Seth Freedman is an Englishman who moved to live in Israel. It is therefore hard to label him a self-hating Jew or anti-Israeli or anti-Zionist - the fate which befalls anyone outside Israel who raises topics - mainly contentious - which Jews find unpalatable.
Freeman's latest piece in The Guardian is more than troubling, even if what he writes about is not particularly new. He gives examples of how the Israelis are treating the Palestinians in the West Bank and writes:
"With every passing day, and every cruel and unusual punishment meted out against farmers, villagers, students and labourers alike, Israel is fomenting more and more hate against its own people, and ensuring months and years of conflict to come. More than that, they are undermining their own desired goal of a two state solution, since the carving-up of the West Bank to make way for Jewish-only access roads and buffer zones around settlements erodes any chance of a viable Palestinian state being created.
Those who are too blind to see that this is what is occurring under their noses are the same people who convince themselves that the true aim of Israel is to live in peace with its neighbours. The Palestinians, however, live and breathe the reality every day of their lives, and they are not so easily fooled. And if they are to be prevented from feeling as though they've got nothing to lose and resorting once more to violent resistance, there needs to be a major change in the way Israel treats their, and their children's, human rights and needs."
Freeman's latest piece in The Guardian is more than troubling, even if what he writes about is not particularly new. He gives examples of how the Israelis are treating the Palestinians in the West Bank and writes:
"With every passing day, and every cruel and unusual punishment meted out against farmers, villagers, students and labourers alike, Israel is fomenting more and more hate against its own people, and ensuring months and years of conflict to come. More than that, they are undermining their own desired goal of a two state solution, since the carving-up of the West Bank to make way for Jewish-only access roads and buffer zones around settlements erodes any chance of a viable Palestinian state being created.
Those who are too blind to see that this is what is occurring under their noses are the same people who convince themselves that the true aim of Israel is to live in peace with its neighbours. The Palestinians, however, live and breathe the reality every day of their lives, and they are not so easily fooled. And if they are to be prevented from feeling as though they've got nothing to lose and resorting once more to violent resistance, there needs to be a major change in the way Israel treats their, and their children's, human rights and needs."
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