The year of forgetting
JVL Introduction
Robert A.H. Cohen is on fine form in these ironic reflections on Trump’s peace plan, this week’s Abraham Accords, and the Jewish New Year.
Reform Judaism actually refers to Rosh Hashana as the day of remembrance, since remembering is one of the great themes of the Jewish High Holidays.
But, muses Cohen, it has really been a year of forgetting. In the newly flaunted agreements with the UAE and Bahrein, much has been forgotten: “international law”, “United Nations’ Security Resolutions”, “Occupation”, “Settlements”, “Annexation” and more.
What can we learn from all this? “In Judaism, forgetfulness is almost a sin in itself. Forgetting does not help you to make peace with your neighbour or bring ease to your soul. It’s always better to remember and to repair before trying to move forward.”
This article was originally published by Patheos on Fri 18 Sep 2020. Read the original here.
From ‘Vision for Peace’ to ‘normalisation’ – 2020 has become the year of forgetting
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Absolutely bloody brilliant – one of his best. Says it all.
…And what has the leader of the Labour Party, here in the UK had to say about all of this “forgetfulness”, in amongst his good wishes for a peaceful, prosperous and happy New Year to all Jewish people right around the world, and those others in Palestine awaiting annexation or – it seems to me – already annexed..?!
Another thought provoking article from Robert A. H. Cohen. Changing facts on the ground in favour of Israel are real. At the same time, Palestinian dispossession and oppression remains just as real today as it did 72 years ago. If people forget this we will never see an end to this unfinished business. There too many people who are in denial who need to be challenged. They are in favour of erasing Palestinian history, seek to blame the Palestinians for their own oppression, label them as terrorists and use bogus definitions of antisemitism to curtail their ability to fight their oppression. They are actively trying to shut down debate on the rogue state of Israel by weaponizing guilt about the holocaust. There is another group of people who have a low level of awareness about Israel-Palestine including some members of the Labour Party. They are the majority. We should not forget this. Reaching out to this larger constituency to raise awareness and build a strong movement in solidarity with the Palestinians is desperately needed.
As the world moves towards domination by the Far Right it seems the State of Israel has thrown their lot in with them. Netanyahu is a close ally of Victor Orban in Hungary who heads a Fascist government in Hungary. He identifies with the right wing populists in India. How can it be possible those who have suffered most at the hands of the Far Right become allies. Even the UK is near to falling into the hands of Far Right extremists. Former members of the RCP realised long ago that there wasn’t a cat in hells chance of the Left threatening our democracy.It could NEVER happen.The real danger comes from the Right. Why? Because the Right have access to almost unlimited funds. Huge amounts of money were poured into the Leave campaign from American billionaires such as the Koch brothers. Some went through the DUP. For years now Tory outriders ,so called thinks have poured poison into British politics. They even use taxpayers money by registering as charities. Electoral law is years out of date in this age of social media. If the laws are not brought up to date then it is inevitable a Far Right government will come to power here. The Labour Party is the only organisation that could save the nation but it has been rendered impotent by some of its own members. The Jewish community will feel the lash of the extreme Right. Why, then are they helping them?