You may have noted my apology on Twitter, regarding something I said last Saturday. I'm reiterating that here.
https://twitter.com/joelpollak/status/1713230201537376497
I am taking down the first tweet I posted on X when I learned about the terror attack by Hamas against Israeli civilians last Saturday. And I'm apologizing for it, because it's hurtful, and it's dangerous if it's left up and serves as any kind of justification for evil. (cont ->)
My first reaction when I heard the shocking news from Israel was to do whatever I could to defend the people -- my people -- from attack. I raced home from my synagogue, interrupting the Sabbath and the Jewish holiday. I felt I had to do something, anything.
I sent a tweet urging Israel to "wipe out" Gaza after evacuating civilians aside from military-age men. My exact words:
"I have broken the Sabbath and Jewish holiday to deliver this message: Israel should wipe out Gaza. Allow 48 hours to evacuate women, children and the elderly. Destroy everything that remains, plow it under, and annex it to Israel. This is the end for Hamas and Palestinian terror."
We have all said things we regret in moments of anger and fear and sadness, even to people we love. Generally, I avoid social media when I am angry, or upset, for precisely this reason.
I don't want to see Palestinians killed. I just want Israelis to live.
If I had to write the same tweet today, it would be something like this:
“I have broken the Sabbath and Jewish holiday to deliver this message: Israel should do whatever is necessary to defend its people. Hamas must be destroyed, and Palestinians must reject violence. This is the end for Hamas and Palestinian terror.”
So I'm taking down my tweet. I could leave it up, defiantly, but that's not who I am. I do believe in clarifying, and I also believe in making amends.
I want Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace. I also want Palestinians to stop murdering Israelis. That's a precondition for any kind of peace.
I'm greatly encouraged by the fact that Arab and Muslim Israelis have stood together with Jewish Israelis, and I'm deeply grateful to the friends, including Arab and Muslim friends, who have reached out to me.
I want people who say they care about Palestinians to start criticizing terrorism and stop defending -- even celebrating -- terror.
The fact that they are still justifying terror does not excuse my own tweet last Saturday; we are all individually morally responsible for our own actions and words. And I don't believe what I said was correct.
So -- I'm sorry. My words were wrong. I overreacted. I'll try to do better.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
