A few days ago I met an old friend. Like most Israelis I have met since October 7, she looked desperate and desperate. But beyond the predictable reactions of suffering, terror, and sadness, I sensed something else in his gaze: a sense of betrayal.
As a convinced progressive, as she likes to define herself, it was a completely unexpected sensation for her. She had always thought of herself as a decent person, demonstrating for the right causes, ditching plastic straws, and canceling those who deserved to be canceled. For years she had sided with the weak, identifying with their suffering and mocking the suffering of others. And then, on the worst day of his life, on that bloody Saturday, when the militiamen of a brutal terrorist organization had massacred and kidnapped thousands of his countrymen, all the Americans and Europeans who had marched alongside him in the most diverse movements, they had done it to them Back turned.
“I don’t understand,” he groaned, “but don’t they have eyes to see the massacres?” Barbarism? Inhumanity? How can they not understand that we were on the good side in that terrible story of October 7th? The answer is no. They cannot understand that we are the good ones, because in the world we live in the good ones no longer exist: there are only the bad ones and the even worse ones. The progressive paradigm dictates that one decides who the victims are and identifies with them so much that one ends up ignoring the arguments and suffering of the alleged attackers. With this mindset, it’s very easy to find yourself on the page that gets deleted. Especially when you have occupied territory that belongs to another people for over 56 years. Reality is ambiguous and complex, while the advanced universe is simplistic and moralistic. This friend of mine was always there when comedians were boycotted because of a homophobic, racist, or misogynistic joke. And when instead these same artists, ignorant and stodgy, complained that they had been destroyed because of an unfortunate joke, she hastened to utter her derisive “Boo.”
I advised her to imagine these feelings. How does it feel when someone reduces your existence to good or bad, one or zero? When does someone consider your suffering unworthy of empathy? The progressive left did not betray Israel. In their view, in the binary worldview that requires supporting one side and hating the other, the progressive left has rightly chosen to side with the oppressed in the occupied territories. And at that moment, he lost all interest in the other party’s torment. So if the beheaded children, the raped and murdered women, and the elderly trafficked to Gaza are among the culprits, then they all deserve to be wiped out.
I advised my friend to acknowledge the truth rather than accuse the progressive left of betraying its own values: these organizations and individuals have remained steadfastly true to their beliefs. Maybe too superficial, insensitive and rather unfair, but they are always beliefs that have helped bring positive changes into the world. However, according to their method, there is no room for self-criticism, fact-checking, nothing to stop you from writing an angry post that could go viral. If it is legitimate to wipe out people, we will soon wipe out entire countries. Greta Thunberg or Roger Waters have no time for the laments of a nation occupying another people’s land when their families are burned alive.
Before we said goodbye, I reminded her of an old discussion we had about #MeToo. In my opinion, the movement was founded not so much to investigate the events and bring justice to the victims, but rather to vent anger and revenge, and to correct fundamental evils, it risked wiping out many people who Didn’t they deserve it? “When you cut down a tree, even the splinters fly away,” he replied. And how could she imagine that one day she herself would fly away like a splinter?