Israel

Destruction Then, Destruction Now: Mourning the 17th of Tammuz in this Moment

by Sam Brody
This is a 17 of Tammuz post.
For those of you who don’t know, this is a minor Jewish fast day commemorating the Babylonian breach of the walls of Jerusalem. It begins a period of heightened mournful awareness known as the Three Weeks, culminating in Tisha B’Av, the major fast day commemorating the destruction of the first Temple.
It’s a strange practice to mourn for something that happened 2500 years ago, when there is so much to mourn for right now. It’s a strange practice to reserve particular times of year for heightened emotional states of particular kinds, when things happen all year long that might provoke those states.
But sometimes, the moments intersect. Jewish tradition holds, for example, that many later catastrophes occurred on Tisha B’av throughout the generations, sometimes planned, sometimes by accident.
During the Three Weeks last year, the ruling coalition in the State of Israel decided to push through its “judicial coup.” This year, the mass murderer and war criminal Netanyahu, who should be in the Hague, will address a joint session of Congress. Following that, he will have a private meeting with the new Democratic nominee for president, Vice President Harris.
The nomination of Harris has created a kind of euphoria among Democrats – the opposite emotional state to that of the Three Weeks. Hope, excitement, etc. But I suspect that the honeymoon will end fairly quickly, and that this issue is one of the rocks upon which it will founder. Mass protests will take place in Washington on the occasion of Netanyahu’s visit. A month from now, the DNC is also likely to see large protests, even after the change in nominee, about this issue. While some hold out hope for Harris to take a harder line than Biden against Netanyahu and his government, I think it is more likely that she will “confirm our unwavering commitment to the security of the State of Israel,” as that phrase is understood by national security establishments in both countries.
U.S. discourse on Palestine is shot through with moralism. It fixates on individuals and whether they are bad or good. Such is the case with “Genocide Joe.” And soon I expect narratives of “betrayal” about Harris (“betrayal” based only on people’s imaginations about what she might do and how she might be different). But this is not about individuals. U.S. policy on the State of Israel has barely changed since Truman. The biggest “bump in the road” was probably under George H.W. Bush, and it was not a lasting shift. This is a long-term geopolitical strategy by the U.S. and the only shifts are to the right, e.g. moving the embassy to Jerusalem under Trump.
Meanwhile, 26 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are completely inoperable, according to the WHO, thanks to literally hundreds of Israeli attacks on medical facilities, medical personnel, fuel sources, etc. If the war ended tomorrow – and may it be so – Gazans would continue to die of preventable diseases and conditions due to the devastation of their infrastructure.
Netanyahu, who is not only a mass murderer of Palestinians but who has also shown repeatedly that he places Israeli life and safety absolutely last in his calculus of concerns, behind his own political career, should speak to an empty Congress.
But he won’t. Because This Is Who We Are.
Here is a GoFundMe for one Gazan family, if you have the wherewithal to give right now.

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