Friday, July 18, 2014

Uneven War

In all the horrible news of the plane shot down and Israel's ground offensive, I feel hopeless and without words. Jon Stewart at least was able to point out the absurdity of Israel claiming that the civilians in Gaza should evacuate. "Evacuate to where?" indeed.

I can only refer to this article on Daily Kos to combat the Israeli propaganda coming out of the mainstream media. Apologists for Israel say, "What if Canada or Mexico sent rockets to attack the US? Wouldn't we have the right the fight back?" They miss the point. Palestinians don't have their own separate country or have rights to citizenship in Israel. Palestinians are fucking blockaded and starved and then massacred. Ask yourself instead, "What if the Native Americans on the reservations started launching rockets at the US in revenge for stealing their land? What if the poverty, unemployment, and Third World conditions made them revolt out of despair and helplessness?" In fact, the American Indian Movement did try to take action in the 1973 Wounded Knee Incident, but justice is not easily won. But at least some people at the time could sympathize with the oppressed people and see that the issues were complex. Not so with Israel, where everything's always Hamas's fault, even the death of little boys on the beach.

I wish there was something I could do, besides watch in horror. When will the international community be able to do something instead of going through the sham of the peace talks that always fall apart? I thought the UN recognition of Palestine was going to help somehow.

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