Thank you so much. I was worried this wouldn't land well, since it just basically poured out of me this morning. I'm glad it resonated with you <3 Feel free to share if it feels right. Love you!
I have been salivating for an expression like this and am so grateful you allowed it to pour out of you. The entire piece resonates with me in a world running away from nuance and the discomfort that comes with remaining true to upholding humanity in the real world, a violent, oppressive & complicated world. I refuse to become desensitized and derailed but it feels like this practice is endangered. Thank you for week after week showing that there is a community of people dedicated to empathy in tandem with an eye toward justice over self-righteousness and hatred. Grateful for you. 💜
Thank you so much for reading, friend. I wrote this after reading a lot of infuriating stuff, but especially after seeing two video 'takedowns' resulting in (a) a local person here in NJ being subsequently fired from their job for tearing down a poster of Israeli hostages and (b) a Jewish shop-owner in Bed-Stuy being targeted by vigilantes who keep coming to her shop and yelling antisemitic / anti-Zionist rhetoric at her. Both cases are harassment and vigilante justice, pure and simple. Indicating a breakdown of society. Not great.
It makes me ill to think about how focused we are on being poisonous and hateful, on punishment, instead of on talking to one another. What's the point of dragging someone to the "town square" of instagram to be shamed and shunned? All it does is make more violence. More hatred. What would have happened had those with opposing views been less militant and simply expressed their hurt to the other party. No cameras. Just people.
It scares me. A lot. I feel like a tiny voice in a sea of vitriol.
Very beautifully written and powerful analysis from an insider's POV. This is so informative and educational for those of us who don't usually have the privilege to learn about such a complicated situation from lived experience. Most important of all, it is written with heart. I've shared with friends.
My pleasure, Mikhal. Your writing draws me in. I sense that it comes from a deep, vulnerable as well as powerful place within you. It's the work of courage. I appreciate that you take time out of your busy schedule to share your unique perspectives and insights.
Thank you so much. I really, really appreciate this so much. I'm always so scared to write about Israel and an very affirmed that it resonates with you <3
I thought you captured in words exactly what I feel but was not sure how to express, and I thank you for that. You were very courageous as it is such a fraught topic right now. <3
Oy, my friend. This question haunts me, frankly. I'm American and Israeli, and I can't say I'm hugely inspired by the leadership of either country. Yesterday I was talking to my mom and she was describing all the civilian initiatives in Israel right now — random people organizing clothes, and furniture, and food, and activities for all the displaced people. Folks driving folks to doctor appointments. And I think of the civilians who drove to the kibbutzim in the south to save people from Hamas while the gvmnt floundered. And I think of the poisonous water in Flint. And the migrant crisis in NYC. And the lack of healthcare. And the skyrocketing rates of homelessness. While the GOP is fighting about nonsense in the House of Representatives, people are gong hungry. Sleeping on sidewalks. 76% of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. But he won't, because he's awful. So instead soldiers and civilians will continue to die.
And I think, what the hell? How do we get a government that actually represents any kind of anything we want? I have no answers. And lately I feel like no one is actually interested in listening to each other and focusing on the wellbeing of other human beings.
I think it's very astute that you say the U.S. is "invested in its own military goals that have nothing to do with the well-being of either Israelis or Palestinians." If you zoom waaaaaaay out, this is in many ways a proxy war between Russia (who backs Iran who backs Hamas and Houthis and Hezbollah) and the United States (who backs Israel and has a stake in Saudi Arabia). And while these powerful men, because they are all men, play a high-stakes game of chicken (or Risk?) babies starve. My heart is broken.
Yep... did you ever read Terry Pratchett? There's a quote in one of the Discworld books where Captain Vimes says that to solve a crime you always follow the money and I feel like that applies to *so many* real-world situations. Which is to say, how much of this war is happening because Bibi doesn't want to go to jail for corruption and bribery and Hamas leadership want to keep sitting in their shmancy suites in Qatar? By hating on each other we are doing *exactly* what they want us to do. It's like the worst sleight-of-hand trick — when we are fractured they enrich themselves and get themselves more power.
Also. On the point of being a "real Jew." (*rolls up sleeves*)
No. One. Gets. To. Tell. Anyone. They. Are. A. Real. Anything.
These purity tests that pop up everywhere are nonsense invented by insecure people who can't handle the reality of messy human-ness and the magic variability of human experience. Pretend you're a duck and let that inanity flow right off your back.
100% to all of this. I often think of the Vimes Boots Theory when I hear economists talking about all kinds of nonsense, making things too complicates. Just, like, the Boots! And, yes the union strengthening is a huge source of hope <3
Your focus on human beings is just right. A beautiful piece.
Thank you so much. I was worried this wouldn't land well, since it just basically poured out of me this morning. I'm glad it resonated with you <3 Feel free to share if it feels right. Love you!
I have been salivating for an expression like this and am so grateful you allowed it to pour out of you. The entire piece resonates with me in a world running away from nuance and the discomfort that comes with remaining true to upholding humanity in the real world, a violent, oppressive & complicated world. I refuse to become desensitized and derailed but it feels like this practice is endangered. Thank you for week after week showing that there is a community of people dedicated to empathy in tandem with an eye toward justice over self-righteousness and hatred. Grateful for you. 💜
Thank you so much for reading, friend. I wrote this after reading a lot of infuriating stuff, but especially after seeing two video 'takedowns' resulting in (a) a local person here in NJ being subsequently fired from their job for tearing down a poster of Israeli hostages and (b) a Jewish shop-owner in Bed-Stuy being targeted by vigilantes who keep coming to her shop and yelling antisemitic / anti-Zionist rhetoric at her. Both cases are harassment and vigilante justice, pure and simple. Indicating a breakdown of society. Not great.
It makes me ill to think about how focused we are on being poisonous and hateful, on punishment, instead of on talking to one another. What's the point of dragging someone to the "town square" of instagram to be shamed and shunned? All it does is make more violence. More hatred. What would have happened had those with opposing views been less militant and simply expressed their hurt to the other party. No cameras. Just people.
It scares me. A lot. I feel like a tiny voice in a sea of vitriol.
Very beautifully written and powerful analysis from an insider's POV. This is so informative and educational for those of us who don't usually have the privilege to learn about such a complicated situation from lived experience. Most important of all, it is written with heart. I've shared with friends.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love knowing that you're reading my work <3
My pleasure, Mikhal. Your writing draws me in. I sense that it comes from a deep, vulnerable as well as powerful place within you. It's the work of courage. I appreciate that you take time out of your busy schedule to share your unique perspectives and insights.
Mikhal, you hit every point spot on. You are very inspiring to me and I find it a privilege to subscribe to your sub stack. Sending love.
Thank you so much. I really, really appreciate this so much. I'm always so scared to write about Israel and an very affirmed that it resonates with you <3
I thought you captured in words exactly what I feel but was not sure how to express, and I thank you for that. You were very courageous as it is such a fraught topic right now. <3
Oy, my friend. This question haunts me, frankly. I'm American and Israeli, and I can't say I'm hugely inspired by the leadership of either country. Yesterday I was talking to my mom and she was describing all the civilian initiatives in Israel right now — random people organizing clothes, and furniture, and food, and activities for all the displaced people. Folks driving folks to doctor appointments. And I think of the civilians who drove to the kibbutzim in the south to save people from Hamas while the gvmnt floundered. And I think of the poisonous water in Flint. And the migrant crisis in NYC. And the lack of healthcare. And the skyrocketing rates of homelessness. While the GOP is fighting about nonsense in the House of Representatives, people are gong hungry. Sleeping on sidewalks. 76% of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. But he won't, because he's awful. So instead soldiers and civilians will continue to die.
And I think, what the hell? How do we get a government that actually represents any kind of anything we want? I have no answers. And lately I feel like no one is actually interested in listening to each other and focusing on the wellbeing of other human beings.
I think it's very astute that you say the U.S. is "invested in its own military goals that have nothing to do with the well-being of either Israelis or Palestinians." If you zoom waaaaaaay out, this is in many ways a proxy war between Russia (who backs Iran who backs Hamas and Houthis and Hezbollah) and the United States (who backs Israel and has a stake in Saudi Arabia). And while these powerful men, because they are all men, play a high-stakes game of chicken (or Risk?) babies starve. My heart is broken.
Yep... did you ever read Terry Pratchett? There's a quote in one of the Discworld books where Captain Vimes says that to solve a crime you always follow the money and I feel like that applies to *so many* real-world situations. Which is to say, how much of this war is happening because Bibi doesn't want to go to jail for corruption and bribery and Hamas leadership want to keep sitting in their shmancy suites in Qatar? By hating on each other we are doing *exactly* what they want us to do. It's like the worst sleight-of-hand trick — when we are fractured they enrich themselves and get themselves more power.
Also. On the point of being a "real Jew." (*rolls up sleeves*)
No. One. Gets. To. Tell. Anyone. They. Are. A. Real. Anything.
These purity tests that pop up everywhere are nonsense invented by insecure people who can't handle the reality of messy human-ness and the magic variability of human experience. Pretend you're a duck and let that inanity flow right off your back.
100% to all of this. I often think of the Vimes Boots Theory when I hear economists talking about all kinds of nonsense, making things too complicates. Just, like, the Boots! And, yes the union strengthening is a huge source of hope <3