Anti-Israel sentiments seem to be becoming more commonplace on both the left and right.
By Paul Brian, The American Conservative
Egypt’s recent brokering of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas comes as the devastation of the most recent 11 days of war stacks up: 253 Palestinians dead according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, including 66 children, 39 women, and 17 seniors, as well as 1,948 injuries, while Hamas fired over 3,150 rockets at Israel, killing 13 and injuring several hundred. The bulk of Hamas’s strikes were stopped by Israel’s effective Iron Dome defense system. Israel has also made over 1,550 arrests of activists and protesters.
In late 2019 I spent around five weeks in Israel and the Palestinian territories reporting and traveling. I was mainly in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Hebron.
In my time in Israel, I found the country to basically be a narrow strip of land with ultra-modern, clean cities and brash, no-nonsense people. The prevailing atmosphere was one of getting on with business, with sky-high prices and an attitude of living in one of the world’s best countries. In general, Israel struck me as a military base disguised as a country; the presence of many soldiers carrying automatic weapons in public and on buses didn’t faze me, but then again I’m not Palestinian. I experienced none of the tribal solidarity or dynamic cultural life I expected to find, and the society just seemed like a high-tech offshoot of California or Florida.
