By some accounts the war between Palestinians and Zionists has been going on since 1947, by others since ’67. But by all accounts it’s the war that’s never going to end. There’ve been battles: ’48, ’56, ’67, ’73. Coupled with a war of attrition for those 77 years and counting. So far the body bags – or in the case of the Palestinians, the sheets – have been pretty much one sided. In fact the kill ratio has been about 50 to 1. So were it to go to the last man standing, there’s little doubt who that would be.

But the Palestinian cause has got its licks in a few times too. The IDF, and Israel itself, are what military scientists call hard targets. So the Cause, if I may be forgiven for calling it that, turned to softer targets: 9/11 and October 7th.

This is progress, but not progress enough. 9/11 was against a mere ally. October 7 targeted Jews, not Zionists. Likewise any attack on a synagogue. But antisemitism isn’t anti-Zionism, and anti-Zionism isn’t antisemitic. Last night, by contrast, the Cause got it right. Elias Rodriguez went after representatives of the Zionist state.

Two insignificant embassy staffers means nothing. Unless it serves to put all functionaries of that state on notice. Notice that they should attend more to their security, certainly. But more importantly notice that they should need to attend more to their security. That notwithstanding they’re wearing suits on the streets of another polity’s capital, they’re soldiers in a war nonetheless, and therefore fair game.

I predict that last night will prove a one-off, as did 9/11 and October 7. Soft targets get hardened. Hardening is expensive. The Americans and Israelis have the wherewithal. The Palestinians don’t. They’re currently at 53,000 and still counting.

When what remained emerged from the camps in 1945, the world said it didn’t know. Suppose it had. Would it have done something when the count was only at 53,000? That’s my question of the week.

Categories: Everything You Wanted to Know About What's Going On in the World But Were Afraid to Ask, Social and Political Philosophy

Tags: 9/11, antisemitism, Elias Rodriquez, Israel, October 7, Palestine, Zionism