"The shrill rhetoric of victimhood"

Some perspectives from Jewish academics on the use and abuse of the victim narrative in Israel.  First Avi Shlaim (in an article you should definitely read in its entirety):

As always, mighty Israel claims to be the victim of Palestinian aggression but the sheer asymmetry of power between the two sides leaves little room for doubt as to who is the real victim. This is indeed a conflict between David and Goliath but the Biblical image has been inverted - a small and defenceless Palestinian David faces a heavily armed, merciless and overbearing Israeli Goliath. The resort to brute military force is accompanied, as always, by the shrill rhetoric of victimhood and a farrago of self-pity overlaid with self-righteousness. In Hebrew this is known as the syndrome of bokhim ve-yorim, "crying and shooting".

Neve Gordon:

Thus, despite the ever-increasing loss of life in the Gaza Strip, Israel remains the perpetual victim. ... Over the past few years, I have, however, become a critical consumer of Israeli news, and therefore can see through the perpetuation of the image that Israel and its Jewish majority are the victims and how, regardless of what happens, we are presented as the moral players in this conflict. Therefore, this kind of reportage, where the huge death toll in Gaza is elided and Jewish suffering is underscored, no longer shocks me.

And finally Ilan Pappe:

This appalling self-justification for the inhumanity and impunity is not just annoying, it is a subject worth dwelling on, if one wants to understand the international immunity for the massacre that rages on in Gaza.

It is based first and foremost on sheer lies transmitted with a newspeak reminiscent of darker days in 1930s Europe. Every half an hour a news bulletin on the radio and television describes the victims of Gaza as terrorists and Israel's massive killings of them as an act of self-defense. Israel presents itself to its own people as the righteous victim that defends itself against a great evil.

As always, some of the strongest voices condemning Israel's murderous actions are those of Jews themselves.

Comments

[KDelphi]

Have you heard of the Dem sponsored bill in total support of Israel?

[John Caruso]

I hadn't, but it's certainly be no surprise. And though it's sponsored by and enthusiastically supported by Democrats (like my own Nancy Pelosi) it's likely that the legislation was actually written by AIPAC, as it was during Israel's attack on Lebanon.

[KDelphi]

The passed it in "closed conference". The MSM strictly avoided even reporting it--I got it from Jewish Voice for Peace, I think...

I am starting to hate the Dems as badly as I hate GOP--- if enough people felt that way, it would be the end of them, and the start of a new US...dreaming, I guess.