…så lägger jag upp en text av Ami Kaufman från 972 magazine, som jag gillar. Han var i Eilat när Mubarak föll. Här är några av hans tankar, som jag tror att jag delar:
I also thought about my own hypocrisy, as someone who visited Sinai many times during Mubarak’s reign. Shouldn’t I – and my other left-wing brethren – refrained from visiting that country under his rule? Was going to Sinai pretty much saying: “Yeah, I know this is a dictatorship – but I gotta have fun sometimes, too!”?
And then I got to thinking about the crimes of other dictators in the region. The Syrians, the Saudis and others. And I did something, which I can’t decide if it’s foolish or not: I compared their crimes to the crime of the 43 year occupation.
And I thought of all the people, all the organizations and all the countries who vehemently – and rightfully so – detest and protest the ugly occupation of the Palestinian people.
And I thought of all those courageous international activists who come to Israel and brave the tear gas in Bilin every Friday, together with those occupied Palestinians.
And I asked myself: why have they never gone to Syria or to Egypt to protest? I mean, if they’re already in the region, why not go protest another evil, just as bad?
But is it? Is it just as bad? Is the occupation a worse crime than those of Mubarak or Assad?
Are Palestinian lives more sacred than those of Egyptians, Saudis, Syrians or Iranians?
Or maybe I should ask: Are Jewish/Israeli crimes worse than those of Egyptians, Saudis, Syrians or Iranians?
Otherwise, how can one explain the warm embrace these regimes have gotten for decades? And how can one explain the existence of a justified international outrage at the Israeli occupation – but the nonexistence of justified international outrage at iron-fist regimes across the Middle East?
Is occupation a crime that must be stopped immediately? Yes.
Is Israel singled out? Yes, I believe it is.
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