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The Israel-Hamas war and the long-standing tensions in the region are a remarkably complicated matter, historically, politically, intellectually and emotionally. The visceral realities and sensitivities involved can be hard for outsiders to navigate.
Since the Oct. 7 attacks, our op-ed contributors have spoken with passion and intellectual rigor about the war and related issues.
Here, in excerpts, is a look back at some of the best of them.
Oct. 31: Kenneth Seeskin, ‘Why do Jewish people elicit so much hatred?’
As things stand, hatred of the Jewish people is one of the few things the radical right and the radical left can agree on. If Adolf Hitler thought Jews were the epitome of communism, Karl Marx, who was of Jewish ancestry, thought they were the epitome of capitalism. Following the barbarism and ferocity of Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 34 student organizations at Harvard University signed a letter holding Israel “entirely responsible” for the violence. Alternatively, the leader of a far-right group praised Hamas with the words, “Come on, guys, it’s time to dance! Get those Jews!”
Antisemitism is of course a complex phenomenon. The simple answer for what lies behind it is that Jews are a religious and cultural minority who insist on maintaining their own identity. Given the possibility of converting to Christianity or Islam, they chose to remain Jewish. Given the possibility of assimilating into a modern, secular culture, they chose to retain their ancient customs. To some, their stubbornness is profoundly insulting: “How dare they not believe what I believe, eat what I eat or celebrate what I do? They must think they are better than I am, and therefore I hate them.”
The sad truth is that when hatred becomes part of a person’s worldview, it tends to dominate everything else.
Nov. 1: Avital Peres Rachmilevitch, ‘At my home in Israel, I feel crushed by the weight of grief’
I feel guilty. Guilty for my privilege. I live in a place where I can let my kids go and play in the yard because, if we hear a siren, we have 90 seconds to get to a shelter (90 seconds and not 60 or 30 or 15). Just far enough away from Gaza that rockets are less likely to land here and underground tunnels can’t easily reach here. Just far enough from the sea. Just far enough from the Lebanese and Syrian borders.
I’m devastated. Crushed that this is how it had to go down. The terrorists won, and the rest of us lost. Everyone in this loud, hot, cramped corner of the globe is losing. Likewise, everyone on the outside who is at all connected to this place. Everyone in the world who dreams of an independent Palestine alongside an independent Israel is losing. Sanity and patience and tolerance are losing. Only the haters are winning. They will come out of this feeling vindicated and self-righteous. The rest of us will be left with our fear, burying our dead and licking our wounds.
Nov. 3: Dana Elborno, ‘The unending nightmare of being a Palestinian American with family in Gaza’
Legal experts from the Center for Constitutional Rights have described what is happening in Gaza right now as an “unfolding genocide against the Palestinian people” amid “U.S. complicity.” In a matter of three weeks, Israeli airstrikes fully or partially destroyed 38,200 to 44,500 buildings in the Gaza Strip, including a quarter in northern Gaza. More than 1 million people were suddenly made homeless, thousands have been killed and thousands more have been brutally injured.
On Oct. 27, Israel cut off all internet and cellphone communications from Gaza. For 34 hours, as the airstrikes intensified all over the north and south, Gaza was completely offline. We had no contact or reassurances from family until early in the morning on Oct. 29. Watching our family in these circumstances is a state of emergency.
Palestinian Americans with family in Gaza are all experiencing a present and repetitive traumatic stress disorder. We desperately post and protest, pleading to anyone who will listen, “Our families are there!” Our nieces and nephews are scared, hungry, thirsty and above all confused why this is happening to them. Our sisters and brothers write the names of their children on each of their limbs in case their faces become unidentifiable, or bodies dismembered from the weapons that might be dropped on them at any moment.
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Nov. 10: Rabbi Seth M. Limmer, ‘Will Americans see a Kristallnacht happen here?’
Since the Oct. 7 attacks, there has been a 400% increase in antisemitic incidents, year over year, from 2022. (And 2022 was already the worst year of recent record.) These are scary times.
On this commemoration of Kristallnacht, I am reminded that it was not just Adolf Hitler’s forces that perpetrated the violence but also ordinary citizens. There are few, if any, historic reports of non-Jewish German citizens who tried to prevent or mitigate the rampaging night of broken glass. Jews were left to fend for themselves.
I am glad to say that such is not entirely the case here in Chicago. Communally, many of those who have been allies of the Jewish community have remained supportive; personally, most of my Christian clergy colleagues call and check in with me on a regular basis. My Muslim partners on the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes likewise have shared concerns about the rise in hate both our communities are experiencing.
It really matters when those who aren’t Jewish stand up for and defend those of us who are. To be under attack is bad enough; to have to defend yourself with few or no vocal allies is not only dispiriting but also impossible.
Nov. 14: Sara Haghdoosti, ‘We must not repeat post-9/11 Islamophobia in our discourse on the Israel-Hamas war’
Right now, we are facing a highly sensitive moment in which one horrific war in Gaza could spread into a regional conflict with direct or indirect U.S. support or involvement. We need clear debate, the ability to dissent without being criminalized and the consistent condemnation of accusations of “terrorist sympathies” against critics, especially Muslim Americans. These false attacks on the very dissent and debate we so desperately need are a clear echo of what we heard all too often during the global war on terror. We know the cost of silence, and the price is far too high.
Chicago Tribune Opinion
The immediate focus must be saving lives. Using Islamophobic and racist tropes, even accidentally, in ways that silence debate, on a public stage, prevents that from happening — both in Gaza and here in the United States. When events are fast-moving, many officials often make mistakes. However, the number of times these mistakes have happened and continue to occur by the Biden administration while the threats of violence and censorship of communities continue to increase is unacceptable and creates the appearance of not caring enough to hold themselves to a higher standard.
Dec. 11: Craig M. Klugman, ‘Colleges must require training that fights antisemitism’
Most colleges and universities do not include antisemitism in their diversity training. Only 18.1% of college students in the (Anti-Defamation League) survey stated that they had any anti-antisemitism training. One reason is that Titles VI and IX prohibit violations of civil rights in higher education, but these federal laws did not include religious categories when they were enacted. That changed in 2004 when the U.S. Department of Education raised concerns about religious discrimination. Only in the past six months has the federal government explicitly instructed colleges and universities to address antisemitism. In May, the Department of Education released an antisemitism awareness campaign. In November, the White House announced an initiative to address the sudden rise in antisemitism in higher education as well.
Some existing (diversity, equity and inclusion) trainings across the country have been called out for their explicit anti-Jewish positions. One mandated DEI training at my university began by talking about an “Israeli Jewish genocide of Palestinian people,” a statement rooted in memes and not fact. When complaints were filed with the university, the investigation found that “no reasonable person” would find such language problematic. As one colleague has written, our university may not have our back.
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Dec. 17: Storer H. Rowley, ‘Extremists on both sides of Israel-Hamas War are determined to kill a two-state solution’
Today, new extremists on both sides are determined to drive nails into any possible peaceful resolution to the conflict and the dream of a two-state solution. President Joe Biden must not let that happen. Too much is at stake. The impact of the brutal war raging in the destitute Gaza Strip echoes way beyond the Middle East and could radicalize a new generation of terrorists. ...
(President Joe) Biden needs to start working forcefully now to outline that vision and build support for it among Israelis and Palestinians, as well as allies in the region and around the globe. Both sides must see a horizon with hope, security and justice, or they will face endless violence, war and death. There is no military solution to this conflict. Only a two-state endgame offers a viable, long-term political solution that could one day work — even if, after all this trauma, it takes years to happen.
The president should lay out the strategy in a prime-time Oval Office address and call on moderate Arab states, the European Union and the (United Nations) for support.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.