If I were favoured with the opportunity to visit Israel at this moment in its history, a moment at which both the ICJ and the UN's Special Rapporteur have found grounds to suspect it of the ultimate crime, I'd be weary of repeating the claims it makes in justification.
I'd be especially weary of its narrative of mass rape. You cite, in support, a UN paper which, if anything, contradicts it. At any rate, it declares "unfounded" more claims than it affirms, and even suggests -- see paragraph 65 -- that an Israeli bomb squad staged or faked a rape scene. The most it can find to say in the opposite direction is that there are "reasonable grounds" for certain stories. But as Chloe Baszanger-Marnay told journalists at the press conference which launched the report: "On Be'eri, just to clarify, what we found was that there were two allegations we looked into that were unfounded. And they're very well described in the reports and you'll recognize them because they were highly publicised in the press. The rest we could not verify. So no, we could not verify any sexual violence in Be'eri at this point."
I would submit, respectfully, that you've misrepresented her work.
I would also submit (with somewhat less respect) that it's downright RolandPerryesque of you to cite that paper for two episodes it doesn't even mention, let alone corroborate. "Among those taken to Gaza," you write in your summary, "were a woman knifed in the back every time she flinched whilst being violated, and a woman whose breast was cut off for the amusement of a mob then gradually 'shredded to pieces.'"
The second story, as the merest word search will show, is from the New York Times, not the Office of the SRSG-SVC (but not even the Times uses the phrase "shredded to pieces": Where on earth did you get that?). It's from an article, moreover, that the newspaper is walking back, in response to some pointed and well-supported criticism. Its source, identified only as "Sapir," also claims that she saw "terrorists carrying the severed heads of three more women," but of course, there is no evidence for the decapitation of any female on October 7.
I've read your compatriot Phillip Knightley's imperishable book The First Casualty times enough to be weary of atrocity stories. It's the merest truism that they're often fabricated, and that the purpose of the fabrication is to justify very real atrocities "in response." It sure looks like that's what's going on here. What a pity to find you, of all people, participating in it. I can't begin to square this with your laudable defence of Usman Khawaja and his peace advocacy earlier in the summer.
Rodney
PS: Hamas's crimes are quite enormous enough. They need no exaggeration.
Was there a moment where you stopped to consider whether the antidote to "think-alike writer's festivals" was a carefully curated, sponsored, one-sided junket? Why is the skepticism from the traumas in Gaza not equally shared here?
Why visit Israel? Why not the Uighurs,or Chad? What have you done besides throw cheap barbs of "what-aboutism" at those trying to do something somewhere else.
Feels like a shallow self-justification. You're an incredible writer, but a shameless person.
“No journalist could resist an opportunity to go. It was a sponsored trip[…]”
On the contrary, I’d contend that no journalist would entertain such an opportunity for even a second. “There was no pressure on me to write anything” — what good fortune for the sponsors, then, that this was nevertheless the result!
No thinking person could at this point claim ignorance of Israel’s crimes — an illegal military occupation extending past 66 years, an apartheid state so explicit that even the most recalcitrant human rights organisations have long since labeled it such, illegal settlements sponsored by the government annexing de facto Palestinian territory, and now carrying out a blatantly genocidal war which has killed tens of thousands and produced the biggest worldwide public protests since the Iraq War. Anyone who accepts invitation to a trip sponsored by the government responsible knows exactly what they are signing up for, and evidently has no qualms in signing up. We know that journalists writing of apartheid South Africa have had their works appropriately judged by history.
I wouldn’t have presumed to speculate about Mr Haigh’s thoughts on the situation in Palestine, but I wouldn’t have predicted in a million years that he would attend a sponsored trip such as he did, to produce a work such as this. And so, gobsmacked and heartbroken, I pick my jaw up off the floor, and take my leave from this corner of the internet.
The stories of the pain of those who lost family and friends on October 7th are saddening. The same anguish has no doubt been experienced by the families and friends of the THIRTY THOUSAND Gazans lost since. To ignore them is to deny the truth of what Israel is doing.
Mr Haigh writes
"Israel's detractors are loath to acknowledge the company they are keeping and innocents continue to die"
Maybe he should have written "Israel's apologists are loath to acknowledge the company they are keeping and innocents continue to die" (and if you need me to spell it out) in much greater numbers than those that died on October 7th.
I'll use different wording if you like . Devastating! Horrific!
It doesn't alter the fact that what the Israelis are doing is just as devasting / horrific or more so. THIRTY THOUSAND people dead. More than a million facing starvation due to Israeli actions / inactions.
"As though they died of natural causes."
Israel and its apologists are so caught up in what happened on October 7th they are dismissive of the plight of the people in Gaza.
If you want to watch horror video footage watch the IDF shooting innocent people in cold blood and then abusing the bodies with earth moving equipment.
If you are interested in the truth don't follow Isralei propoaganda read other news sources. More UN workers have been killed in Gaza than any other conflict. Journalists (other than those on Israel sponsored propaganda trips) have been targetted by the IDF. Hospitals have been attacked. Medical equipment destroyed.
What happened on October the 7th was horrible. What has been happening since is even worse!
Did it cross your mind for a second that on your travels through israel, that you have more freedom of movement through the territories than those whose families had lived in this region for generations, did it ever occur that you are being used as a pawn in israel’s war of information?
I'm ... speechless. Appalled by the quotidian tone... I'm... my heart just broke reading one of my favourite authors write this piece. Much like Judith Butlers piece in the aftermath of Oct 7th shook me to my core. The disconnect is deafening. Oh the 'messiness of grief' during a genocide (ongoing for 6th month running but who's counting). Recommended read for you GH - "The Holocaust Industry" by Norman Finkelstein. Its a good place to start to make sense of why you were invited and why you feel compelled to write this piece. Even Avi Shlaims work or that of his eminent student, Ilan Pappé , would help you understand how things be and why they are so in that region. I name these since these are eminent Jewish scholars in the field of history and political science. Perhaps you wont take any of us plebs in the comments seriously, but prefer to read critical scholarship on the issue.
Hamas surrending their weapons, returning those hostages still alive, giving up using schools , hospitals and civilians as decoys would result in a ceasefire. Yet they are still firing rockets and using in effect Gazans as hostages. They are like a team hoping for a match saving last wicket partnership sponsored by Iran and Hezbollah that ain't going to happen. A sobering analysis that should be read by the River to Sea robots populating our campuses.
You write very movingly about the victims of Ocotber 7th and I can only offer my condolence and condemn the actions of Hamas.
You mentioned that sympathy for the victims neednt be a zero-sum game, however in the end you'v not quite managed to live this fairly routine ask. The whole piece seems a meditation in zero-sum-ery where mention of the Gaza civilian is heavily couched, heavily curtailed, as if we dont want to be too tough on the Netanyahu government. Sometimes in life, it's better to not be not be the Jeff Thomson with fiery robust and forthright confrontation of what the ICJ has called a 'plausible genocide'- lets instead be Mark Ealham with the dibbly dobbles. Go through the motion, but really nothing but gentile military medium which will not trouble anyone, let alone good people of the Israeli War Cabinet no doubt deeply admired by friends at AIJAC.
I write this on a day 22 April when they when there appears to be reports of mass graves found in Khan Younis. I'll leave you to do your own research about who was responsible.
However, It has made me wonder about Bosnia in the 90s. I imagine you being invited on similar trip by the the Australian Serbian Affairs Council or ASAC - (i dont know if such an organisation exists) and I wonder if you would right a similar piece.
I love your writing; really enjoy listening to your interviews and podcast (was really sad when Cricket et Cetera was canned). I'v kept the present tense, In the hope maybe my slight awkward spell (not quite tommo, but definitely not Mark Ealham) will cause you to reflect on this.
I wont say I'm disappointed because - no one cares and probably rightly so - but I wanted to express a degree of frustration at reading this piece. It felt it read like the greatest hits of Eylon Levy inter-dispersed with wise and wary words of wisdom from people on the ground worth listening to; but in the final analysis it did so to the exclusion of the scores of dead being massacred across the fence.....sums were added here...and they added up to zero.
If I were favoured with the opportunity to visit Israel at this moment in its history, a moment at which both the ICJ and the UN's Special Rapporteur have found grounds to suspect it of the ultimate crime, I'd be weary of repeating the claims it makes in justification.
I'd be especially weary of its narrative of mass rape. You cite, in support, a UN paper which, if anything, contradicts it. At any rate, it declares "unfounded" more claims than it affirms, and even suggests -- see paragraph 65 -- that an Israeli bomb squad staged or faked a rape scene. The most it can find to say in the opposite direction is that there are "reasonable grounds" for certain stories. But as Chloe Baszanger-Marnay told journalists at the press conference which launched the report: "On Be'eri, just to clarify, what we found was that there were two allegations we looked into that were unfounded. And they're very well described in the reports and you'll recognize them because they were highly publicised in the press. The rest we could not verify. So no, we could not verify any sexual violence in Be'eri at this point."
I would submit, respectfully, that you've misrepresented her work.
I would also submit (with somewhat less respect) that it's downright RolandPerryesque of you to cite that paper for two episodes it doesn't even mention, let alone corroborate. "Among those taken to Gaza," you write in your summary, "were a woman knifed in the back every time she flinched whilst being violated, and a woman whose breast was cut off for the amusement of a mob then gradually 'shredded to pieces.'"
The second story, as the merest word search will show, is from the New York Times, not the Office of the SRSG-SVC (but not even the Times uses the phrase "shredded to pieces": Where on earth did you get that?). It's from an article, moreover, that the newspaper is walking back, in response to some pointed and well-supported criticism. Its source, identified only as "Sapir," also claims that she saw "terrorists carrying the severed heads of three more women," but of course, there is no evidence for the decapitation of any female on October 7.
I've read your compatriot Phillip Knightley's imperishable book The First Casualty times enough to be weary of atrocity stories. It's the merest truism that they're often fabricated, and that the purpose of the fabrication is to justify very real atrocities "in response." It sure looks like that's what's going on here. What a pity to find you, of all people, participating in it. I can't begin to square this with your laudable defence of Usman Khawaja and his peace advocacy earlier in the summer.
Rodney
PS: Hamas's crimes are quite enormous enough. They need no exaggeration.
Was there a moment where you stopped to consider whether the antidote to "think-alike writer's festivals" was a carefully curated, sponsored, one-sided junket? Why is the skepticism from the traumas in Gaza not equally shared here?
Why visit Israel? Why not the Uighurs,or Chad? What have you done besides throw cheap barbs of "what-aboutism" at those trying to do something somewhere else.
Feels like a shallow self-justification. You're an incredible writer, but a shameless person.
“No journalist could resist an opportunity to go. It was a sponsored trip[…]”
On the contrary, I’d contend that no journalist would entertain such an opportunity for even a second. “There was no pressure on me to write anything” — what good fortune for the sponsors, then, that this was nevertheless the result!
No thinking person could at this point claim ignorance of Israel’s crimes — an illegal military occupation extending past 66 years, an apartheid state so explicit that even the most recalcitrant human rights organisations have long since labeled it such, illegal settlements sponsored by the government annexing de facto Palestinian territory, and now carrying out a blatantly genocidal war which has killed tens of thousands and produced the biggest worldwide public protests since the Iraq War. Anyone who accepts invitation to a trip sponsored by the government responsible knows exactly what they are signing up for, and evidently has no qualms in signing up. We know that journalists writing of apartheid South Africa have had their works appropriately judged by history.
I wouldn’t have presumed to speculate about Mr Haigh’s thoughts on the situation in Palestine, but I wouldn’t have predicted in a million years that he would attend a sponsored trip such as he did, to produce a work such as this. And so, gobsmacked and heartbroken, I pick my jaw up off the floor, and take my leave from this corner of the internet.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸🫶
"Our comprehension can only be expanded so far. Gaza and the West Bank are, unsurprisingly, off limits to our visit."
Ah, well. Outta sight, outta mind.
The stories of the pain of those who lost family and friends on October 7th are saddening. The same anguish has no doubt been experienced by the families and friends of the THIRTY THOUSAND Gazans lost since. To ignore them is to deny the truth of what Israel is doing.
Mr Haigh writes
"Israel's detractors are loath to acknowledge the company they are keeping and innocents continue to die"
Maybe he should have written "Israel's apologists are loath to acknowledge the company they are keeping and innocents continue to die" (and if you need me to spell it out) in much greater numbers than those that died on October 7th.
If you want peace stop killing people!
You’ve been played Mr Haigh. Hope you enjoyed the freebie.
I'll use different wording if you like . Devastating! Horrific!
It doesn't alter the fact that what the Israelis are doing is just as devasting / horrific or more so. THIRTY THOUSAND people dead. More than a million facing starvation due to Israeli actions / inactions.
"As though they died of natural causes."
Israel and its apologists are so caught up in what happened on October 7th they are dismissive of the plight of the people in Gaza.
If you want to watch horror video footage watch the IDF shooting innocent people in cold blood and then abusing the bodies with earth moving equipment.
If you are interested in the truth don't follow Isralei propoaganda read other news sources. More UN workers have been killed in Gaza than any other conflict. Journalists (other than those on Israel sponsored propaganda trips) have been targetted by the IDF. Hospitals have been attacked. Medical equipment destroyed.
What happened on October the 7th was horrible. What has been happening since is even worse!
If you want peace stop killing people.
Did it cross your mind for a second that on your travels through israel, that you have more freedom of movement through the territories than those whose families had lived in this region for generations, did it ever occur that you are being used as a pawn in israel’s war of information?
I'm ... speechless. Appalled by the quotidian tone... I'm... my heart just broke reading one of my favourite authors write this piece. Much like Judith Butlers piece in the aftermath of Oct 7th shook me to my core. The disconnect is deafening. Oh the 'messiness of grief' during a genocide (ongoing for 6th month running but who's counting). Recommended read for you GH - "The Holocaust Industry" by Norman Finkelstein. Its a good place to start to make sense of why you were invited and why you feel compelled to write this piece. Even Avi Shlaims work or that of his eminent student, Ilan Pappé , would help you understand how things be and why they are so in that region. I name these since these are eminent Jewish scholars in the field of history and political science. Perhaps you wont take any of us plebs in the comments seriously, but prefer to read critical scholarship on the issue.
Thanks Gideon. This was excellent, thoughtful, thought provoking and deeply moving
This is an excellent, thoughtful piece. Thank you for bringing your insight.
Hamas surrending their weapons, returning those hostages still alive, giving up using schools , hospitals and civilians as decoys would result in a ceasefire. Yet they are still firing rockets and using in effect Gazans as hostages. They are like a team hoping for a match saving last wicket partnership sponsored by Iran and Hezbollah that ain't going to happen. A sobering analysis that should be read by the River to Sea robots populating our campuses.
Wow, is this how or what you wanted your previous employer to allow you to write and publish…Their loss.
This is a remarkable essay. Thank-you Gideon for such a thoughtful piece.
I hope it’s taken as complimentary if I say that Clive James could have been proud of an essay as good as this.
You write very movingly about the victims of Ocotber 7th and I can only offer my condolence and condemn the actions of Hamas.
You mentioned that sympathy for the victims neednt be a zero-sum game, however in the end you'v not quite managed to live this fairly routine ask. The whole piece seems a meditation in zero-sum-ery where mention of the Gaza civilian is heavily couched, heavily curtailed, as if we dont want to be too tough on the Netanyahu government. Sometimes in life, it's better to not be not be the Jeff Thomson with fiery robust and forthright confrontation of what the ICJ has called a 'plausible genocide'- lets instead be Mark Ealham with the dibbly dobbles. Go through the motion, but really nothing but gentile military medium which will not trouble anyone, let alone good people of the Israeli War Cabinet no doubt deeply admired by friends at AIJAC.
I write this on a day 22 April when they when there appears to be reports of mass graves found in Khan Younis. I'll leave you to do your own research about who was responsible.
However, It has made me wonder about Bosnia in the 90s. I imagine you being invited on similar trip by the the Australian Serbian Affairs Council or ASAC - (i dont know if such an organisation exists) and I wonder if you would right a similar piece.
I love your writing; really enjoy listening to your interviews and podcast (was really sad when Cricket et Cetera was canned). I'v kept the present tense, In the hope maybe my slight awkward spell (not quite tommo, but definitely not Mark Ealham) will cause you to reflect on this.
I wont say I'm disappointed because - no one cares and probably rightly so - but I wanted to express a degree of frustration at reading this piece. It felt it read like the greatest hits of Eylon Levy inter-dispersed with wise and wary words of wisdom from people on the ground worth listening to; but in the final analysis it did so to the exclusion of the scores of dead being massacred across the fence.....sums were added here...and they added up to zero.
.Regards
F