Compendium of Writings on the October 7 War and Western Reactions to it
Today is the one year anniversary of the horrific October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The resulting war continues. I wish there was something I could say to ease the pain of the victims of the attack, and their families. But that task is far beyond my very limited eloquence.
Still, over the past year I have written pieces on various aspects of the conflict and the reaction to it in the West, that may be of interest. This post is a compilation of them. I haven’t written as much about this conflict as the Russia-Ukraine War. But there is enough to be worth compiling.
I hold a somewhat unusual combination of views on the conflict. I am no great fan of the present Israeli government, or of the ideology of Zionism (the latter because of my general opposition to ethno-nationalism). Yet I nonetheless hope Israel wipes out Hamas and deals a decisive defeat to its other adversaries, as well. For all its serious flaws from the standpoint of liberal values, Israel is incomparably superior to its enemies.
A small anecdote can help illustrate the point. In December, I am scheduled to be a visiting professor at Uriel Reichman University in Israel. One of the meetings tentatively planned is one with Arab Israeli legal academic Mohammed Wattad; since we last met in 2016, he has become the president of one of the country’s major universities.
Can you imagine a Jew leading any major institution under the rule of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, or even the Palestinian Authority? The question answers itself. Indeed, a Jew probably could not even remain alive for long under these regimes. Hamas and Hezbollah severely repressive even towards Arab Muslims who dare dissent from the rulers’ quasi-medieval theocracy.
As Wattad will likely remind me, Arabs still face considerable discrimination in Israel. That is wrong, and deserves condemnation. But the rule of Hamas, Hezbollah and the PA is vastly worse. Arabs under Israeli rule not only have more rights than ethnic and religious minorities under the control of Israel’s enemies; they even have more rights than do Arab (or Iranian) Muslims under the latter regimes. Things are worse for West Bank Palestinians than Arab Israelis. But even they are unlikely to be better off with a Hamas victory that would put them under the rule of a brutal theocratic dictatorship.
In any conflict, I prefer the victory of the side that better approximates liberal democratic values—at least in situations where there is a meaningful difference between the two. In this case, there is no question that side is Israel.
Without further ado, here are links to my writings on the post-October 7 confl
Article from Reason.com
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