BRATTLEBORO-When I first heard of the horrific terrorist attacks on the music festival and peaceful bridge-building kibbutz communities on the Israel-Gaza border on Oct. 7, 2023, my gut reaction was the same as Malcolm X's upon learning of the assassination of John F. Kennedy: "The chickens have come home to roost."
Malcolm X meant that the consequences of actions, especially harmful ones, eventually come back to haunt the perpetrator. Specifically, he was suggesting that violence and oppression inflicted by the U.S. system had ultimately manifested in a violent act against a prominent figure in that system.
The chickens came home to roost on the border of Gaza and Israel on Oct. 7 in part, or even primarily, because Netanyahu and militant Zionists were too busy trying to break Israeli's judicial system and thwart the rule of law in an attempted power grab at the time. They ignored the Israeli Defense Forces' intelligence reports of the impending attacks. They were blindsided and failed to take care of their job No. 1 - protecting Israel.
Netanyahu and friends' long-term goal of crushing a Palestinian nation and Palestinian rights makes such attacks inevitable. Their actions threaten the security of Israel, the region, and the world, and attacks are likely to reoccur as Israel continues its genocidal, murderous, illegal war against Palestinians.
Criticizing Netanyahu and his supporters for their genocide and oppression is not antisemitic, but painting all Israelis and all Zionists as supporters of the genocide is. As in the United States, many, if not most, Israelis support peace. Many support civil rights and justice for all as well as a two-nation solution.
Like many white Americans, many Israelis struggle to come to terms with the responsibilities and consequences of living in a settler-colonial nation. They have a right to live and exist, as do all of us. They deserve our support and more nuanced and less disproportionate criticism from American progressives.
For more information about grassroots Middle East peace organizations and movements, see allmep.org.
Jean Anne Kiewel
Brattleboro
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