Finding hope in solidarity
Published
by
Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi
JVL Introduction
Lynne Segal was invited to write something for the Guardian’s Comment is Free section on the theme “Moments of Hope”. We can be grateful that the editors set aside whatever qualms they may have had about her choice of subject – being Jewish and marching in solidarity with Gaza – and published Lynne’s heart-warming observations.
NWI
This article was originally published by The Guardian on Tue 19 Dec 2023. Read the original here.
Trapped in a tube station on my way to march for a ceasefire in Gaza, I found hope in solidarity
I had little reason for optimism when I set off to march on Armistice Day, but the kindness of strangers changed all that.
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Let’s hear it for Scott Ritter The royal “We” with which Ms Segal begins her second paragraph above must be contested, if only because it implies a concensus about what happened on October 7th which does not exist. (I do not know, of course, whether its usage is the price that has to be paid for publishing in the guardian). In fact, Jonathon Cooke in a previous piece on JVL’s website has a more nuanced take on what happened on that day, particularly regarding the reporting of those events. However, the comment that I would start from is that of Scott Ritter on his substack, scottritterextra, dated 13th November. Entitled, “The October 7 Hamas assault on Israel : the most successful Military Raid of the century”, he declares “…it turns out that the number one killer of Israelis on October 7 wasn’t Hamas or other Palestinian factions, but the Israeli military itself”. Obviously, the whole text has to be read in full – I can’t do much more here than reproduce that key quote. I am also saying, quite sincerely and without malice, that Ms Segal should “get back to the drawing board” on the question of the character of Hamas. What has to be considered is whether or not they are now, like it or not, the de facto bearers of Palestinian Nationalism. They were, after all, around 2004, democratically elected to run Gaza’s local services. Finally, I have to cite Scott Ritter’s version of where he stands : “Whether as a Marine, a weapons inspector, a firefighter, or a citizen activist, the cry of those in fear and/or in need became my clarion call. I held myself to high standards, and as a result I applied those same standards to those who served alongside me, and—especially so—those elected officials who represented me in the halls of power and authority whose actions were done in my name and, as such, were a reflection on the collective enterprise known as the United States of America”. in “From Tom Joad to Willie Loman”,scottritterextra.com, 8th December. How can such a statement be bettered ? Also, solidarity with Tony Greenstein.
“We all recall the barbaric violence of 7 October, when Hamas kidnapped hundreds of civilians and brutally massacred 1,200 people in southern Israel. This resulted in Israel’s immediate declaration of war on Hamas and unparalleled bombing ever since”
So of course we have the Israeli version, the only one allowed for days, and which everyone is obliged to repeat. UK sec-Gen’s comment on this not being suddenly out of the blue was castigated by Israeli UN reps.
No investigation has been carried out but plenty of facts about the day have leaked out, not all like the original version, and the obvious lies have been debunked. In any case the “retaliation” is excessively violent.
No surprise from the “Guardian” of today I suppose.
During WW2 I lived in a country occupied by German troops. They were not all Nazis. Nevertheless they were our enemy. When a German soldier was killed or wounded we were delighted. What is difficult to understand with regards to Israel and Palestine is that one is the occupier and the other has lived there for centuries. Why are Palestinians not allowed to defend themselves?
What an unpleasant, uncomradely contribution!
Implying a dirty motive on Lynne’s part for using the word ‘we’. Viz: “I do not know, of course, whether its usage is the price that has to be paid for publishing in the guardian)”. Reproducing a quote from Scott Ritter without a shred of back-up evidence (Ritter may or may not be right, but his massive statement such as “…it turns out that the number one killer of Israelis on October 7 wasn’t Hamas or other Palestinian factions, but the Israeli military itself” should be evidenced – at least if it is being used sneeringly to tell a contributor that she should “get back to the drawing board”. Last time I looked, Ritter was a human being, not God, and his words are not, of themselves, holy writ.
As for Hamas’ democratic credentials. Apart from the fact that they were elected in 2004!!!!!! Democracy is about more than vote counting.
I read Lynne’s contribution both as a celebration of solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and of universal humanity. And a way of telling Guardian readers that not all Jews are blind followers of the Board of Deputies, that like Palestinians, indeed, like all peoples everywhere, we come in different shapes and sizes and have our own opinions. And that we have room in our hearts for the hundreds of Jews and foreign nationals killed in Israel on October 7th, the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza ever since, and the millions of Palestinians whose lives have been stunted and torn asunder over three quarters of a century by Israeli oppression.
I agree with Glenn Meredith about Segal’s description if what Hamas did on 7th October. It seems amazing that she has apparently not questioned the very dubious accounts given by Israeli peopaganda and obedient Western media. Even I, with no military expertise, thought the stories of burned bodies, beheaded babies etc sounded peculiarly unlikely, and since then, if you actually WANT to know the truth, there are plenty of opportunities to do so. But it is important to publish Segal’s article because it fulfils one very important job. It reveals the state of ignorance of both public figures, like Segal, and private individuals like myself. It is only recently, in the last year, that someone invited me to read Ilan Pappe’s ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’. I had considered myself a supporter of Palestine for decades but did not know the truth about 1948. What I am really saying is that to change anything, we need to realise that most people in the UK really don’t know about the history of Palestine. Solve that problem and we might start to make progress.
I do not regard Scott Ritter as God. In fact, a worthwhile exercise would be to undertake an examination of his work on the lines of “Scott Ritter’s America : myth and reality”, but this is outside JVL’s remit. Phillip Roddis on his website “steel city scribblings” characterises Scott Ritter as a “gamekeeper turned poacher”. For around twenty years he worked as an Intelligence Officer for the American State and I don’t think think he was being self indulgent when he remarked during a episode of “Ask the Inspector” , “I was good at my job”. Anyway, let me get to the main point. It is not an over statement to regard the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the West Bank as a war crime. In such a context, to call for a Ceasefire is the bare minimum that can be expected. It is, of course, absolutely essential in order to enable the Palestinians to resume a “normal” existence. The great, largely unstated problem, is that, given the devastation they have suffered, the Palestinians will have to be paid reparations in order that the conditions that enable this normalilty can be rebuilt. What follows from this is whether they will be allowed access to the economic surplus produced by the extraction of natural gas from the Gaza Basin.. At the moment, the IDF have a bluntly economic motive in trying to clear the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, akin to what took place during the Highland Clearances. Related to this is that Hamas will have to be recognised as a party to any negotiations regarding such matters. People like Naomi Wayne will not like this but, nevertheless, it would not be the first time that people previously condemned as terrorists are admitted into government. IRA/Sinn fein in …
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