Hours before singing in a kibbutz near Gaza, the singer Noa, a torrential pacifist voice since the assassination of her admired Rabin in 1995, explained her reflections yesterday in her home near Tel Aviv about what is happening in Israel and Gaza. And she denounces that the simplicity of the networks ends up killing people on this earth.
Where were you on the 7th?
I had just returned from performing in New York and went to the beach like every morning. After a few hours we realized that it was not just another attack. It was a catastrophe. The terrorists massacred, raped, burned people alive, mutilated bodies with joy and taking selfies. I am against all wars, but even wars have rules. They all skipped here. When we Israelis look at the world, we see that the world has not realized the magnitude of what happened, or they do not want to know or they ignore us. Where we thought we had friends, we don't have them.
Did you think: “It's war”?
Not at that moment. Even today, a month later, we are still trying to absorb the magnitude of what happened. It will take Israel years to digest and process the horror. What will this war lead us to? This is the big question I ask myself.
You have been a very critical voice of Netanyahu...
What has happened in fractured Israeli society is extraordinary. We have discovered the most beautiful parts of our society in the most horrific tragedy in our history. Israel has been fractured by Netanyahu and his government, in a Machiavellian way. I am not talking about the last few months, I have protested since the assassination of Rabin in 1995. I am from the Rabin clan, whose legacy is very important: we must make peace so that there is no terror, and fight against terrorism as if there were no peace . Since he was murdered, the deterioration has not stopped. And in these ten months of protests prior to October 7, people warned that we were going to disaster due to the ideology of the extreme right in power, the people who murdered Rabin! They are disintegrating our democracy and weakening the people because we are governed by criminals. It's the truth. Although we are not the only country with people who are not qualified to govern.
Donald Trump...
It is an example and there are many, we are experiencing a clear leadership crisis. The political system is so poisoned that decent people don't want to enter. In Israel he has reached summits, with messianic extremists, courts, defenders of terrorism, without credentials for his position. And the army squads that were supposed to protect the border in Gaza were protecting the settlers and their follies in the West Bank. Unacceptable.
It is clear that he does not sympathize with this Government...
Since Rabin there have been no serious attempts at peace. There has been a weakening of the moderates in Palestinian society and the strengthening of the fanatics. In the Arab world no one has shown restraint and they have ignited jihad. Neither side has understood that only an alliance of moderates will bring us back to life. Everything else is a prescription for death. Both sides are guilty of making very bad choices. We moderates have paid a high price in criticism, we have always said “Two states for two peoples”, the only solution. And when I hear that that exit is dead, I say “And what is your solution? Bloodshed, wars?” Don't count on me.
Can peace emerge from such a war?
There is a way out of this crisis! And it is necessary that we choose that path, which requires courage. It has risks, but it is worth it because the goal is life and not death. Then there is geopolitics. When you want to understand something, look for money. The big countries have financial interests and that will help us reach an agreement, because continuing this is not good for their businesses. Money can help us find a way out! And secondly, this war has been poisoned by people who want to make a lot of money by controlling our minds. The people who use algorithms on social networks, who keep us stupid, unable to maintain a conversation, to maintain attention for more than fifteen seconds, well, a minute. Thanks, Instagram. It is the death of complexity, the death of truth, the revival of fake, everything fake, of the Kardashians with botox and lies elevated by algorithms.
Hamas receives sympathy...
When I see Palestinian people I respect, artists, supporting Hamas, calling them “freedom fighters,” I think “are you crazy?” No one is going to argue with me about my credentials. I have been playing a role for 28 years, I have done it, modestly, and I have paid a very high price for both parts. I am Israeli and I am not going to say that I hate Israel. I love Israel, I work for Israel; For me, working for peace is working for my country. Not the opposite.
What do you think when you see demonstrations in Europe with “Free Palestine” signs?
If you want peace with Israel, I am your friend. If you want to destroy Israel, I am not. And I tell these people that your slogan should be “Peace” or “Two states for two peoples,” but if you tell me “Hamas, freedom fighters,” destroying Israel's right to exist, you are fanning the flames of anti-Semitism. This is not humanitarian, it is not peace, it is something else.
Could October 7 and the war in Gaza not reinforce the extremists?
It's a simplistic view and people don't like complexity. The Hamas terrorists who killed activists neither knew nor cared, they were going to kill Jews. There are also Jews whose ideology embarrasses me. And Jewish terrorists who burned children alive. When you don't make peace, you will have war. And war is horrible. What responsibility do decent people have? Work for peace, there is no other. Extremism never goes away on its own. The Palestinians are not going to have all of Palestine, they can abandon that idea now. Neither of the two peoples are going to disappear, unless there is another holocaust, of the Jews or the Palestinians.
What do you feel when you see the images of Gaza?
I cry for both of them. My blood is no better than yours. Gaza makes me miserable, I wish she could stop it with my hands. Now, the mythological gods of war are raised and it is difficult to put them back in Pandora's box.
And what would you say to the left in Europe?
Support Hamas in the slightest way, no. Demonstrate, friends, for peace, only for peace. And if it doesn't bother you, also for the kidnapped people, so that they return, think about your children if they were in a Hamas cell. People get carried away by simplisms. Yesterday, Björk, an artist I admire, published something as stupid and disruptive as maps to understand the conflict... Please! Do you expect to understand the complexity with four maps in a few minutes? Let's not be idiots because now this idiocy is dangerous: saying irresponsible things can cost lives. If you do not have the time to understand the complexity of the conflict, go out and demonstrate for peace, but if not, you are putting the lives of Israelis and Palestinians at risk with your uninformed statements.
Is Israel committing genocide?
Israel is not committing genocide, Israel is now defending itself against brutal terror and it sucks, because war sucks. Do I have a simple solution? No. If it were up to me, there would be a ceasefire now.
