What are people in Israel actually saying about the genocide in Gaza?

an on-the-fly chat with Middle East journalist Matthew Cassel

Matthew Cassel and I first “met” when we started following each other on social media several years back. He’s an independent journalist and videographer who’s reported on (and largely lived in) the Middle East since 2004. We then - because this is a mad, mad world - re-met on a dating app and wound up meeting IRL four years ago when I was passing through Athens. He picked me up on his motorbike and took me to a restaurant in a remote alleyway out of the centre of Athens. We got on well.

Last night, I shared my conversation with Matthew on Instagram - you can now watch it below.

I imagine some of you here follow his work. He has covered the occupation in Palestine for many years, worked with a bunch of humanitarian organisations in the region and ran a media school for young people in a West Bank refugee camp.

Over the past two years he’s been doing a series of reports for The Guardian on the Middle East conflict. His latest dropped yesterday and it was the subject of our chat:

When I visited the region a few years ago (two weeks before the election that saw Benjamin Netanyahu come back into power) I was shocked to learn how many young, progressive Israelis had never met a Palestinian, had nothing to say about the plight of people in Gaza and the West Bank, and had never visited either area even though they are an hour’s drive or so away. It went beyond a lack of curiosity, I felt; it seemed more a wilful, protective blindness.

A survey conducted at the end of July asked Israelis, "to what extent are you personally troubled or not troubled by the reports of famine and suffering among the Palestinian population in Gaza?"Over three-quarters of Jewish Israelis — 79% — were not that troubled or not troubled at all. Another survey by the Israel Democracy Institute asked Israelis about the most important reason for ending the war. Over half said it was important to free the remaining hostages. Only 6% argued the war should end because "of the great cost in human life" and a desire for peace.

I personally have been mystified by these figures…and by so so so many other responses to this genocide. Which is why I asked Matthew if he’d share what he’s picked up on the ground.

Please feel free to use the comments section to share your thoughts, but I will ask everyone to be really mindful of their language and tone. Perhaps use your engagement as a practice in radical farm-calming role-modelling!

Sarah xx

PS. A few other references

Here’s the UN Report that finds Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

Here you can find Matthew’s other Israel reports for The Guardian.