The Retiree, Episode 9: Israel

Marty Nemko

Israel surrounded.

I failed to find my first post-retirement relationship no matter what I did: apps, set-ups, dancing, even serendipity. So I decided that maybe the world is telling me that for now at least, I needed to turn my attention elsewhere.

So, I thought, “What’s the most different thing I could do?” I decided to go solo to Israel. Especially in the Times’ and CNN’s prominent photos, they tend to make Israel seem like a monster, destroying everything in its path and beyond. That seemed odd — a people that have contributed so much that’s peaceable—women’s rights — the only Democracy in the Middle East — plus GPS that keeps me from getting lost, and yeah, the cardiac stents that my doctor says I may need. So I thought it would be instructive and fun to go to Israel and talk unfiltered with Israeli and Palestinian people.

Of course, getting there was a pain but I’ll spare you the details. There, while I heard interesting points on both sides, what was new for me were perspectives I hadn’t seen much in the Times or CNN. One conversation was particularly instructive.

In a cafe in Tel Aviv, I saw a woman reading a sociology textbook. She was about 50, so I assumed she was a professor, and she was. After a bit of small talk, I asked, “Is there anything I should know about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that might not appear in print?”

I should have realized that if you ask a professor a question, you’re going to get a lecture, and I did:

“A lot doesn’t appear in print but should. Imagine that a nuclear Mexico and its terrorist proxies were committed to destroying the U.S. “from the river to the sea.” And Mexico was sending thousands of rockets and terrorists into the U.S, deliberately targeting civilians, including on buses, weddings, even a music festival for peace. Wouldn’t you set up checkpoints to search for bombs? Wouldn’t you refuse to give land to Mexico, especially land on a hill overlooking a city, which would be a good launchpad for more bombing, like the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed only after it was attacked in the 1967 War? Wouldn’t you preempt a nuclear attack? Well, that’s what Israel is doing.”

I asked, “But we hear that Israel is a colonizer and the Arabs are merely fighting to get their land back.” More lecture. She laughed,

“Forget that the Jews were in “Palestine” since antiquity. And forgive me, I’m a professor, so as I talk, I’ll pull out sources on my laptop, so you can see. Thousands of Jews that were facing oppression settled in Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th century, where only a small number of Arabs lived, many nomadic. Arabs were attracted to the area because the Jews had figured out how to quell malaria epidemics and developed irrigation “to make deserts bloom,” growing food, for example, groves of oranges. In 1917, the British issued the Balfour Declaration, a statement of support that Palestine should be a Jewish homeland. In 1948, the United Nations, citing the need for a Jewish safe haven from antisemitism culminating in the Holocaust, called for a two-state solution: an independent Israel and an independent Palestine, side by side. The Jews agreed, but that very day, the Arabs started bombing Israel. In 1992, the Israelis agreed to the Oslo Accords, which gave land to the Palestinians in exchange for recognizing the State of Israel, but the violence continued, indeed accelerated. In 2005, in the face of continued Arab bombing, Israel, eager for peace, unilaterally gave the Palestinians 96% of what they asked for, on the West Bank and Gaza. The Arabs signed but violated the peace by continuing to fire thousands of rockets at Israelis and doing little to quell the terrorism. That, of course, culminated in October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Israeli civilians, including babies, and gang-raped, killed, and even sexually mutilated cadavers. They also took 250 hostages. Of course, Israel retaliated in a big way for retribution and to preempt further attacks. Meanwhile, Hamas, the government elected by the Palestinian people, continues to vow, by charter, to destroy the Jews and make Israel 100% Muslim, “from the river to the sea.” And Hamas continues to enjoy strong support from the Palestinian electorate. And now, the International Atomic Energy Agency cited Iran for violating its promise to develop nuclear power only for peaceful energy uses, whereupon Iran responded by increasing its nuclear capability. And now, Israel is trying to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability. CNN and the Times should be glad but seem to at least as often continue to do Hamas’s bidding, for example, showing pictures of wailing Palestinians. Some such images and videos are deliberate disinformation, for example, AI-generated or staged using “crisis actors.” Fact: The Israelis try to avoid civilians, even warning them to leave the area near a Hamas arsenal while Iran and its terrorist proxies deliberately target Israeli civilians. Tellingly, Hamas hides its terrorists and arsenal under schools, mosques, and hospitals, leaving innocent Palestinians to be human shields in violation of international law, perhaps to die when Israel attacks, despite Israel warning civilians to leave. Israel’s retaliations have the lowest civilian-to-combatant ratio in history. I have not seen that in the Times or CNN, perhaps because it’s not there or is buried on inside pages, unlike the aforementioned front-page, above-the-fold pictures.”

I asked, “Look, the whole world is against Israel, even seeming to prefer burka-centric Arab countries that kill LGBTs. Even many American LGBTs support them over Israel. Can the whole world be wrong? She said,

“I’m a professor of sociology and even here in Israel, we acknowledge that a liberal priority is intersectionality: the banding together of “oppressed” groups such as Palestinians. That ends up creating strange bedfellows such as gays supporting Muslim causes even if Muslim governments or clerics would kill them. The double standard is telling: The Left says nothing about Muslim’s anti-LGBT actions nor even feminist issues like Muslim countries routinely performing clitorectomies and forcing women to wear burkas and hijabs, yet assail and boycott Israel, the Middle East’s main champion of civil rights. To wit, 21% of Israelis are Arabs, citizens with all rights, serving in all jobs, including in the Knesset (Senate) and Supreme Court. Genocide? That’s the deliberate attempt to destroy a people. Well, the reality is that the Arab population in Israel has, in the 21st century, doubled.”

I asked, “So what’s the answer?

“We cannot expect the 2,000-year enmity between Arabs and Jews to go away, especially when tiny Israel is surrounded. Traditionalists laugh but I believe the only answer is what I call New Israel: Instead of the U.S. supplying billions in military aid to Israel, it should cede an Israel-size sliver of the massive forestland just north of New York City, which is home to three times as many Jews as Jerusalem, and encourage and perhaps subsidize Israeli Jews who are willing to take the next step in the never-ending Jewish diaspora: emigrate to New Israel. I believe that only New Israel will stop the killing.”

I left Israel with plenty to think about. Notwithstanding the professor showing me those links, I suspect that a pro-Palestinian could whip out other citations, but I welcomed hearing that person because I had mainly been getting the other side.

A trip is one thing, but what’s next for me? On the plane, I had a dream. I’ll tell you about it.

I read this aloud on YouTube.

All of this series’ episodes are or will be on my channel here: www.medium.com/@mnemko

Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach, and author of 35 books including Senior Stories. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com