two sides of the same coin.
Certainly, some positive things happened. The first is the deadly blow that Israel and the United States inflicted on Iran. The pernicious and criminal role that Iran has played in stirring up the region cannot be overestimated. The weakening of the military power of Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism around the world, and the formation of a security alliance among Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, and Qatar are likely to transform the region.
The second good thing that happened was the involvement of Arab countries in the conflict. For the first time, the UEA, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar felt a responsibility to help build a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians. This would help resolve this conflict at a regional level and perhaps ensure lasting peace.
Washington, March 14, 2024. Image Kevin Payravi / Source Wikimedia Commons
But October 7th brought another lesson. Both progressive public opinion and Israeli leadership have been disastrous.
The intensity of interest aroused in the West by this conflict should surprise us. Never before has a humanitarian disaster caused by a war in which European or American soldiers were not involved incited so many protesters and provoked condemnation from world leaders comparable to Pedro Sánchez, Lula da Silva, Nicolás Maduro and Gustavo Pedro. This would have been good news for the world if it meant that the same people and leaders were equally deeply involved in and outraged by similarly unfathomable tragedies in Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Yemen, and elsewhere. Sadly, the fate of the Palestinians seems to be the only thing that can move and captivate such a crowd. Palestine emerged as a metonymy and epitome of all other progressive causes. However, defenders of the region have often demonstrated a severe lack of knowledge and understanding of the region.
On October 7, two leftists emerged, the Gaza Left and the Shoa Left, whose divisions roughly overlap with the distinction between progressives and the social democratic left. Israel and Palestine have become a crystallization point for broader issues and debates about the (in)legitimacy of violence, the replacement of universalism by identity politics, the competition between memories of colonialism and memories of the Shoah, and the privileging of justice over reconciliation.
Western reactions to October 7thth And the results further emphasize these transformations, while also characterizing the outward expression of previous redrawings of moral and political maps. It has driven a sharp wedge between these two types of leftists, alienating many Jews in Western democracies, as well as strengthening the far right almost everywhere.
The Gaza left has spectacularly failed to fulfill its mission and mandate. A true leftist would have persisted in serving as a palliative, mediator, and bridge between severely traumatized Israelis and Palestinians. However, there are few instances in which the left has failed to fulfill its mission so admirably, including its own critics. Instead of helping us understand, explain, and bring complexity and nuance to this tragedy, many left-wing politicians, influencers, critics, artists, filmmakers, and novelists have fanned the flames of conflict that were already raging.
Instead of forging bonds of solidarity with peace-seeking groups within Palestinian and Israeli society, instead of making each side understand the other, instead of offering an alternative to the rhetoric of war, instead of reinforcing the ideals of peace, and instead of thinking about mechanisms and institutions that could help overcome 100 years of hostility, many on the left are doubling down on the rhetoric of war, adding new layers of hatred to the old rhetoric. They treated this tragedy like a Hollywood movie, with the victims on one side and the perpetrators on the other. Moral purity and self-righteousness barely conceal the hatred that has too often been the animating spirit of the Gaza Strip left.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has also acted so horribly that the antipathy that his person seems to uniquely generate has spilled over into Israel itself as a country. He refused to disavow the policies that led Hamas to commit criminal acts. He refused to take responsibility for not following warning signals. He further strengthened the corruption in the state apparatus by hiring his supporters to lead the military and intelligence services. And he waged the war in disregard of world opinion, the misery of the Palestinian people, and the despair of the families of the Israeli hostages. Prime Minister Netanyahu should be judged harshly by history. Because of him, Israel will have a hard time recovering its status and image.
As a result of these two monumental failures, the situation for Jews in liberal democracies has changed dramatically in at least three ways. The post-World War II moral order arguably marked a golden age for the Jewish community. Jews were “protected” by the memory of the Shoah, even though anti-Semitism still smoldered beneath the surface. Everywhere in the Western world, they wholeheartedly supported liberal policies. But they now feel, if not in the same way as others, at least uncomfortably alienated from a society where expressions of anti-Semitism are commonplace under the guise of left-wing anti-Zionism. The long marriage between Jews and various forms of universalism (liberal, social democratic, socialist, communist) has come to an end.
The second change is that after the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israel’s status among Jews themselves moved from quasi-hegemonic to controversial, but now a source of sharp divisions between those whose identities are shaped by Israel and those increasingly leaning toward progressivism. The issue of nationalism and Israel is dividing Jews in a way unprecedented in recent history.
in the pew February 2024 surveya significant partisan gap exists among Jewish Americans regarding the government of Israel, with 85% of Jewish Republicans and Republican-leanings expressing a favorable opinion, compared to just 41% of Jewish Democrats and Democratic-leanings. For the majority of Jews, their political opinions determine their allegiance to the Jewish state. But this rift is much deeper than a simple difference of opinion. It expresses two opposing roots and radically different definitions of Jewishness. And Jews are likely to be divided into two distinct lineages with little in common.
This division will ultimately lead to changes in American politics as well. This is already evident in New York City, where more than 40% of Jews support electing a pro-Palestinian mayor. But the movement to disengage from Israel is not just happening among Jewish Democrats. Never before have so many Republicans, both Jews and non-Jews, been so skeptical or even opposed to unconditional aid to Israel. This probably signals a fundamental shift in American policy toward Israel (Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson are examples).
The third, and perhaps most disconcerting, change is that in many democracies, anti-Semitism is most vocally opposed by the far right. This is also true in the US, UK, France, Spain, Brazil and especially Germany. Many corners of the left have shamefully declared that anti-Semitism is not a problem, thus leaving the field wide open to adversaries. But this shift is also due to the far right identifying with Israel’s national democratic political model and supporting the war on terror (Iran and its proxies). Prime Minister Netanyahu is particularly adept at forging political alliances with members of the international far right, anti-Semitic or not. He also successfully framed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a civilized war in which Israel defended the West.
This is very bad news. Historically, the far right has been a breeding ground for modern anti-Semitism. Because of the abandonment and abysmal failure of the progressive left, Jews today find rest and solace there. But this is like Othello taking refuge in Iago. The beast wakes up again.
The weaponization of anti-Semitism by both the Trump administration and the Israeli government to silence criticism and police, punish, and control universities will leave a lasting stain on the fight against anti-Semitism. That so many Zionist Jews now consider the far right to be on their side only shows how cornered they are, and how chaotic and chaotic the entire ideological field has become.
October 7thth It marks the collapse of our semantic categories: genocide, resistance, violence, war, democracy, left, right, racism, colonialism, anti-Semitism, all of which have lost their meaning. What October 7 marks the end of our public sphere, whose mission now appears to be to rob words of their meaning. Stephen Bannon of MAGA infamy dubbed this “zonal flooding.” October 7thth It took moral and political chatter to new heights. Parallel to the challenge of helping people overcome trauma, we need to reshape the meaning of the words that have historically advanced democracy. This requires patience and vision.
Source: Eurozine – www.eurozine.com
