Liberal Zionists have straddled the fence on Israel's copious crimes. But in
the midst of a genocide, their apologetics have become their tombstone.͏ ͏
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The Last Gasps of Liberal Zionism
Liberal Zionists have straddled the fence on Israel's copious crimes. But in
the midst of a genocide, their apologetics have become their tombstone.
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| Kenn Maurice Orfanos |
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| Jun 10 |
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In the pantheon of Western apologists for imperialism and colonialism, there is
one that has either vanished these days or is desperately struggling to stay
relevant. That one is the liberal Zionist.
I have read a few of their recent essays and posts. I have waded through the
swamp and miasma of their emotional drivel. The public handwringing over
wrestling with the crimes Israel has and continues to commit accompanied with
impassioned recommitments to the Israeli state. The allowances for “compassion”
for the Palestinians, joined with a feckless and incredulous denial of
genocide.
The line of reasoning is a simple one. Say you don't support Netanyahu, but
that you believe that Israel is a democracy despite it governing over millions
of people who have no representation. Say you don't agree with the "war" in
Gaza, but that Israel has a "right to defend itself" even though it has an
army, navy, air force and nukes and the Palestinians have none of that. Express
outrage that the world is "picking on the only Jewish state" but that you
believe in a two state solution, even though that state has explicitly declared
the Palestinian will never have one. Bring up October 7th over and over,
disregarding the long history of Israel's ethnic cleansing colonialism, its
massacres, or the disproportionate deaths on both sides. Endlessly express
performative grief over the Holocaust and profess your love for and defense of
"the Jewish people" in a way that essentially erases their humanity and agency
by turning them into some kind of monolithic structure. And conveniently ignore
the millions of Jews who are adamantly anti-Zionist. It is as predictable and
formulaic as it is tedious.
But how do you gloss over images of a boy holding his brothers remains in a
plastic bag, or a father desperately digging through the rubble of his home to
find the bodies of his four children, or the terrified cries of 5 year old Hind
as she begs the emergency operator to save her from Israeli soldiers, who would
eventually riddle her little body with 355 bullets? How do you make Israel seem
remotely sane when we see Israeli soldiers parading around in the lingerie of
women they just expelled or murdered or smashing children's toys or blowing up
hospitals?
There are no mental gymnastics that can sponge away these images and sounds. No
moving monologues about 'peace' that can obscure the sadistic barbarism we have
all seen. All apologetics lie flat in the fetid puddle where they were spawned.
Liberal Zionists are not unlike the white moderates Martin Luther King, Jr.
once condemned. In their heart, they believe they are truly compassionate. That
they want justice. But in reality, they just don't want to risk being
ostracized. Of losing social or career opportunities or being disinvited from
dinner parties or weddings. Like the white moderates, they are cowards who are
more beholden to status, than solidarity. Privilege, than principle.
And when they are cornered, they lash out in the most predictable of ways. They
weaponize their contradictory values. If you are Jewish, they say you must be a
"self-hating" one. If you are gay, they point to homophobic laws in Gaza, while
ignoring the fact that bombs, snipers and engineered famines do not
discriminate between gay and straight. If you are an atheist, they pull out
Islamophobic tropes and thinly veiled racism. Anything other than facing the
atrocities being carried out right in front of them with full Western support.
Most intelligent liberal Zionists can see the writing on the wall. They can see
growing fanaticism and belligerence of far-right Zionists and the shift in
public opinion. But when you have made it your lifetime goal to run cover for a
state which has committed tremendous crimes for its entire existence, the task
is monumental. And some have no other choice but to double down.
To be fair, there should always be room for grace. People change. And they can
change their minds and their positions when they deepen their understanding and
gain perspective. But that window is closing fast. And I for one, have no
patience for those who are still 'on the fence' when it comes to the aiding and
abetting pogroms, the poisoning of wells, the killing of livestock, the burning
of farms, the creation of laws that allow the execution of members of one
specific ethnic group, the shooting of toddlers in the neck and head, the
starving of children, the erasure of whole bloodlines, the systematic killing
of journalists, the torture of doctors, nurses and detainees, the bombing of
hospitals, universities, bakeries, shelters and water treatment facilities and
the annihilation of an entire society.
Kenn Maurice Orfanos, June 2026
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