The Jerusalem Post has deleted this article but thankfully it had been archived.
I can’t reconcile
Israel has slowly settled additional territory
with
There is no excuse for terrorism
The IDF is stealing land, making people homeless, burning crops, murdering Palestinians, and so on.
What is an appropriate response in your view?
I understand the sentiment, but does that really justify killing innocent civilians at a music event?
The IDF just murdered your family, razed your house, and torched your crops. You are now homeless and alone, you can’t travel and you’re broke. What is your next course of action?
I’m not a “Israel deserved Oct 7th” person because I think that lends itself to the idea that the victims of the atrocities committed on Oct 7 deserved it. I don’t think they did. I do think Israel as a nation brought it upon themselves in the sense that they have been oppressing the Palestinians for however many years, and if they hadn’t been, the event wouldn’t have happened.
Norman Finkelstein put it in a pretty interesting way – atrocities were committed on Oct 7, but he would not condemn a violent outburst by people who were born in a concentration camp. He urged leniency and grace that would normally be afforded to people who were born into such conditions and who proceeded to commit unspeakable acts.