The narcissism that blinds Israelis to Jenin’s oppression
JVL Introduction
Seeing refugees fleeing their homes in Jenin is a sharp reminder that the dispossession of Palestinians has never ended.
In a firm and passionate statement in +972’s The Landline, Orly Noy criticises those who think the fight for true democracy in Israel is limited to the struggle against the current government.
We must, she says “let go of the Jewish-Israeli narcissism that stops us from opening our eyes to the places where Israel tramples not only on the idea of democracy, but the very idea of what it means to be human, and begin our struggle from there.”
__________
One way you can help is to support +972 Magazine. Subscribe to its free Newsletter for regular updates. And become a member of +972 Magazine and support journalism against apartheid.
This article was originally published by +972 Magazine on Fri 7 Jul 2023. Read the original here.
The narcissism that blinds Israelis to Jenin’s oppression
Not only did the anti-government protests not condemn the assault on Jenin, its leaders even praised the “brave men” who took part in the invasion.
As the drums of Israeli protesters continued to beat in Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport, and other locations across the country this week, the Israeli army began winding down a brutal invasion and assault on Jenin refugee camp that left behind destruction, devastation, and blood.
The sight of Palestinian refugees fleeing their homes in the dark, their hands raised over their heads, not only conjures memories of the Nakba. It is a reminder that the dispossession of Palestinians has never ended — that these very families either lost their homes in 1948, or are the descendants of those who did. Palestinians know full well that they are facing a belligerent, uninhibited state that, in the guise of security and victimhood, will spare no effort — dispossession, killing, ethnic cleansing. And perhaps the worst is yet to come.
Israel is used to presenting the occupation to the world as an internal Israeli matter, while its Jewish citizens are used to treating it as a matter of foreign affairs, disconnected from everyday life, like a war in some distant country. This, along with the deeply-seated militarism and the blind worship of the army in Israeli society, means that not only did the anti-government protests not come out against the assault on Jenin, but its leaders even praised the “brave men” who took part in the invasion — the same ones who, among other things, bombed the Jenin Freedom Theatre, which serves as a paragon of the human spirit amid the hell that Israel has created in the camp.
As usual, it was Palestinian citizens of Israel who, together with a handful of Jewish activists, immediately led the protest against the army’s crimes in Jenin, and faced severe police violence in return. Meanwhile, faint criticism could also be heard from some on the Zionist left, who accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of launching a military operation in order to divert attention from and ultimately silence the public protest against him.
Yet we must not reduce the invasion of Jenin to Netanyahu’s political calculus vis-à-vis the protest movement. The oppression of the Palestinians did not begin this past January with the beginning of the demonstrations, nor will it end when the demonstrations cease. The frequent, lethal attacks on Jenin, as well as the routine assaults on Gaza, the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories, the encouragement of pogroms by settlers, and the crackdown on Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line — all of these are part of a greater Israeli policy, which is formulated with chilling precision in what Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls his Decisive Plan, which seeks to bring Palestinians to heel, and wholesale expel those who refuse to bow their heads.
Those who wish to fight for true democracy must let go of the Jewish-Israeli narcissism that stops us from opening our eyes to the places where Israel tramples not only on the idea of democracy, but the very idea of what it means to be human, and begin our struggle from there.
This article originally appeared in “The Landline,” +972’s weekly newsletter. Subscribe here.
Orly Noy is an editor at Local Call, a political activist, and a translator of Farsi poetry and prose. She is the chair of B’Tselem’s executive board and an activist with the Balad political party. Her writing deals with the lines that intersect and define her identity as Mizrahi, a female leftist, a woman, a temporary migrant living inside a perpetual immigrant, and the constant dialogue between them.
Here is the truth if you’re interested
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/6ga29urrk
And in the main, Israeli Arabs regard themselves as “Israeli Arabs”, not Palestinians.
Interesting but firstly what she said was part of a question and not a statement as the Ynet article claims; also surely legitimate, robust questioning is appropriate at all times and especially given this incursion and the disproportionate levels of force between the two sides. Secondly ynet news and far too many other sources omit the context, which is that there has been an occupation for well over 50 years and, under International Law, those living under occupation have the right to resist that occupation. And this is a brutal occupation in which many children and adults have been killed, homes, schools, Mosques, etc. destroyed; a huge proportion of homes in the Camp were damaged, some completely destroyed and roads in the camp deliberately ruined. (And the camp, and especially the roads had been rebuilt after the near destruction of the camp in the second intifada with roads wide enough for Israeli Military vehicles to get through) AS for what Palestinians living within the Green line call themselves, again consider the hatred towards Palestinians and consider whether you would outwardly at least accept the State’s designation.
Dear friends, the name of the author, journalist of +972 and Chairman of B’Tselem is Orly Noy, nót Orly Nor.
thank you – duly corrected
The BBC making out that Israel was after terrorist groups that the Israeli soldiers were after. WHAT, the Terrorists are and have always been Israelis. It calls itself an “Impartial” Broadcaster. I cannot go on, I’ll start swearing.