Good April Fools morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Coffee is black, and hot.
April 1 was the day I got my legal resident status, back in 2009. And it was no joke. Of course the irony was not lost on me, yet the path to citizenship was clear and here I am today, a first generation immigrant in America. People don’t realize it. I am a white European. I “belong”.
It was always my perception that we are all immigrants here, no matter the generation, and this truth is so often forgotten. Forgotten to the point where some of us believe we were not colonizers, once. Yet some of us are descendants of those who lived in the original colonies. They are referred to as such. The Thirteen Colonies.
Come to think of it, considering this is taught in school, it’s pretty rich those kids protesting Israel, calling it a colonial power, seem to overlook this.
The last colonial power in Palestine was the same we once were subjected to: Great Britain. Of course they didn’t call it a colony, but that’s what a protectorate is, minus the colonists in enough numbers to justify its precise definition as such.
The practical effect is pretty much the same, though. I wonder how many of those kids shouting for global intifada in the streets know this. I wonder how many of them even care.
They’re just kids. We know that. Just as the ones massacred at the Nova festival were. The difference between them is this: after 10/7, I have not heard of one single Nova survivor calling for the extermination of Palestinians, while in America, and around the world, the privileged kids in the streets are calling for the extinction of Israel. Think about that, for a minute.
Today, as I write these words, @lisaaronowatelier is at the site of the Nova festival. She sent me a few photos. She placed a little rock for me on one of the memorials set for the victims. I wish I could have done it myself.
The survivors cry, born of the indescribable pain and suffering of October 7, is “we will dance again”. No hate, no violence, no revenge. Just the sincere wish they may one day dance again.
In contrast, their brainless privileged counterparts in America call for the death of Jews. What they are calling for is that those survivors may never dance again, may never be happy again. Such a despicable thing to express. Such a heartless and hateful thing to feel, even considering the fact that suffering was since imposed on Gaza, as a consequence of the war Hamas started. That’s no excuse.
I feel the pain in the heart of Israel for the ones they lost on that terrible day in October, I never once called for the extermination of Palestinians, even if I know many of them, in Gaza, support Hamas. I feel deeply for those suffering the consequences of war, but I don’t believe calling for the destruction of Israel is the answer either. I know these extremes exist, but the truth is very few among those pro Israel feel this way, while many, most even, of those pro Palestine do.
Someone on Threads mentioned the infection of these pro Palestine mobs by the hate spewed by Hamas. It feels that way, like a disease. Where does it come from, all this hate towards Jews? It’s rooted in antisemitic currents that were never washed away, revived by a few malicious actors, and embraced by millions. And suddenly, in the aftermath of 10/7, instead of grieving those lost to Hamas violence, supporting the unconditional defeat of Hamas, and a quick end to the war, here we are.
None of those things matter to these soulless ghouls shouting “from the river to the sea”, for the death of Jews all over the world (for that is what global intifada means), and insulting, harassing, assaulting, and killing Jews, not in the name of Palestine, but in their own name. With their own antisemitic hate.
It makes me physically sick to watch these disgraceful people shouting hateful, thoughtless words against those who still try to reason with them.
There’s a short video taken in New York City by @_danielbraun (I will post the link at the end of this string) where he confronted a crowd of pro Palestine protesters with a simple concept:
Let’s stop teaching our children to hate and kill.
He was trying to engage with dialogue, starting from a self evident perspective, but he was met with disbelief, and eventually, towards the end, with the usual hysterical yelling. There is no chance of dialogue with these people.
They are impervious to facts and reason, and blinded by hate. And since almost all of them have no real skin in the game, one can assume this hate comes from self loathing alone. They get no sympathy from me. The fact they hate their pathetic lives is no excuse. They support those who would slit their throats in a second, who see them as trash. Only privilege allows such mindless behavior, they are well aware of it, so in the darkness of their souls, they hate themselves more for it.
Yesterday I told you I choose hope over hate, and I do it every day, but I also choose to close my door on these haters. Nothing good comes from engaging with them, so I denounce them, I expose them whenever I can, and I do my part to remove their discourse from our lives. Not engaging cannot mean not recognizing them, we can’t ignore them, for they represent a clear and present danger to us all.
Yesterday, during the celebration of Easter at St. Patrick’s cathedral in New York City, pro Palestinian protesters disrupted the ceremony inside the cathedral. A Catholic holy place. Not Jewish. They were promptly expelled. So, yes, they are coming for us all, not just the Jews, make no mistake about it.
Watching the scenes from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if some protesters, for whatever reason, disrupted a Muslim ceremony inside a mosque.
I am pretty sure all the rabid Palestine defenders would have a complete meltdown, should anyone have tried to disrespect a Muslim holy place like that. We’d never hear the end of it. But like all things demonstrative of their hate, and all things happening here and in Israel that show clearly who is right and who is wrong, this incident never made the news.
Hate is all around us, we can’t ignore it. But we can, we must, choose hope. 178 days after October 7, there is a little rock by a memorial of one of the Nova festival victims, at the place where she lost her life. It was placed there in my name. It’s my very small way of being present, and remembering the beautiful young lives lost that day. And it is my hope that many more kids, here and around the world, raise their voices against those who choose hate.
Today, April 1, it is my wish that those kids who feel pain in their hearts for those taken from us at the Nova festival, may raise their voices over the hateful ones. Not in anger, but in hope. And may they proclaim in one voice that they too shall one day dance again.
It is perhaps foolish of me to wish for such a thing, but it is nevertheless my wish, today.
That we may dance again. One day.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Link to Daniel Braun’s Instagram video HERE.
