Americans Jews, marketing professional Donny Deutsch, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, have vigorously complained and decried what all 3 describe as the “anti-Semitic silence” reaction to Hamas’s brutal and savage October 7th attack on innocent Israeli citizens. All 3 are correct there is a different reaction by most Americans than by many American Jews. And all 3 are wrong at the same time, the different reaction is not anti-Semitism and there is no silence about the horrific Hamas violence, however, there is a moralistic reason for the different reaction that Deutsch, Greenblatt, and Ackman are complaining about.
All right-thinking Americans were horrified at Hamas’s cruel October 7th attack but Deutsch, Greenblatt, and Ackman are right there is a missing element in right-thinking Americans’ reaction. Deutsch, Greenblatt, and Ackman have wrongly described the missing element as the presence of anti-Semitism, but it can’t be anti-Semitism because the missing element is missing based on logic and not missing based on prejudice, discrimination, or racism. No right-thinking American, not even the Americans who are protesting for an immediate Israeli cease-fire, have condoned or voiced support for Hamas’s October 7th attack. On the contrary, most Americans supported President Joe Biden’s immediate embrace of Israel following the Hamas attack.
What Americans feel about the violent Hamas attack is something referred to by psychologists as empathic anger, which means Americans feel great empathy and moral anger about the violent harm Hamas inflicted on Israelis. The silence Deutsch, Greenblatt, and Ackman refer to and what they were looking for and felt was missing from fired Harvard President Claudine Gay’s congressional testimony, and the silence they refer to and what they are looking for and feel is missing from the response of the American people to the Hamas attack, is referred to as moral outrage. It’s correct to refer to the anger that Americans feel about the Hamas attack as moral anger. Because Americans are genuinely angry about the Hamas attack and feel it was morally wrong. But Deutsch, Greenblatt, and Ackman are right moral outrage over the attack is missing from most American’s reaction for a legitimate reason unrelated to anti-Semitism.
Moral anger is the emotion of fury, disgust, or frustration that’s directed at people who violate ethical values or moral standards. Moral outrage is the emotion of surprised or shocked fury, disgust, or frustration directed at people for violating ethical values or moral standards. The surprise or shock is what makes the difference between moral anger and the moral outrage that Deutsch, Greenblatt, and Ackman would like to see from Americans. Their desire for moral outrage is appreciated because moral outrage is the highest level of fury, disgust, or frustration and moral anger is the second highest level. Unfortunately for the 3, it’s impossible to have moral outrage without first having moral surprise or moral shock. In other words, one has to be confronted with a moral violation in a place where one is shocked or surprised to find a moral violation, in order to feel and express moral outrage at the moral violation.
The reason why Americans feel moral anger and not moral outrage is not because of anti-Semitism, or that the Hamas attack on Israel was deserved, or that it was not violent and horrific to Americans, it was because Americans were not shocked or surprised that the attack happened and Americans were not shocked or surprised where the attack happened. It’s possible to be angry about something you expect to happen, it’s impossible to be surprised or shocked about something you expect to happen. Americans know that long before the Hamas attack ethical and moral violations were occurring in Israel and Palestine. Americans also know that the ethical and moral violations are no justification for the Hamas attack, which is why Americans are morally angry but Americans’ knowledge of pre-existing ethical and moral violations before the Hamas attack prevents moral outrage.
Whether or not you believe over a thousand years of factual international Jewish persecution justifies it, for the last 57 years Israel has held millions of Palestinians hostage under apartheid-like conditions, out of fear that Palestinians want to attack and destroy the state of Israel. The tradition of persecuting Jews worldwide is real and terrifying but it does not justify Israel inflicting apartheid on innocent non-Jews living next door to Israel. Americans innately know that Israel’s democracy has created, in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, an environment of autocratic apartheid.
Even though Americans are aware that Israel is enforcing an autocratic apartheid on Palestinians which denies them democracy and the right of self-determination, Americans don’t believe any amount of Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians justified Hamas mutilating, raping, and killing innocent Israelis on October 7th , hence the American reaction of moral anger at Hamas. But Americans are also aware that holding human beings hostage under apartheid-like conditions breeds anger, resentment, desperation, and finally irrationality among the hostages themselves, an irrationality which can produce violent irrational hostage retaliation like the Hamas attack, this rightfully angers but does not surprise any American aware of the autocratic apartheid Israel is inflicting on the Palestinians, hence no American reaction of moral outrage.
America and the world should always react with moral anger at any future Hamas-like attacks on Israel, but as long as Israel prevents the creation of a Palestine state, America and the world will never react to future Hamas-like attacks with moral outrage because they realize what Martin Luther King Jr. taught America is true, violence begets violence. Peace for the Middle East and a peaceful existence for Israel is not possible without the creation of a Palestinian state. Based on past and current international Jewish persecution, Israel justifiably cannot and will not trust that the two-state solution will not be used to attack the existence of Israel, so unless America puts its military feet where its military policy mouth is, the two-state solution is not possible.
For decades American policy has been to give Israel military money to protect itself while simultaneously advocating for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Since America is the only country Israel will trust to protect and defend Israel, a two-state reality is only possible if America sends 5,000 American troops to establish a similar type of demilitarized zone between Israel and the proposed Palestine state, of a combined Gaza Strip and West Bank. It would be a demilitarized zone similar to the one that currently exists between South Korea and North Korea.
The Israeli-Palestinian Demilitarized Zone (IPDMZ) that America would establish between Israel and the proposed Palestinian state, would replace any walls currently erected by Israel. It would be a neutral land zone occupied and staffed, 24/7, with 5,000 American troops. Instead of just giving Israel money and weapons to defend itself, part of the money can be used to fund American troop presence in the IPDMZ, adding the third element of fighting American troops to the American money and weapons support currently guaranteeing Israel’s peace and security. After the IPDMZ is established Israel would withdraw all Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops from all land designated for the state of Palestine. Israel’s last negotiating partner for peace and the recognized legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), would be empowered with American and international technical help to establish the new state of Palestine on the previously occupied land.
The PLO would be free to establish a democratic state with all the same rights and privileges as any other free democratic society. This would include a democratic Palestine Constitution, mandatory consistent one-person-one-vote-counted elections for Palestinian citizens, Palestinian control of airports for planes and Palestinian control of seaports for shipping, a Palestinian justice system to administer the rule of Palestinian constitutional law, Palestinian police forces for domestic security and Palestinian armed forces for a Palestinian nation’s self-defense. The number 1 rule would be don’t F with Israel!!! American troop presence in the IPDMZ would guarantee no one would, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran.
With a demilitarized zone between Israel and Palestine manned by American troops, Israeli fear of Hamas rocket fire, or of being in close proximity to people hostile to their existence can end immediately. Israel would be able to return to its prosperous growth trajectory in peace and security, while America with the help of the international community can sponsor the creation of a new Palestinian democratic society where citizens are free to experience life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
An independent self-determining democratic state of Palestine with an economy that provides jobs for its citizens, and has its own intelligence and police capabilities to identify, pursue, and subdue terrorist elements like Hamas is the best and most reliable way to secure long-term peace and security for the state of Israel. If Palestinians can live the same life of self-determination and freedom as Israelis are living, it is no longer in their best interest to be at war with their next-door neighbor Israel, or to allow a terrorist element to exist in their midst that would launch missiles against its innocent next-door neighbors in Israel.
Instead of Deutsch, Greenblatt, and Ackman using their time, influence, and power to claim that America’s lack of moral outrage over the Hamas attack on Israel is due to anti-Semitism, getting a Harvard president fired for not being morally outraged enough in her testimony to Congress, or attempting to force public moral outrage over a situation where one-sided public moral outrage is not possible, they should use their time, influence, and power to get America to put its military feet where its military money is, by planting 5,000 American troops on Israel’s border guaranteeing not only peace for Israel but peace for the entire Middle East.
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