Our Wednesday News Analysis | The myth of the ‘cycle of violence’

A Palestinian girl mourns during the funeral of the 10 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army during a raid in the city, January 26, 2023. (Wahaj Banimoufleh/Activestills.org)

Source: +972 Magazine

https://www.972mag.com/cycle-violence-jenin-jerusalem/

By Amjad Iraqi
Published January 31, 2023

Palestinians spotlight Israeli brutality to demand an end to their oppression;
Israelis spotlight Palestinian violence to justify that oppression.

"It is telling that international awareness of Palestinian death and suffering, if any, is often contingent upon some harm being done to the other side; from mainstream media coverage to diplomats’ condolences, Israelis always come first."

Why launch a devastating incursion, targeting militants yet harming countless civilians, when that method has been proven to exacerbate rather than contain violence? What’s the point of threatening attackers with home demolitions when thousands of innocent people, including the attackers’ own families and neighbors, are equally threatened with the same fate? Why put guns into the hands of more civilians when there is already an armed resident, soldier, police officer, or security guard on every street?

Most Israelis didn’t bother asking these questions when the army raided the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday morning, killing 10 people while causing wanton destruction. They certainly didn’t want to consider these questions the next day, when a young Palestinian shot dead seven Israelis in the East Jerusalem settlement of Neve Yaakov, or when a 13-year-old Palestinian boy later shot and wounded two Israeli settlers in the neighborhood of Silwan. And they barely raised those questions when, like clockwork, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the government’s usual measures to “deter” further attacks, from punishing the assailants’ family members to approving more gun licenses to building more settlement units.

For many Israelis, such reflections on their leaders’ habitual responses are best avoided in order to preserve a simple, rigid worldview: Palestinians hate us for no reason, they attack us without cause, and so we have no choice but to beat them down. More critical Israelis may instead lament the worn-out aphorism of a “cycle of violence,” seeking to draw some moral parity of responsibility and harm between the two sides...

Read more: The myth of the ‘cycle of violence’

WHEN ZIONISM SPLITS: ISRAEL AND THE WARNING FROM COLONIAL HISTORY

An Israeli arrives for a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new hard-right government in Tel Aviv on 21 January 2023 (AFP)

Source: Jews for Justice for Palestinians
https://jfjfp.com/when-zionism-splits-israel-and-the-warning-from-colonial-history/

David Hearst writes in Middle East Eye
Published January 26, 2023

The divide between the shock troops of the Zionist project to create a Jewish state and the Zionist mainstream has been swept under the carpet so many times. Today it's breaking out into the open

"… he is even more right today. With the national religious movement in the driving seat, Ami Ayalon’s prediction is prescient:

"We win every battle but we lose the war.”

It happened in Algeria. It happened in South Africa. It will happen too in Israel."

In his election campaign, far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party, asked a question to which the then Israeli political establishment had no answer: “Who is in charge?”

It was a taunt which tapped into the deep well of feeling that the Jews had lost control over the Palestinians living in their state. But within weeks of Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest reincarnation as head of the most extreme government in Israel’s history, millions of Israelis are now asking themselves a similar question: who have we got in charge?

A justice minister who plans to neutralise judicial authority and independence? A finance minister who questions the right of Russian immigrants to be considered Jewish? A national security minister whose first act was to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque?

The battle in Israel is framed as a fight for democracy against fascists. It does not, at least yet, morph into a debate about the daily cruelty and human cost of sustaining the Zionist project.

In truth, the mass demonstrations are only concerned with the first of the three issues, although the issue of Russian identity is explosive enough – Bezalel Smotrich called it a Jewish time bomb.

Read more: When Zionism splits: Israel and the warning from colonial history

OPINION | IT’S ALWAYS THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE OCCUPATION

Palestinians stage a demonstration to protest after nine Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday.Credit: Ali Jadallah / ANADOLU AGENCY /

Source: Haaretz
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-01-30/ty-article-opinion/.premium/its-always-the-time-to-talk-about-the-occupation/00000185-ff07-d9f5-a18d-ffcf3aaa0000

By Hanin Majadli
Published January 30, 2023

"As they say, democracy for everyone, or for no one."

Jews say to me, “Who do you think will be hurt most by this revolution? Us? It will clearly be the minorities. And when they say “minorities,” they don’t mean redheads, but rather Arabs. As if I didn’t know that any deterioration of the situation – which is already terrible – will mainly affect Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian subjects of the Israeli occupation.

Nevertheless, I find myself bewildered by what is happening. For some reason, I have trouble finding the words to express my feelings and opinions about the judicial coup, or perhaps I should say the coup against our system of government. This isn’t apathy, nor is it some form of radicalism. It seems to me that it’s mainly a matter of despair and distrust that, as far as I can tell, are shared by most of Israel’s Arab citizens.

Consequently, the patronizing speech we hear again and again from every side – “This isn’t the time to be self-indulgent, any moment now you won’t be able even to say ‘occupation,’ or to work at Haaretz” – doesn’t change my physical state. It’s hard for me to bring myself to stand at a demonstration alongside 130,000 people who say “This isn’t the time to talk about the occupation.” Guys, any time is the time to talk about the occupation.

Do I want to help people like that save democracy? Can I stand in solidarity with people who sing “My country’s face has changed” while they are waving a flag that to me symbolizes personal devastation?,,,

Read more: Opinion | It’s Always the Time to Talk About the Occupation