The War Conflict, Version 2021
Rockets are flying into Israel. Hamas and its other terror arms have been bombarding Israel over the past 4 days with an estimated 2000 missiles of various types, sent indiscriminately and killing at least 7 Israelis including a 5 year-old. The purpose of these rockets is to kill civilians – they are not sent against specific military targets – and for Hamas to politically make a statement that it is defending the honor of Islam and Palestinians. It is not to defeat Israel, only to inflict harm on property and people.
Friends who live near Beer-Sheva and have family all over Israel tell us in a letter/email today (May 13, 2021):
All our communities are being bombarded with rockets from Gaza…when we hear the sirens we go to our “safe room” or shelter in our home or wherever…This has been fairly constant – Wednesday 3 am [we] ran to our shelter three times. Children and adults have been killed, homes destroyed, and lives disrupted…The situation is complicated [and] changes from minute to minute…”
As implied by “All our communities…,” the rockets are not just bombarding the south – they are reaching all over Israel, including as far north as the Emek/Jezreel Valley.
Israel, like any government, first and foremost has the responsibility to protect its citizens, and has responded with air attacks on what they believe to be Hamas military targets: missile launchers, Hamas commander operations apartments and offices in civilian locations, terrorist tunnels, surveillance sites, spotters, etc. (You can get a sense of how the Israel Defense Forces characterize these by reviewing the Times of Israel hourly feed site you can find here.)
Unfortunately Israeli attacks on Hamas targets, while narrowly targeted, also cause deaths and injuries of non-combatants who live in the immediate vicinity of the Hamas targets. This type of “collateral damage” (as it is known in war) is minimized by Israelis phoning, texting, and emailing these non-combatants ahead of many of their strikes, but not all get out in time. And in the fog of war missiles go astray.
Anti-Semitism in Albuquerque
Lest we think this conflict doesn’t concern us in Santa Fe, just 60 miles away, in Albuquerque, an Israeli who attends the University of New Mexico was beaten up on Saturday night in what may have been a hate crime. Law enforcement authorities are investigating. You can see the report by the victim’s brother on Facebook here.
What can we do?
- We need to be situationally aware regarding our own and our institutions’ safety – there are plenty of anti-Israel people in Santa Fe, including many who attend the Lannan Foundation, Jewish Voice for Peace, Santa Feans for Justice in Palestine, and other groups which have sponsored antisemitic speakers and acts. Contrary to popular opinion, at least in Santa Fe, these antisemitic institutions come from the radical left, not the reactionary right. Luckily we have many friends in the Christian community who are better versed in what is going on and are pro-Israel.
- Since SFMEW started in 2015 we’ve seen stunts like “murals” on Old Pecos Trail, banners pasted on street light control boxes, conspiratorial antisemitic guests on local radio stations, widely inaccurate accusations against Israel in newspaper op-eds or letters. Report these kinds of stunts and propaganda to the ADL, New Mexico Jewish Federation, and SFMEW as soon as you see them.
- Monitor the Santa Fe New Mexican, the SF Reporter, and local radio stations for factual errors, op-eds/letters which portray the conflict inaccurately, and edited wire feeds in the news section which promotes the narrative of Israel always wronging the Palestinian victims. Respond to them appropriately. You can find out how to through our website (here) or the website of the offending medium.
- Finally, we need to monitor the activities of our elected officials in Congress as to their statements and votes. Over the years most New Mexico Members of Congress (MoC), while usually supportive of Israel, understandably have very little real first-hand experience with Israel or the Middle East; some have been swayed by those who take the pro-Palestinian narrative, which includes denial that Jews have any connection to the Land of Israel. Some non-NM MoCs from “the squad” and their ilk have already come out with flagrant lies about the conflict. A summary of some of these purposely misleading characterizations can be found in a very recent Newsweek column here. Mark Schulman states at the end of his opinion piece:
There is a place for progressive criticism of Israel. But if progressives want to be taken seriously, they must learn that not every Israeli action is wrong or unjustified, and the Palestinians bear significant responsibility for what takes place.
It is fair to criticize Israel’s policies, but not to lie about Israel’s actions. Progressive congresspeople need to do better.
We agree with this conceptually. And we need to let our MoCs know it. You can write to them using the contact information on our website here. There is no shortage of good information; you can be better informed by joining AIPAC or CUFI, and following CAMERA, Times of Israel, etc. (See our list of organizations here.)
It’s easy to feel tired and discouraged trying to keep the media and MoCs informed and pointed in the right direction. But as we’ve said before, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Any action you take will be appreciated by us, Israelis, and Jews and Zionists around the world. Every action, however small, makes an impact.
In our next blog we’ll outline the facts of this conflict, most of which are not being accurately reported or are purposely left out of various wire services. As we know from first hand experience, co-sponsoring speaker Matti Friedman in 2019 who worked for the Associated Press, and from articles such as that of Ari Goldman’s, “Telling It Like It Wasn’t” based on his experience as a reporter for The NY Times, newspapers often take a “frame” or “narrative” that forces reporters into boxes that don’t reflect reality.
SFMEW is a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico.