F**king Mondays: Jews and October 7th, Migrant Caravans, and 'The Alt Mind Virus'
A Jew's perspective on October 7th.
Welcome to another edition of “F**king Mondays!” In the round up today:
October 7th: A year in review
Of all the issues and crises we face, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is for me, the most challenging to weigh in on. When it comes to Russia and Ukraine, Trump vs Harris, right wing populism vs far left activism, I have very definite opinions. I support Ukraine in its battle against Russian imperialism. I believe Kamala Harris’s vision for society is infinitely superior to Donald Trump’s dark fascistic fantasies, and believe the far right presents a far graver threat to society than the activist left.
When it comes to Israel/Palestine, my views are far more complex, sometimes contradictory, and quite difficult to articulate.
After the horrific attacks on October 7th that saw almost 1,200 innocent Israelis gleefully slaughtered by Hamas fighters, I felt what I can only describe as ancestral pain. I could finally understand what my grandparents felt during the horrors of the Holocaust, or how their parents and grandparents felt during the murderous pogroms in Eastern Europe. Trauma is baked into Jewish DNA, and October 7th seemed to activate it in Jews around the world.
It wasn’t just the deliberate targeting of Jews, or the sheer number of people the militants murdered that created a deep sense of personal pain, but the reaction to it from those I once considered allies. From organized celebrations to college led campaigns to denounce Israel, the genocidal act was viewed by the much of the left as a victory against the “colonizer”.
This total lack of sympathy towards the victims of October 7th sent me on a long, dark journey of reevaluating many previously held beliefs and assumptions. Was the liberal view of Israel correct? Was it an apartheid state, and were Palestinians innocent victims of a racist, colonial regime that pitted “white” colonizers against brown indigenous people?
This view perpetuated by the activist left had penetrated college campuses to such a degree that Jews were frightened to go to school, and even more afraid to speak out. Now that Jews were deemed “white” by activists, they could be targeted as “oppressors” and vilified via association with Israel. The Jewish state wasn’t just a Jewish state, it was an extension of “whiteness” and European colonialism. Therefore killing them was justified, and even a cause for celebration.
I began to see just how dangerous this perspective was, not only because it was historically wrong, but because it made antisemitism not just acceptable, but cool. With activists genuinely believing they were battling Nazis, anti-Israel fervor became almost messianic on campuses across the country — and much of this was before Israel responded to the attacks.
The Israeli assault on Gaza has been heart wrenching to watch. Controlled by a far right government, the Israelis have launched a devastating war on the region with little regard for human life, or the future of the region. While Israel has not targeted civilians, they have killed so many and destroyed so much that it is now very difficult to justify their actions. While I initially supported the war, it seems clear the Netanyahu government has no interest in peace, or working towards a two state settlement. If Palestinians have no hope, Hamas will regrow, and this godawful conflict will continue for generations to come.
The Netanyahu government has made supporting Israel incredibly difficult, and because of that I have no clear answer on where I stand. I am not ready to denounce Israel, and that is because I have no idea how they should proceed. The left drastically downplays just how brutal Israel’s enemies are, and their inability to see Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah as radical Islamic imperialists is a real blindspot in their perspective. So I find myself in the position of supporting Israel, despising Hamas, despising Benjamin Netanyahu, and desperately wanting Palestinian suffering to end.
With rising antisemitism and no end to the conflict in sight, I am not particularly hopeful about the future. Jews are now the most targeted minority in America. They are being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government, and conspiracy theorists of all political persuasions now all seem to agree on Israel and ‘The Jews’. Extremism fuels more extremism, and the more targeted Jews feel, the more they will support Israel — even if it is run by a far right sociopath. I understand that feeling, and it is why I am more politically homeless than ever.
The migrant caravans are coming!
Trump and the GOP’s plan to win the election in November is based on one issue: immigration. Apparently immigration isn’t actually a crisis until deep into the election cycle when it is so severe right wing media outlets have no choice but to cover it 24/7.
Now that we are just four weeks out, witness the new media hysteria over a migrant caravan from Mexico:
Just as Haitians only eat people’s pets in crucial swing states, migrant caravans only appear on the news during election season.
Vilifying desperately poor immigrants is one of the reasons why Trump is so dangerous. The dehumanizing rhetoric is a familiar theme of fascist regimes, and if Trump is elected, there should be no doubt about how he will treat people he does not consider American.
The alt mind virus
One of the most worrying aspects of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter isn’t how many people he has radicalized on the platform, but who he has managed to radicalize.
I’ve followed Naval Ravikant, a widely respected tech investor and business sage for some time. Known online as “Naval”, Ravikant has 2.4 million followers on Twitter and often has incredibly interesting insights into technology, business, and even spirituality. Ravikant’s politics could probably be described as libertarian, but he is pragmatic and thoughtful and worth listening to. Or so I thought.
After only a year of exposure to Elon Musk manipulated Twitter, Ravikant is now spreading right wing conspiracy theories about the election:
Ravikant apparently turned to Trump after the former president’s criminal trial in New York. Ravikant accused the Democrats of “lawfare” arguing the charges were “trumped up” and part of a broader conspiracy to “weaponize justice”. Ravikant now believes Democrats are a Marxist cult importing voters in from other countries, and if elected, Kamala Harris would end democracy in America.
Ravikant has even been retweeting Elon Musk’s offer to pay people to vote for Donald Trump:
Believing that Democrats seek to destroy democracy, with Trump as the sole savior, requires extraordinary self-deception and deeply flawed logic. But this kind of paranoia is what malevolent characters like Elon Musk (and Donald Trump) are very, very good at eliciting in people. Musk creates and promotes sinister conspiracy theories on Twitter and ensures they bombard people’s timelines. Like Trump, he has created an alternate universe where up is down, left is right, immigrants are eating pets, and Democrats are trying to subvert the 2024 election. If the brightest minds have succumbed to the sinister world constructed by two billionaire malcontents, it shows us just how vulnerable we all are.
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You perfectly captured my feelings on the conflict. Considering all the civilian casualties on both sides, plus the extreme subjugation of women and LGBTQ people in Gaza, and the protests of Bibi within Israel, it would be interesting to see how the likes of Hamas, Bibi, the Taliban, the Islamic Republic, and MAGA all rose to power -- eventually cutting off a majority of citizens from having any control over what their military does, while being fully susceptible to the repercussions. I can only imagine the trouble Trump will get us into on the world stage if he wins again, and every awful thing he does will be a reflection on all Americans.
Excellent article with one exception. There is no doubt that the Palestinians do NOT want a two state solution.