In this post I want to begin by stating unequivocally that I am not antisemitic. No way. Anybody who thinks that after reading what I shall write here will be making a bigoted judgement that says more about them than it says about me.
Let's start by going back to October 7th 2023. What happened that day in southern Israel was wicked and unjustifiable. Hundreds of Hamas fighters spilled over the border from Gaza and killed 1200 Israeli nationals - including many young people who were attending a joyous music festival. Over 250 innocent Israeli civilians were kidnapped, later to be used as bargaining chips - hostages. Although this cruelty did not happen in a vacuum - there was of course a historical context - it was nevertheless very, very wrong and an affront - not just to Israel but to humanity as a whole.
When a family, a community or a country is wronged, the quest for vengeance is very natural. Consequently, it came as no great surprise when Israel with its military might sought their revenge. Hamas had to pay for what it had done.
Yes - that is perfectly understandable but here's the rub. Israel's vengeance appears to have had little restraint. They have bombed the Gaza strip to virtual destruction. It didn't seem to matter if Palestinian fatalities were young or old, men or women, members of Hamas or ordinary citizens. Spokespeople for The Israeli Defence Force have repeatedly justified every fatal attack - usually by claiming - frequently without evidence - that they were targeting members of Hamas or Hamas fighters or Hamas command centres.
The killing and the destruction goes on. It is now calculated that 50,810 residents of Gaza have been killed including over 500 children. The Israeli bombing has targeted schools, hospitals and refugee camps as well as residential blocks and aid workers. No mercy has been shown in spite of attempts at establishing lasting truces. And under the current American presidency, it is as if Benjamin Netanyahu and his right wing cabinet have been given licence to simply carry on. Not "Drill baby drill!" but "Kill baby kill!"
The revenge figures are too high, far outweighing the initial horror of October 7th. Where will this all end? History should have taught us many lessons about revenge killing and wanton destruction. You cannot obliterate ideas with bombs and bullets and so it will be with Hamas.
The current American president thinks of the Gaza Strip as a nice piece of Mediterranean real estate with great potential for development - perhaps hotels, casinos, an airport and a golf course or two. But it is not - it is the home of two million displaced people who had nowhere else to go - people with hopes and dreams just like you and me. Now they dwell in a ruinous wasteland that smells of death and nobody seems to care very much.
But shhhh! Let's not talk about it.
You are a brave man, Neil, to voice what some think and few dare to utter aloud. I myself was astonished to be given notice of a decades old friendship when I suggested (playing Devil's Advocate) a POSSIBLE way of cutting short an avoidable war between Russia and Ukraine. My friend (an artist who one might think of being able to operate outside the box) was scandalized. That evening I knew how Chamberlain felt when his attempt at appeasement fell flat on its face.
ReplyDeleteBack to the numbers you quote: Whilst sometimes throwing caution to the wind I do indulge in cost/benefit analysis, indeed punishment needing to fit the crime. Let's just say that Israel (by which I don't mean the individual but the collective - lest I tread on someone's toes) does not know how to limit damage. Instead it escalates it. Worse, as you hint at, playing into the coffers of the greedy with little more than dollar signs in their eyes.
I do hope there will be a frank exchange on this page as life is not about agreeing with each other but exchanging ideas; thus finding solutions. Which, apropos of nothing, makes Alexander's Gordian Knot spring to my mind.
U
PS Looking at the photo you chose to illustrate your post I don't know whether to cry in the face of needless destruction or smile at the absurdity of it all.
Thanks YP, I am in total agreement.
ReplyDeleteHappy to give voice to your instincts Carolyn.
DeleteI am not a conspiracy theorist at all, but perhaps there is some merit in the view that Netanyahu arranged for the initial Hamas attack. It has allowed him to continually attack Gaza and has diverted attention from his own legal and corruption issues at that time.
ReplyDeleteGiven the tight border security arrangements, it does seem incredible that the Hamas invasion could happen without forewarning or resistance.
DeleteNeither Israel nor Hamas give two shits about the Palestinian people, that much is clear. Nor Trump either, that posturing buffoon.
ReplyDeleteIt is utterly gobsmacking that King Donald I sees the Gaza Strip merely as real estate.
DeleteWell said @ DSWS. And what's the end game? Almost every surviving sibling/spouse/child (on both sides) will internalize that horrific pain and trauma and be susceptible to radicalization to seek revenge and then what? It all continues ad nauseum, forever. Meanwhile, Trump, bloated with unchecked capitalism, proposes a casino.
DeleteIt's a horror story for real, not just a book or a movie and I really wish there could be a simple solution so everyone could live in peace and just go about their daily lives without worry. It's a bit like Russia and Ukraine. Russia attacked first but when Ukraine retaliated suddenly Putin cries "Victim" and does far worse.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Elsie. There are clear parallels.
DeleteYou cover the present situation very well. However, the roots of this problem go back many years. As a child I remember adults talking about the establishment of the state of Israel. Mistakes were made then and continue to cause problems. Will it ever end?
ReplyDeleteWill it ever end? Personally, I have very little hope of that.
DeleteI agree with you. However, it's scary here to express any sympathy for Palestinians or risk being accused of antisemitism or even detained/deported. Even as a native born American citizen, I'm feeling less and less protected if I disagree with the current government.
ReplyDeleteIt is easier to keep one's thoughts to oneself as the genocide in Gaza continues. Even using the word "genocide" may be seen in some quarters as antisemitic.
DeleteI despair of that situation. Hamas claimed they would fight until Israel is obliterated. With Hamas saying that, what is Israel to do?
ReplyDeleteIt's all just irredeemable and yes the suffering is immense
I pity the children who just want to live and have decent, happy lives.
DeleteBack atthe start of this conflict I quietly put a Star of David on my facebook in support of a Jewish friend who was finding it tough. Since then I have been abused for doing so. I am ten minutes from Sydney's Muslim heartland so I guess I had to expect it. Nobody around here is accused of anti-Semitism
DeleteI agree, and there is the fear in people that they will be branded anti-semitic for speaking out about the humanitarian crisis and the death of innocents. The recent murder of the convoy of aid and health care workers was appalling. Israel lied about the use of emergency lights on the convoy of cars and it was only because of a dead person's video evidence that it was called to account. I am sure the lies have come thick and fast from Israel over the past, what? Eighteen months?
ReplyDeleteThere have been so many incidents like the one you described. Last night they bombed one of the only functioning hospitals in Gaza and once again they will get away with it. The IDF spokespeople will churn out the old tired excuses or maybe they won't even bother.
DeleteYes we live in a fear of being called anti-semitic as Andrew has said if we so much as publish one word on the plight of the Palestinians. One evil has been overtaken by a much larger one and the question asked is it genocide on the part of the IDF. Also, why do not the Israeli people get rid of Netanyahu and the right wing aspect of his political party.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC does cover it but our government does not, we supply arms, maybe the answer is there. There is so much that is morally wrong in war that sometimes it is difficult to see a way through it all. At the moment we just throw up our hands in despair, the religious programme this morning was reciting how much water is left in Gaza for the people, 3 litres per person a day plus hummus and bread.
God knows where the saying "an eye for an eye" came from. I feel so, so sad for all the Jewish people and have absolutely no anger against them, only the leaders who stroll round the stage dictating terror and death.
Thank you for your honest and heartfelt response Thelma. Netanyahu should have been arrested in America last week instead of hobnobbing with the current US president.
DeleteI totally agree. What happened on 7th October was dreadful but what the Israelis have done since is unforgivable. Two wrongs don't make a right. I know a lot of Jews (and maybe even Israelis) dont like it either, but it's Netanyahu and his cronies that are doing this. The problem is too deep seated in history and not something to be easily solved. But genocide is not the answer.
ReplyDeleteThrough the cruel obliteration of Gaza, Netanyahu is stoking up more bitterness in the Arab world. It will burst out in the future.
DeleteMankind never learns by his mistakes and unfortunately the Middle East has always been a volatile area. I feel sorry in my heart for all those who have been killed or made homeless, whichever side they are on.
ReplyDeleteThe Orange one should forget about developing a nice Mediterranean seaside resort and use that money to rebuild the area with homes where people can find sanctity and rebuild their lives in a safe environment. Of course he won't do that - there's no profit in an act of humanity. I wonder if the "Costa del Gaza" has been his plan all along?
Thank you for your well-considered reflections Carol.
DeleteIt saddens me that this war, and others in the region, continue year after year, decade after decade.
ReplyDeleteIt sickens me that anyone would want to profit it on the death and destruction, but then a narcissistic gasbag who cares not one iota about people and only about dollar signs is that person.
I agree that the degree of destruction is unconscionable. I fully support Israel's right to exist and I was horrified by the atrocities of Oct. 7th. (And continue to be horrified by the ongoing holding of Israeli hostages by Hamas.)
ReplyDeleteBut the leaders of Israel are right-wing (and quite extreme) themselves. Many Jewish people who are more moderate oppose the scale of the retaliation. I think Netanyahu, on October 8th, basically wrote off the living hostages as collateral damage and said to his advisers (of the Gazans), "Kill them all." Even now he's reluctant to stop.
Let's not forget our Western government's support Israel. I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, both Hamas and Netanyahu are criminals, killing innocent people, and ensuring generations of traumatized people.
ReplyDeleteYou have to remember that Hamas have been attacking Israel for decades, whilst Israel continued to provide all their electricity, Gas, medicines, food, water, internet, etc. But there comes a time when you've simply had enough. Hamas had to pay; and pay they have. Now the Gazans themselves are up in arms against Hamas, they want peace and now even agree with the Israelis that Hamas HAS to be destroyed completely.
ReplyDeleteFor my own part I've always found it hard to keep up with who is most to blame for what in that corner of the world, but just wish that they'd finally manage to find some way to co-exist in peace. I very much doubt that You-Know-Who and his plans to magically turn ruins into a holiday paradise is the solution, though...
ReplyDeleteLoved your Welsh posts
ReplyDeleteThis one had me in tears
Some of these posters here conflating Hamas with normal citizens of Gaza are horrifying to me.
ReplyDeletePropaganda machines can be very effective,
Delete
ReplyDeleteNetanyahu and his cohorts and Hamas have blood on their hands.
An eye for an eye will leave everyone blind in Israel and Gaza.
The extremist Israeli and Hamas leadership must go !
Rex in DC
A fair assessment Rex.
DeleteIsrael has military superiority and has long had it thanks to US support and the acquiescence (and more) or the rest of the "west." There is something wrong with a project if the only solution for dealing with restless natives is a final solution. I don't accept that C20 and C21 Jewish settlers are also natives - the departure was simply too long ago.
ReplyDeleteThe only likelihood of a just resolution would be if international infamy and isolation made it no longer worth it for Israel to persist as it has. The BDS campaign was an attempt to bring this about in a non-violent way yet we can see the ferocity (at least not actual bombing and military murder) with which it has been met. The suppression of open discussion and reportage of the Israel-Palestine issue is part of the ring-fencing of Israel's normalisation.
The events of 7/10/23 were shocking but it is a statistical sleight of hand to punish Palestinians or even Hamas for bad things done in a short period which pale in comparison (shocking though they are) by Israel's conduct for approximately 80 years.
Could go into more detail about all of the above but that would turn this comment thread into a bin fire, so prefer to keep this comment short and simple.
You are articulating thoughts that many fair-minded onlookers have been having but the climate is such that most of us have chosen to to keep shtum about it all. Of course, this does not help the Palestinian people.
DeleteSafely posted when the threat had gone cold. But it took me that long to work out what I could/should (briefly) say because the inhibitory pressures are so great.
DeleteBetter late than never Marcellous. And even since I published this blogpost the obliteration of Gaza has proceeded unchecked. Is a "Hamas command and control centre" essentially just any old smartphone?
Delete"Threat" in my last comment was meant to be "thread." Threat is of course ongoing.
ReplyDelete