I have recently had a two hour Zoom call with a jewish friend in Jerusalem. Even though our views on the current situation in Gaza are radically different we had an amazing conversation with lots of mutual respect and curiosity. We met on Twitter where we called each other names. That’s what Twitter seems to be for: calling people with different opinions from yours idiots and any other ugly thing you can think of. Luckily we decided that things would go differently if we talked via a video call. And it did go differently. Very differently in fact.

Side note: I wanted to pick a picture for this post that expresses friendship between a non-jewish person and a jew and I picked a pic from a show I grew up with. It’s called ‘The wonder years’ and in it a character called Kevin has a jewish best friend called Paul. I loved the show and often identified with Kevin and Paul was a wonderful character, so for me it makes sense to pick this pic and not the obvious choice: a pic of bombs exploding.

Back to the main point: After our conversation I sent him this list:

I have been thinking a lot about our conversation and here are some questions, certainly not the last questions I will have:

  1. Why does Israel feel the need to use white phosphorus? Isn’t this just overkill? I can’t see any good reason for this. It seems clear to be that the Israeli army really is using this weapon. Do you agree that it’s being used, and if so, why is this necessary? It’s even more cruel than regular weapons.
  2. A few hours before our conversation I saw some video that claimed that Israel only left Gaza because it had become too costly to stay there. The implication being that there was too much resistance to stay there. Personally I don’t remember that many Israelis died there, so until I saw that video I never thought that this was the reason they left. Why exactly did Israel pull out?
  3. I keep finding articles that point out the Israeli leadership preferred to support Hamas. Here is one example: https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/ If this is the case I find that very reprehensible and a clear indication that Israel never had any real intentions of taking the Palestinians seriously and allowing them to have a state of their own.
  4. According to Kim Iversen Egypt doesn’t let the Palestinians from Gaza in, because this would be the same as letting Israel take over all of Gaza. Opening their borders would be the same as rolling over for Israel. Personally I think Egypt would much prefer to have control over Gaza itself. It wants the land, but not the Palestinians. How do you see this?
  5. You said the Jordans had a decades long opportunity to create an independent state out the west bank. Why didn’t they do this?
  6. I keep seeing evidence that says that Israelis show up at Palestinian homes backed by the Israeli army and police and take over houses and land, destroy olive trees, etc. Maybe some of this news isn’t true, but unfortunately I am convinced this is happening very regularly. According to me Israelis should stay out of the West Bank. I can accept your argument that the wall is needed to prevent terrorist attacks, but at the same time no Israelis should be settling (colonizing is the word often used by pro-Palestinians) there. The level of control Israel has over every day life in the West Bank is way too much in my opinion. When I was there I personally witnessed cases of outright humiliation. A Palestinian driver having to stand in the sun for half an hour for some bogus infraction, for example. Again, is it any wonder that I feel Palestinians are justified when they hit back and kill Israelis, especially when they kill IDF soldiers?
  7. During the great march of return (I think this started in 2018) thousands of Palestinians protested peacefully at the wall. In numerous instances Israeli soldiers shot at them, killed some of them, maimed them. A famous case is the death of a nurse who was shot. How am I supposed to feel any sympathy for Israel when it reacts to peaceful protests like this? When I see something like the attack by Hamas on the 7th my initial reaction is: well, yes, of course, they tried to protest peacefully and they were met with utter violence.
  8. One of the things that bothers me incredibly much is how many journalists risks losing their jobs over any kind of criticism of Israel. This combined with how many American politicians are either jews or receive campaign funding via Israeli backed organisations inevitably makes me question why this small country of Israel manages to manipulate the most powerful nation on earth. In my opinion it goes so far it’s fair to say Israel is the 51st state of the US, but with far less accountability than any of the other states. Personally I think Israel should not have such a say in US politics. Am I wrong to see it this way?
  9. Recently on the US and Israel voted to keep blockading Cuba. For obvious reasons Ukraine was the only country to abstain. My natural reaction is to see Israel and the US as an evil combo that has the arrogance to go against the will of the rest of the globe… Again, correct me if am wrong to see it that way. I honestly don’t see why tiny Cuba should be blockaded.
  10. From time to time someone will call me an anti-semite for criticzing Israel. I have visited at least one concentration camp (Breendonk, Belgium), I have seen all the major movies and documentaries on the Holocaust, and even a lot of the obscure ones (like the Slovak movie I mentioned to you, I even dragged my wife to the cinema to see it). In my favorite movies, series and books jewish characters seem overrepresented. I clearly don’t have any kind of issue with jews. In your opinion what are examples of anti semitism and what is criticism of Israel’s actions as a nation among nations? Where do you draw the line?
  11. In my opinion Israel’s end game right now is to eventually push out all Palestinians from all areas and take over all the land. I think the overall policy is to make life for the Palestinians so difficult that they emigrate. In my opinion Israel will eventually succeed and only ‘islands’ of Palestinians will remain surrounded by Israelis. What is Israel’s ultimate goal in your opinion?
  12. Why are there no Arab Israelis holding high positions? Has there ever been an Arab Israeli Prime Minister?
  13. A two state solution is an impossibility at this point. I am in favor of a one state solution where all Palestinians eventually become Israeli citizens. I am sure this is just a pipe dream, since this would undo Israel as a safe haven for jews by absorbing so many Arabs and at the same time the Palestinian leadership would be out of a job, so am fairly certain the Palestinian leadership feels threatened by this idea as well. Kind of like drug dealers fearing all drugs will become legal and sold at pharmacies (they instantly lose their raison d’être). Where is the solution? If I leave all emotions aside the most plausible ‘solution’ is that that one side completely triumphs and the other side adapts to defeat… Where is the solution in your opinion?
  14. My three main problems with Israel are the often revolting and inhumane treatment of Palestinians in general, its unusual global influence especially in the US, and the way it’s bombing Gaza right now. This mantra of There Is No Alternative shows a complete lack of creativity. Personally I’d invite all women and children into Israel first and then I would dismantle the real opponent (Hamas and other groups). The British , the inventors of concentration camps, successfully employed this tactic in Africa. My only problem with it is that I doubt Palestinian women would want to go and yes, Hamas would actively call on them not to go. When I think of what happened at Sabra and Chatilla I would also understand Palestinian reluctance to give any credence to such an offer. It’s a cynical question but how many dead children will you accept to – maybe, cause it s far from certain – eradicate Hamas? When will you say: ok, attacking Gaza isn’t working?
  15. Last question for now, because this is already a lot. Why does Israel maintain the highly unusual and frankly absurd situation in Hebron? I don’t know about the actual figures right now, but back in 2009 it was 300 jews defended by 3000 soldiers right smack dab in the middle of a Palestinian city with 130,000 inhabitants. I was told these 300 jews don’t actually live there but receive money to stay put and are regularly relieved. i was told they stay for about three months. On one street the jews have the upper floors and the palestinians the lower floor. The jews threw their trash down and the palestinians had to span a net. You can imagine that walking through this street didnt exactly make my feelings towards Israel any warmer. What is the point of maintaining such a nightmarish situation?

    We will have a second conversation soon and dive deeper into all this.

    For me being able to dive deep into these issues with someone ‘on the other side’ is the only good thing that has ever come out of me having a Twitter (X) account.