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‘This Time We Went Too Far’

18Feb10

Norman Finkelstein has a new book out on the Gaza massacre. You can pre-order it here.

ThisTimeWeWentTooFar_Flier

I hope to have a review up soon, and an excerpt may be appearing shortly over on New Left Project. For now, here’s a recent debate between Finkelstein and a former advisor to Ariel Sharon:

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Filed under: Israeli / Palestinian, Videos   |  6 Comments
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6 Responses to “‘This Time We Went Too Far’”

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  1. 1 ianganderson on February 19, 2010 said:

    “This Time”? I understand that this is a quotation, but the title sort of sells Israel’s history of repeat human rights abuses short.

    It’s just a title though, and I’m sure the book will be wonderful.

  2. 2 JamieSW on February 19, 2010 said:

    I agree with you about the implications of the title. Finkelstein would too – in talks about ‘Cast Lead’ he has stressed that what was different about Cast Lead (and the 2006 attack on Lebanon) was not the brutality of Israel’s conduct but the extent to which the realities of that brutality were acknowledged and understood around the world (the US in particular). In fact, of course, Israel’s conduct in Gaza last year and Lebanon in 2006 was significantly less destructive than, say, it’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, in which as many as 20,000 people were killed.

    FYI, the title comes from a column by Gideon Levy, which concludes:

    “Is the world hard on Israel? Perhaps. But Israel also enjoys endless preferential treatment. The world acts differently toward us, turns a blind eye to Dimona and is silent about the occupation, and now it no longer wants to keep silent about Gaza. Why? Because this time we went too far. That is not only the world’s right, it is its duty.

    Goldstone began the work, Israel should continue it.”

  3. 3 ianganderson on February 19, 2010 said:

    I should have guessed it was Levy. I also like his “Things One Sees from the Hague” article, where he offers another great quote: “Anytime is good for war in Israel.”

    I can’t help but think also that the title attributes introspection and moderation where there really isn’t any. 90-95% of Israeli Jews supported Operation Cast Lead as it was being undertaken. Has the number changed since? With the acerbic reaction to Goldstone and the current jailing of dissenters and deporting of human rights workers (not to mention blockade on Gaza and a blind eye turned toward illegal settlers), I can’t imagine much is different. “This time we went too far, but we still aren’t accepting responsibility for our barbarity.”

    If I was writing a book about Cast Lead, I couldn’t help but use this quote, by a “Major E” of El Atatra: “I can promise you that throughout the war, there were many times that civilians walked by us and we never shot at them.” This would be appropriate for a very black (and probably unfunny) comedy book.

  4. 4 JamieSW on February 20, 2010 said:

    That is very good quote.

    “Has the number changed since?”

    Yeah, I doubt it. As the attack was winding down some 70% of Israeli Jews wanted it to continue even if Hamas stopped firing rockets, and after the war the prevailing opinion was that the government hadn’t gone far enough, which is why all the candidates were falling over themselves to be the most hawkish in the run-up to the election.

  5. 5 ianganderson on February 23, 2010 said:

    Have you read about the recent comments by Martin Kramer? Here’s an Electronic Intifada article about his call to minimize Palestinian birth rates: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11091.shtml and here is his reaction to this “smear”: http://www.martinkramer.org/sandbox/2010/02/smear-intifada/

    He actually calls EI a “death-to-Israel website.”

    I joined his Facebook group and posted a fairly substantial explanation of his racism and stupidity, and the comment was deleted within two hours. I don’t know if it was Kramer or some administrator, but either way it’s clear he isn’t interested in having a conversation. I guess this is par for the course with Israel supporters, though.

  6. 6 JamieSW on February 23, 2010 said:

    I had seen it, but thanks for the links. I’ve written a short post on it, above.


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