She is a typical Western lackey of Iran and Qatar (and by extension, China). Her entire discourse is a Western phenomenon and is irrelevant to the Middle East: while she and her pampered Western friends fight about pronouns and hair color, women and homosexuals in the Middle East fight - with guns, not with academic articles - for their very right to exist...
Her discourse is a western phenomenon exclusive to a very specific slice of society - wealthy coastal "progressive" areas that just contributed to Trump's reelection without them realizing it!
Referring to extremism on the Left as a “Western” thing disparages the entirety of Euro-western philosophical evolution, its accomplishments and its efforts to corrects its drastic failures. It serves no purpose to slam an entire philosophy or geographical region that has sought and, for the most part, been successful at ensuring human rights are valued across the board and that institutional structures are built with these progressive principles in mind. They are, of course, susceptible to egomaniacs and extremists whether they are on the Left or Right. Butler - and the sycophants who prop her up with adulation - are an aberration of the intent and evolution of Western traditions. There was time when being “Westernized” also meant thinking slavery was a good thing and almost all Europeans and their descendants agreed devastating the indigenous populations of what are now the Americas and Australia, in particular and engaging in the slave trade, as well as deeming all women as non-persons.That time has, thankfully, passed in Western tradition. It is by no means perfect and still has much work to do, but Butler’s contorted ideology thinking is not in line at all with that trajectory. Neither is extreme capitalism , but that’s for another conversation. I’d rather challenge the crazy of Butler in a “Western” democracy (fragile as it is these days …) than the violent, misogynistic, racist, antisemitic crazy of Jihadism and all forms of fascism in the rest of the world. As it was said, Nothing that is wrong with the United States [and other Western democracies] that cannot be fixed with what is right about it [them]. The same cannot be said for ideologies that begin with a premise of dehumanization, nihilistic violence, greed and/or religious fundamentalism.
Judith Butler spouted out a bunch incoherent gibberish in this little diatribe she spewed out. So let’s start with her first statement. Butler starts by saying “Palestinians deserve equality” which is an empty platitude. What do you mean by “equality?” That’s such a loaded statement. Israel does treat the Palestinian people as equals from what I can tell. The Israel occupation of the West Bank is done as humanely as possible. As is the blockade of Gaza and the Iron Wall. Does she mean because most Palestinians don’t have Israeli citizenship? Because they can get it if they want it. Does she mean because they don’t have a state? That’s on Fatah and Hamas. Like it or not, Israeli security and Palestinian freedom are tied together. She then continues on babbling about how October 7th was bad BUT. No buts it was just bad! Hamas invaded Southern Israel by land, sea and air. Upon infiltrating Israel they shot at drivers on the highway, burned Kibbutzims to the ground, sprayed playgrounds with bullets, beheaded people, looted civilian homes and businesses, kidnapped hundreds and took them back to Gaza, committed mass rape, shot dogs in the head for fun, and slaughtered the most Jews in one day since the Holocaust. She mentions how Oslo failed and that prompted the creation of Hamas. 1) Hamas came around in the 1980s long before Oslo. 2) Oslo failed for a variety of reasons among them Hamas terrorist attacks inside Israel and Yasser Arafat not fully embracing the peace process. He only engaged in it to begin with because he needed American and western aid and because the PLO was isolated from the rest of the Arab world due to their support for Saddam Hussein and Ba’athist Iraq during the Gulf War. Butler than says some Palestinians favor a diplomatic solution. Like who? Any Palestinian liberals or moderates would be in jail, dead or living in the West. I guess she isn’t aware that both Fatah and Hamas crack down hard on political dissenters and Palestinian journalists. Or that hate and violent terrorism is actively taught in UNRWA schools. Oh by the way, Fatah does pay for slay, if their loved one committed an act of terrorism, their family is set for life. Not to say racist and extremist elements don’t exist in Israel. They do and they are a problem. But they are nowhere near as prevalent as extremist groups are in the Palestinian Territories. Jewish extremists who attack Palestinians are human garbage and should be jailed and prosecuted. But their numbers are dwarfed by those of groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the PFLP. Nor do they have the mainstream presence or power these groups do. Judith Butler undoubtedly knows these facts but just simply ignores them. You want diversity & inclusion? You’ll find that in Israel. It is basically like a more compressed United States. How about the West Bank and Gaza? Oh they discriminate against Jews, Christians, women, blacks, gay people, Trans people, and disabled people? Sounds really inclusive! How about the other Arab countries? Oh their all cesspools of racism, sexism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and homophobia too? Hmmm…not looking like Judith’s visions of peace for the Middle East are gonna work so well. Oh yes, Judith the Palestinians and their Arab brothers are just paradigms of love and tolerance. Just ask the Israeli people or Nubians in Egypt, Berbers in Algeria, the Bidoon people in Kuwait, blacks in Sudan, Kurds in Iraq, Syria or Iran, Asian guest workers in the UAE, Shi’ite Muslims in Bahrain, or Hindus or Sikhs in Pakistan. The Arab and Islamic worlds are so welcoming and open-minded! 😉
Even if Butler accepts that the 2017 rewrite is somehow not Jew hating, she conveniently ignores that it still states all of Israel is a euro zionist imperialist and illegitimate state.
Thought experiment: If Butler wants to start a country, they invented a flag already (too many to count). Go for it. Queeristan, or Nonbinaria, or The Country Formerly Known as LGB. Then, when all the mass murdering fuckheads come knocking on their door, we will remind Butler that her country is full of colonizers and they deserved it (while denying any rape occurred). Maybe that would give her empathy?
No, she's not ignoring that aspect of the charter still stating that all of Israel is imperialist and illegitimate - it's precisely what she wants from it, and they gave it to her.
I would support a new state called Nonbinaria. "From the pronouns to the pee, gender fluidity shall be free!"
Anyone who claims the new Hamas covenant is somehow peace seeking has to ignore very hard the reality of October 2023 being the largest genocidal massacre of Jews since the Nazi SS. Anyone in the Free Palestine cult is a habitual liar.
Well, I forward to the couple of progressive anti-Israel friends and/or family members in my orbit. I forward in the hope of changing minds, but it is win/win because when it doesn't change minds, it annoys them immensely.
Excellent post, Jill. Free Palestine cult members are despicable, but above all faculty kooks like Butler are the most immoral of those genocide-celebrating scum.
Yes, but you have forgotten her greatest sin of all time — she is a terrible writer who somehow made the unintelligiblity of her points their greatest merit.
If I may, referring to Butler as “depraved” and “spewing word-vomit” (even if it is true) … is more about venting than swaying. (More Facebook than Substack?)
Of course, venting is 100% legitimate for a personal journal or over brunch with a trusted one who gets it.
My hope is that you want to sway or create at least an indent in a seemingly unmovable object.
For me? I want to be able to share your articles with those who have been unswayable. My aim is that such efforts will, eventually, crack their fragile sense of self-righteousness and which is held together by a structure of damp salt. And that maybe then, we can have a genuine conversation.
I think it would strengthen your reach to refer to her and others like her by using language that does not immediately put the back of her adherents against the wall. I have (had) colleagues who adore her - or at least the mythology of her. This had more to do with deferring to anyone who seems like they are a “disruptor”. And while I do support those who, by nature or by informed choice, identify themselves and wish to be referred to in non-binary ways when it comes to their gender or sexual orientation, you are correct in noting that she leans into that (I would even say stretches her approach for the purpose of the longevity of her own relevance to the point that it is snapping back at everyone she claims to fight for. As you notes, being an “expert” in favour of one thing does not make one an expert on all things (as we have seen with her equally extremist nutter rival, Jordan Peterson).
All this adulation of a single mind that longs so much to be heard and uses rage and contempt is what always gets us into trouble in the first place. It doens’t matter if it’s on the left or right.
Anyway, it would be easier to share your column if it didn’t begin with non sequitur insults (even if they are legitimate to my mind). Cooler, “dispassionate” and intentional language is, in my opinion, a better way to go for the benefit of wider public distribution. Perhaps, channeling the deduction of her idiocy can be made by the reader toward the end and through a Socratic method of inviting the reader to answer some questions and noting that a dynamic approach, ideology and/or society that has been consistent in the evolution and goals of our species to be more humane, more inclusive, more explicitly compassionate, more accountable (even with the occasional breakdowns because, “the arc” of human social evolution has always headed in that direction) is a more logical place in which to invest one’s energy than contorting and subverting one’s personal “progressive” values and claims to support a society that makes excuses for tyranny and anarchy.
As you have referenced, Butler does not distinguish the difference between an intentional tactic of sexual assault (it bears noting that this is a critical part of a terrorist ideology and/or mindset. In the cult of terrorism, there are no limits; there is no accountability except to cult leaders .. who bank on the conditions that create depravity) versus rogue actions that are, as you note and as any democracy-minded person would agree, to be prosecuted. (The hypocritical double-standard that is employed by antisemites, of course, is that any means is acceptable if one is labelled a “freedom fighter” or resistance fighter”. I can think of no one who fought in the Resistance of WW2 who would have agreed that sexual assault would be acceptable. (I also clarify that Jihadist ideology and tactics are akin to Nazism - and not the other way around, lest anyone think that a country defending itself against explicit statements and actions to annihilate it and undermine any and sincere efforts toward peace - thus serving the interests of perpetual violent anarchy - even when its leader is a narcissistic right-wing ahole who Needs. To. Go.)
I think the first question that should always be asked of anyone who claims they are merely critics of ISrael and claim they know what the soul of a Jew is better than the majority of Jews and dispassionate historical facts, is to ask them if they recognize:
There is Jewish Nation, and;
That this Jewish Nation (much like, say, the Italian one or the Mohawk one) have a right to live in peace, with self-determination on their indigenous homeland, without external or internal threats to violently or systemically dismantle them.
That members of this Jewish nation also have the right to live anywhere else without fear of violence, discrimination, abuse, harassment, and, oh ya, genocide (including normalizing speech and taunts of it), etc.
One can then remind them - especially if they disagree that the Jews are a nation - about history - and that there has never been a “Palestinian” nation (which does not preclude the possibility of one, as Israel and others have repeatedly tried to support - even when many thought out the Arab world and among us, as well, have sought to stop, although now it will, undoubtedly, take even longer.)
I would also not limit the framing of Hamas in the context of their formal establishment. Their ideology stretches back longer before 1987, 1972, 1967 and 1948. It also reaches far wider that than Gaza (particularly if they lean on their Islamic roots. Hey, colonialism is colonialism. It’s what you do once you’ve honestly recognized the evilness of it all …). The framing of the dynamic has never been accurately described. It hasn’t been between Gazans or West Bankers (aka Palestinians) and Israelis. It has been between those who seek to annihilate Jews and those who talk about doing so (giving support through supplies, word and/or watching silence).
Since Butler and her ilk like to do their own time warp (and I use “warp” intentionally) for context, then it behoves one to repeatedly recognize that there is a a strong thread of terrorist ideologies rooted and rather un addressed in that part of the planet by people who live there an which has been long-supported by antisemitic ideologies, all buoyed by anti-democratic, pro-autocratic and rigid theocracies in the broader region. Peace deals have come about with those who recognized that persisting with antiquated ideas of what it means to be powerful (i.e., threatening and expressively violent dominance rather than empowerment) are stagnant at best, self-destructive at worst - and fucking exhausting, costly and unsatisfying for the soul.
I loved this paragraph :
“Ladies, gentlemen, and gender non-conformers: raise your hand if you are pro-war. Only a psychopath wants war. That doesn’t mean it’s never necessary. Being “a proponent of non-violence” is a luxury belief reinforced by living in the world’s safer areas. “
I’d re-word this one:
“although I suppose this argument falls apart if we bring up the Iraq War, and maybe a few others backed by the U.S. military industrial complex”
to be less American-centred (not the only imperfect “civilized” country nor the only who has waged war for reasons that have less to do with security or defence against expressed, perceived or verifiable potential threats and more about cynical greed for money/domination/malevolent influence. All of these traits, for better or worse are human traits. It boils down to how one perceives their survival and their value - even if it errs on the side of short-sightedness, deference to constant vengeance, unwavering adherence to static ideologues/ies and the perpetuation of the conditions and/or psychology of victimhood, hate and fear). At the core: a cult of the narcissistic personality.
May I respectfully ask that you consider removing all the fraught and snarky language and just go point by point? (Unless I’ve misunderstood the intention in that. If I have, then am open to a different interpretation.)
Linking the Hamas Charter to the one the PLO put out (I believe article 23 …), would also be helpful in showing the longterm affiliation and mindset. Also and as you did, making note of how they hate LGBTQIA and women as important. I think it would also be helpful to work in that they feed on when those very people makes “exceptions” or utterly ignore their nihilism, antisemitism, misogyny, etc. (and not, as that doofus on SNL claimed, haven’t “got there yet” and blame Jews for them not getting “there”. No one loves a useful idiot as much as a terrorist.
I loved this sentence:
“Butler and her gender studies friends have fooled people into believing that any issue can be viewed through a particular “lens,” and if we interpret everything through that lens, then our interpretations are valid.”
But I don’t think it helps to have the next one … especially because it assumes that using such a lens leads to intellectual or moral failings. I am aware of when I view the world through what one could describe my personalized kaleidoscopic View-Master. My life experiences come into different foci. As I get older, wiser, more curious, more aware, more attentive and, at times, even less accommodating of fundamentalism as much as boundless relativism, I can step into and way from them and engage in thoughts about the world in which we/I live as I look for those patterns that make for a kinder world - and one not naive to think that even kindness, is invincible against malicious intent.
Egos like Butlers are highlighted in the Left-wing version of antisemtism in the exact way that those on the far-right are highlighted. It suits their platform. It plays to their audience. It defines a narrative of thinking expertise, intellectual protist and certainty, when, in fact it only affirms their sense of self-righteous sanctimoniousness and propped -up self-worth at the expense of the betterment of humanity. How very Trumpian of them all.
None of my business and I didn't take the time to read your long advisory but if you have that much within your head and can write out a comment that eloquently write it yourself and don't ask others to rewrite
More generally, Butler wrote Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism, Columbia University Press, New York 2012. I’ve not read it, only the reviews for/against … basically she argues that Jews should’ve continued living in the US diaspora. I don’t know if/how she deals with insecurity in the US for Jews living there, especially since the book was published before the Tree of Life killings in 2018 and 10/7 with the animosity that followed … she described the 10/7 Hamas attacks an 'act of armed resistance’🤦🏻https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/03/15/judith-butler-by-calling-hamas-attacks-an-act-of-armed-resistance-rekindles-controversy-on-the-left_6621775_23.html .
Um, hey, hi …🙋♀️ … as you already know, diasporic Canadian Jew here (other intersectional identifiers include but are not limited to: cisgender female, unapologetic feminist, Gen Xer, leftie, LGBTQIA-ally, etc.)
We Jews live all over (well, maybe not *all over*) the world. I believe it would serve us all better if we stopped framing our shared experience as one that speaks only about the diasporic Jewish population in the U.S. It gives a generally false and geographically and culturally myopic impression that this is the only population that matters outside of Israel.
Platformed people like Butler, Finkelstein (and the late Hobsbawm) - as well as antisemitic goys speak from a place of stunning privilege at a particular extreme point of a very narrow spectrum and they have been controlling the narrative (like their far-right equals) to which we are forced to respond defensively.
I’m inclined to position the Judith Butlers and Norman Finklesteins of the world on the same decayed pedestal of ideological, self-importance as the Stephen Millers, Ben Shapiros and Alan Dershowitzs.
And then, I would pull up the curtain on that stenchy, porous platform to reveal that the Bannons, Farages, LePens, Putins and Maduros’, among many more, including our own extremists in Israel are, unwittingly, doing a really bad can-can to an audience of zombies. Alas, Bernie, is in the wings as an overeager understudy.
Equality. She’s right. If Gaza were a KKK enclave, and Israel was entirely populated with non-Jewish black people, the world would napalmed them from Zikim Beach to Rafah before the sun went down on Oct. 7.
She is a typical Western lackey of Iran and Qatar (and by extension, China). Her entire discourse is a Western phenomenon and is irrelevant to the Middle East: while she and her pampered Western friends fight about pronouns and hair color, women and homosexuals in the Middle East fight - with guns, not with academic articles - for their very right to exist...
Her discourse is a western phenomenon exclusive to a very specific slice of society - wealthy coastal "progressive" areas that just contributed to Trump's reelection without them realizing it!
Referring to extremism on the Left as a “Western” thing disparages the entirety of Euro-western philosophical evolution, its accomplishments and its efforts to corrects its drastic failures. It serves no purpose to slam an entire philosophy or geographical region that has sought and, for the most part, been successful at ensuring human rights are valued across the board and that institutional structures are built with these progressive principles in mind. They are, of course, susceptible to egomaniacs and extremists whether they are on the Left or Right. Butler - and the sycophants who prop her up with adulation - are an aberration of the intent and evolution of Western traditions. There was time when being “Westernized” also meant thinking slavery was a good thing and almost all Europeans and their descendants agreed devastating the indigenous populations of what are now the Americas and Australia, in particular and engaging in the slave trade, as well as deeming all women as non-persons.That time has, thankfully, passed in Western tradition. It is by no means perfect and still has much work to do, but Butler’s contorted ideology thinking is not in line at all with that trajectory. Neither is extreme capitalism , but that’s for another conversation. I’d rather challenge the crazy of Butler in a “Western” democracy (fragile as it is these days …) than the violent, misogynistic, racist, antisemitic crazy of Jihadism and all forms of fascism in the rest of the world. As it was said, Nothing that is wrong with the United States [and other Western democracies] that cannot be fixed with what is right about it [them]. The same cannot be said for ideologies that begin with a premise of dehumanization, nihilistic violence, greed and/or religious fundamentalism.
Butler was one of many philosophers who signed the open letter “Philosophy for Palestine” in November 2023 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N22Q0oCpwmIrCiW6yZYe1JunyPr1Tt0r/view in which there’s no trace of Butler’s usual nuanced arguments, Israel (without any mention of its history) is a “settler colonialist state”. Turkish-born US philosopher Seyla Benhabib wrote this excellent counter to these one-sided arguments https://medium.com/amor-mundi/an-open-letter-to-my-friends-who-signed-philosophy-for-palestine-0440ebd665d8 .
Judith Butler spouted out a bunch incoherent gibberish in this little diatribe she spewed out. So let’s start with her first statement. Butler starts by saying “Palestinians deserve equality” which is an empty platitude. What do you mean by “equality?” That’s such a loaded statement. Israel does treat the Palestinian people as equals from what I can tell. The Israel occupation of the West Bank is done as humanely as possible. As is the blockade of Gaza and the Iron Wall. Does she mean because most Palestinians don’t have Israeli citizenship? Because they can get it if they want it. Does she mean because they don’t have a state? That’s on Fatah and Hamas. Like it or not, Israeli security and Palestinian freedom are tied together. She then continues on babbling about how October 7th was bad BUT. No buts it was just bad! Hamas invaded Southern Israel by land, sea and air. Upon infiltrating Israel they shot at drivers on the highway, burned Kibbutzims to the ground, sprayed playgrounds with bullets, beheaded people, looted civilian homes and businesses, kidnapped hundreds and took them back to Gaza, committed mass rape, shot dogs in the head for fun, and slaughtered the most Jews in one day since the Holocaust. She mentions how Oslo failed and that prompted the creation of Hamas. 1) Hamas came around in the 1980s long before Oslo. 2) Oslo failed for a variety of reasons among them Hamas terrorist attacks inside Israel and Yasser Arafat not fully embracing the peace process. He only engaged in it to begin with because he needed American and western aid and because the PLO was isolated from the rest of the Arab world due to their support for Saddam Hussein and Ba’athist Iraq during the Gulf War. Butler than says some Palestinians favor a diplomatic solution. Like who? Any Palestinian liberals or moderates would be in jail, dead or living in the West. I guess she isn’t aware that both Fatah and Hamas crack down hard on political dissenters and Palestinian journalists. Or that hate and violent terrorism is actively taught in UNRWA schools. Oh by the way, Fatah does pay for slay, if their loved one committed an act of terrorism, their family is set for life. Not to say racist and extremist elements don’t exist in Israel. They do and they are a problem. But they are nowhere near as prevalent as extremist groups are in the Palestinian Territories. Jewish extremists who attack Palestinians are human garbage and should be jailed and prosecuted. But their numbers are dwarfed by those of groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the PFLP. Nor do they have the mainstream presence or power these groups do. Judith Butler undoubtedly knows these facts but just simply ignores them. You want diversity & inclusion? You’ll find that in Israel. It is basically like a more compressed United States. How about the West Bank and Gaza? Oh they discriminate against Jews, Christians, women, blacks, gay people, Trans people, and disabled people? Sounds really inclusive! How about the other Arab countries? Oh their all cesspools of racism, sexism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and homophobia too? Hmmm…not looking like Judith’s visions of peace for the Middle East are gonna work so well. Oh yes, Judith the Palestinians and their Arab brothers are just paradigms of love and tolerance. Just ask the Israeli people or Nubians in Egypt, Berbers in Algeria, the Bidoon people in Kuwait, blacks in Sudan, Kurds in Iraq, Syria or Iran, Asian guest workers in the UAE, Shi’ite Muslims in Bahrain, or Hindus or Sikhs in Pakistan. The Arab and Islamic worlds are so welcoming and open-minded! 😉
Even if Butler accepts that the 2017 rewrite is somehow not Jew hating, she conveniently ignores that it still states all of Israel is a euro zionist imperialist and illegitimate state.
Thought experiment: If Butler wants to start a country, they invented a flag already (too many to count). Go for it. Queeristan, or Nonbinaria, or The Country Formerly Known as LGB. Then, when all the mass murdering fuckheads come knocking on their door, we will remind Butler that her country is full of colonizers and they deserved it (while denying any rape occurred). Maybe that would give her empathy?
No, she's not ignoring that aspect of the charter still stating that all of Israel is imperialist and illegitimate - it's precisely what she wants from it, and they gave it to her.
I would support a new state called Nonbinaria. "From the pronouns to the pee, gender fluidity shall be free!"
"From the pronouns to the pee, gender fluidity shall be free!" made me laugh out loud.
Anyone who claims the new Hamas covenant is somehow peace seeking has to ignore very hard the reality of October 2023 being the largest genocidal massacre of Jews since the Nazi SS. Anyone in the Free Palestine cult is a habitual liar.
Thanks for your excellent and well written articles, which I forward to my progressive Jewish pro Israel friends every time.
Thank you, I so appreciate that!
Well, I forward to the couple of progressive anti-Israel friends and/or family members in my orbit. I forward in the hope of changing minds, but it is win/win because when it doesn't change minds, it annoys them immensely.
Excellent post, Jill. Free Palestine cult members are despicable, but above all faculty kooks like Butler are the most immoral of those genocide-celebrating scum.
Butler’s writings are intersectional word salad
Yes, but you have forgotten her greatest sin of all time — she is a terrible writer who somehow made the unintelligiblity of her points their greatest merit.
That's self-evident without my having to say it.
Of course, I just never let an opportunity to point it out go by
(Jill … another long one .. get that coffee!)
If I may, referring to Butler as “depraved” and “spewing word-vomit” (even if it is true) … is more about venting than swaying. (More Facebook than Substack?)
Of course, venting is 100% legitimate for a personal journal or over brunch with a trusted one who gets it.
My hope is that you want to sway or create at least an indent in a seemingly unmovable object.
For me? I want to be able to share your articles with those who have been unswayable. My aim is that such efforts will, eventually, crack their fragile sense of self-righteousness and which is held together by a structure of damp salt. And that maybe then, we can have a genuine conversation.
I think it would strengthen your reach to refer to her and others like her by using language that does not immediately put the back of her adherents against the wall. I have (had) colleagues who adore her - or at least the mythology of her. This had more to do with deferring to anyone who seems like they are a “disruptor”. And while I do support those who, by nature or by informed choice, identify themselves and wish to be referred to in non-binary ways when it comes to their gender or sexual orientation, you are correct in noting that she leans into that (I would even say stretches her approach for the purpose of the longevity of her own relevance to the point that it is snapping back at everyone she claims to fight for. As you notes, being an “expert” in favour of one thing does not make one an expert on all things (as we have seen with her equally extremist nutter rival, Jordan Peterson).
All this adulation of a single mind that longs so much to be heard and uses rage and contempt is what always gets us into trouble in the first place. It doens’t matter if it’s on the left or right.
Anyway, it would be easier to share your column if it didn’t begin with non sequitur insults (even if they are legitimate to my mind). Cooler, “dispassionate” and intentional language is, in my opinion, a better way to go for the benefit of wider public distribution. Perhaps, channeling the deduction of her idiocy can be made by the reader toward the end and through a Socratic method of inviting the reader to answer some questions and noting that a dynamic approach, ideology and/or society that has been consistent in the evolution and goals of our species to be more humane, more inclusive, more explicitly compassionate, more accountable (even with the occasional breakdowns because, “the arc” of human social evolution has always headed in that direction) is a more logical place in which to invest one’s energy than contorting and subverting one’s personal “progressive” values and claims to support a society that makes excuses for tyranny and anarchy.
As you have referenced, Butler does not distinguish the difference between an intentional tactic of sexual assault (it bears noting that this is a critical part of a terrorist ideology and/or mindset. In the cult of terrorism, there are no limits; there is no accountability except to cult leaders .. who bank on the conditions that create depravity) versus rogue actions that are, as you note and as any democracy-minded person would agree, to be prosecuted. (The hypocritical double-standard that is employed by antisemites, of course, is that any means is acceptable if one is labelled a “freedom fighter” or resistance fighter”. I can think of no one who fought in the Resistance of WW2 who would have agreed that sexual assault would be acceptable. (I also clarify that Jihadist ideology and tactics are akin to Nazism - and not the other way around, lest anyone think that a country defending itself against explicit statements and actions to annihilate it and undermine any and sincere efforts toward peace - thus serving the interests of perpetual violent anarchy - even when its leader is a narcissistic right-wing ahole who Needs. To. Go.)
I think the first question that should always be asked of anyone who claims they are merely critics of ISrael and claim they know what the soul of a Jew is better than the majority of Jews and dispassionate historical facts, is to ask them if they recognize:
There is Jewish Nation, and;
That this Jewish Nation (much like, say, the Italian one or the Mohawk one) have a right to live in peace, with self-determination on their indigenous homeland, without external or internal threats to violently or systemically dismantle them.
That members of this Jewish nation also have the right to live anywhere else without fear of violence, discrimination, abuse, harassment, and, oh ya, genocide (including normalizing speech and taunts of it), etc.
One can then remind them - especially if they disagree that the Jews are a nation - about history - and that there has never been a “Palestinian” nation (which does not preclude the possibility of one, as Israel and others have repeatedly tried to support - even when many thought out the Arab world and among us, as well, have sought to stop, although now it will, undoubtedly, take even longer.)
I would also not limit the framing of Hamas in the context of their formal establishment. Their ideology stretches back longer before 1987, 1972, 1967 and 1948. It also reaches far wider that than Gaza (particularly if they lean on their Islamic roots. Hey, colonialism is colonialism. It’s what you do once you’ve honestly recognized the evilness of it all …). The framing of the dynamic has never been accurately described. It hasn’t been between Gazans or West Bankers (aka Palestinians) and Israelis. It has been between those who seek to annihilate Jews and those who talk about doing so (giving support through supplies, word and/or watching silence).
Since Butler and her ilk like to do their own time warp (and I use “warp” intentionally) for context, then it behoves one to repeatedly recognize that there is a a strong thread of terrorist ideologies rooted and rather un addressed in that part of the planet by people who live there an which has been long-supported by antisemitic ideologies, all buoyed by anti-democratic, pro-autocratic and rigid theocracies in the broader region. Peace deals have come about with those who recognized that persisting with antiquated ideas of what it means to be powerful (i.e., threatening and expressively violent dominance rather than empowerment) are stagnant at best, self-destructive at worst - and fucking exhausting, costly and unsatisfying for the soul.
I loved this paragraph :
“Ladies, gentlemen, and gender non-conformers: raise your hand if you are pro-war. Only a psychopath wants war. That doesn’t mean it’s never necessary. Being “a proponent of non-violence” is a luxury belief reinforced by living in the world’s safer areas. “
I’d re-word this one:
“although I suppose this argument falls apart if we bring up the Iraq War, and maybe a few others backed by the U.S. military industrial complex”
to be less American-centred (not the only imperfect “civilized” country nor the only who has waged war for reasons that have less to do with security or defence against expressed, perceived or verifiable potential threats and more about cynical greed for money/domination/malevolent influence. All of these traits, for better or worse are human traits. It boils down to how one perceives their survival and their value - even if it errs on the side of short-sightedness, deference to constant vengeance, unwavering adherence to static ideologues/ies and the perpetuation of the conditions and/or psychology of victimhood, hate and fear). At the core: a cult of the narcissistic personality.
May I respectfully ask that you consider removing all the fraught and snarky language and just go point by point? (Unless I’ve misunderstood the intention in that. If I have, then am open to a different interpretation.)
Linking the Hamas Charter to the one the PLO put out (I believe article 23 …), would also be helpful in showing the longterm affiliation and mindset. Also and as you did, making note of how they hate LGBTQIA and women as important. I think it would also be helpful to work in that they feed on when those very people makes “exceptions” or utterly ignore their nihilism, antisemitism, misogyny, etc. (and not, as that doofus on SNL claimed, haven’t “got there yet” and blame Jews for them not getting “there”. No one loves a useful idiot as much as a terrorist.
I loved this sentence:
“Butler and her gender studies friends have fooled people into believing that any issue can be viewed through a particular “lens,” and if we interpret everything through that lens, then our interpretations are valid.”
But I don’t think it helps to have the next one … especially because it assumes that using such a lens leads to intellectual or moral failings. I am aware of when I view the world through what one could describe my personalized kaleidoscopic View-Master. My life experiences come into different foci. As I get older, wiser, more curious, more aware, more attentive and, at times, even less accommodating of fundamentalism as much as boundless relativism, I can step into and way from them and engage in thoughts about the world in which we/I live as I look for those patterns that make for a kinder world - and one not naive to think that even kindness, is invincible against malicious intent.
Egos like Butlers are highlighted in the Left-wing version of antisemtism in the exact way that those on the far-right are highlighted. It suits their platform. It plays to their audience. It defines a narrative of thinking expertise, intellectual protist and certainty, when, in fact it only affirms their sense of self-righteous sanctimoniousness and propped -up self-worth at the expense of the betterment of humanity. How very Trumpian of them all.
None of my business and I didn't take the time to read your long advisory but if you have that much within your head and can write out a comment that eloquently write it yourself and don't ask others to rewrite
More generally, Butler wrote Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism, Columbia University Press, New York 2012. I’ve not read it, only the reviews for/against … basically she argues that Jews should’ve continued living in the US diaspora. I don’t know if/how she deals with insecurity in the US for Jews living there, especially since the book was published before the Tree of Life killings in 2018 and 10/7 with the animosity that followed … she described the 10/7 Hamas attacks an 'act of armed resistance’🤦🏻https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/03/15/judith-butler-by-calling-hamas-attacks-an-act-of-armed-resistance-rekindles-controversy-on-the-left_6621775_23.html .
I will happily continue to live in the U.S. diaspora - and will ensure that the Jewish state thrives while I do so!
Um, hey, hi …🙋♀️ … as you already know, diasporic Canadian Jew here (other intersectional identifiers include but are not limited to: cisgender female, unapologetic feminist, Gen Xer, leftie, LGBTQIA-ally, etc.)
We Jews live all over (well, maybe not *all over*) the world. I believe it would serve us all better if we stopped framing our shared experience as one that speaks only about the diasporic Jewish population in the U.S. It gives a generally false and geographically and culturally myopic impression that this is the only population that matters outside of Israel.
Platformed people like Butler, Finkelstein (and the late Hobsbawm) - as well as antisemitic goys speak from a place of stunning privilege at a particular extreme point of a very narrow spectrum and they have been controlling the narrative (like their far-right equals) to which we are forced to respond defensively.
I’m inclined to position the Judith Butlers and Norman Finklesteins of the world on the same decayed pedestal of ideological, self-importance as the Stephen Millers, Ben Shapiros and Alan Dershowitzs.
And then, I would pull up the curtain on that stenchy, porous platform to reveal that the Bannons, Farages, LePens, Putins and Maduros’, among many more, including our own extremists in Israel are, unwittingly, doing a really bad can-can to an audience of zombies. Alas, Bernie, is in the wings as an overeager understudy.
It’s just bigotry dressed up with abstract language. Very redolent of contemporaneous cheer leading for Stalin and Mao.
A member of Substack threatened to murder a “Kike” and use his skin to decorate his home and Substack did nothing about it.
https://substack.com/@guidelinesnotenforced/note/c-88687078?r=569wkl&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I deserve a Bentley
Equality. She’s right. If Gaza were a KKK enclave, and Israel was entirely populated with non-Jewish black people, the world would napalmed them from Zikim Beach to Rafah before the sun went down on Oct. 7.
The ceasefire is great news. Hopefully neither side tries to weasel out of it.
That’s Judith Butler? Woof
Yup. They all should get the same caliber bullet between the eyes