Monday, December 16, 2019
Elder of Ziyon
In our modern age, we tend to think of the outcome of warfare being
decided primarily by technology and logistics, with armies able to deploy and
utilize complex weapons systems in the land, sea and air being superior to
those who cannot. Even when you look at
asymmetrical warfare, which tends to utilize roadside bombs, terror tactics and
propaganda instead of aircraft carriers and robot drones, success in this field
requires mastery of technical and political skill, rather than fighting
experience.
But if you look back throughout the thousands of years of history when
war was conducted primarily with the same hardware (swords, spears, bows,
shields, armor and the like), the factor marking the difference between a
successful and unsuccessful army was the experience of the soldiery.
Troops loyal to Julius Caesar, for example, were not referred to as
“Caesar’s Soldiers” or “Caesar’s Legions,” but “Caesar’s Veterans,”
highlighting the fact that soldiers who spend decades fighting side-by-side provided
the edge in battle even against far larger armies.
Even the strategic genius of a commander is frequently the result of a
general himself being the veteran of numerous campaigns, providing him the chance
to try different things at different times and experience both victory and
defeat.
I bring this up since another strength BDS warriors bring to battle
(along with Internet-enabled
communication skill and complete
indifference to the needs of others) is their experience waging their
propaganda campaigns over many years and even decades. For most of us, the thought of engaging in a
divestment debate in our student union or town hall is appalling not just
because of the nature of the subject matter, but because few of us have
experience engaging with (in this case) aggressive political warfare that is
likely to create tension and conflict (the very things many of us spend our
lives trying to avoid).
But years of experience battling against the boycotters eventually
provides us the veteran’s perspective, helping turn what might have originally
felt like distasteful conflict into a battle we eagerly anticipate for the
thrill it provides (especially in victory – the familiar result for pro-Israel
activists engaged in a BDS fight).
I can attest to this personally as someone addicted to the rush of
watching a BDS go down to defeat. And my
eagerness to mix
it up with Israel haters/BDS propagandists derives from longing to engage
in arguments I’ve been writing about for years.
But the veterans’ experience can also be seen in the wider Jewish
community ready to fight back unapologetically against defamers of the Jewish
state. As time goes on, more experience
should drive more success and success will drive our desire to obtain more
experience, creating new generations of vets capable of continuing to stare
down the BDS threat, regardless of the ruthlessness of our adversaries.
As a final note, I’d like to pay a tribute to a veteran of many wars
who lost out to the one enemy none of us can avoid forever eight years ago yesterday. Christopher
Hitchens may have never been a great friend to the Jewish state. But he was a great friend to others who
earned his sympathy (such as the people of Iraq) and Hitchens fought for their
cause, regardless of what previous friends and allies had to say on the matter. While I am sad that this iconoclast of great
wit and letters passed away without embracing the justice of Israel’s cause (or
the Jewish world of which he was a part), I still miss him and his words, even (or
especially) the ones with which I disagreed.
