Outrage at Hamas crimes, while perfectly justifiable, has an emotional appeal with political power that will allow political leaders both in the U.S. and Israel to condemn any consideration of the political, economic, and social plight of the Palestinians as contributors to the situations as only making excuses for terrorists and crimina…
Outrage at Hamas crimes, while perfectly justifiable, has an emotional appeal with political power that will allow political leaders both in the U.S. and Israel to condemn any consideration of the political, economic, and social plight of the Palestinians as contributors to the situations as only making excuses for terrorists and criminals. Already a total blockade of Gaza is in place likely leading to massive suffering of the population in a blatant act of collective punishment, which will be justified and criticism of which will be condemned by politicians both here and in Israel. The problem of course is that their is no end game here, as there are no military solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Power and the will to apply it is the only thing operating here and will lead Israel to a dead end, much like our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did after 9/11.
If we espouse the universal principles of human rights: equality before the law, freedom, liberty, and security. Then how can we justify Israel's existence, without doing the same for the Palestinians? "Oppression breeds retaliation, and violence begets more violence." There seems greater forces keeping this negative feedback loop going and not enough work towards neogotian, reconciliation, and peace. In our lifetimes we saw an end to Apartheid, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the USSR. We have also witnessed Rwanda, Bosnia, Chechnya, Sudan, Somallia, 911, Iraq, Afghanistan, War in Georgia, Myanmar, and in Ukraine, and this ongoing violence in Israel. Surely we can do better.
1/5 Kevin: you said: “The problem of course is that their is no end game here, as there are no military solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Power and the will to apply it is the only thing operating here and will lead Israel to a dead end, much like our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did after 9/11.” Kevin, well said—worth repeating—w/minor changes for brevity; after, I’ll point to where I differ.
Kevin rightfully said: “Justifiable outrage at Hamas crimes has an emotional appeal that will allow leaders in US/Israel to condemn consideration of plight of Palestinians as only making excuses for terrorists. A total blockade of Gaza is now in place…leading 2 more suffering in an act of illegal collective punishment which will be justified & criticism of which will be condemned.”
2/5 In my view, the ultimate goal (end game) is apparent/Machiavellian; hegemony in the Middle East for European neocolonial settlers & increase profits for Western oligarchs; messianic cultural intrusion & dominance (consumerism); access to and exploitation & theft of (extraction) resources at the expense of the Indigenous people valued only—if cheap and servile—labor.
3/5 Israel serves as a White supremacist proxy to promote Western ideology, that requires suppression of the Indigenous, except for tourist venues. This endgame has been & still is pursued by China, Russia, Europe and the U.S. It’s a subtle form of imperialism & the neo-colonialism it depends on.
“Power and the will to apply it” is also an intricate part of the endgame and may be “the only thing operating here.’ “ I suspect greed, the obsessive compulsive addiction to hoarding wealth/power, are at play.
Military solutions are seen as viable tools, for those w/no moral scruples. It worked in China, et al, as long as the military was/is willing to shoot pesky unarmed civilians.
4/5 It worked in the U.S., eradicating indigenous people, obstacles to fascist, White supremacists definition of ‘progress,’ (an Orwellian euphemism) reducing their population to about 1%.
It ‘worked’ in the Americas where up to 100m native people were slaughtered in the name of the cross & royalty, most if not all psychopaths/sociopaths; thieves and murderers operating with impunity; handsomely rewarded for their evil work.
5/5 “Zero Degree of Empathy: A New Theory on Human Cruelty” (2011) is the title of a book by Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert in autism and developmental psycho pathology; a new and lucid definition for “evil.” It focuses, rightfully, on empathy instead of evil.
Outrage at Hamas crimes, while perfectly justifiable, has an emotional appeal with political power that will allow political leaders both in the U.S. and Israel to condemn any consideration of the political, economic, and social plight of the Palestinians as contributors to the situations as only making excuses for terrorists and criminals. Already a total blockade of Gaza is in place likely leading to massive suffering of the population in a blatant act of collective punishment, which will be justified and criticism of which will be condemned by politicians both here and in Israel. The problem of course is that their is no end game here, as there are no military solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Power and the will to apply it is the only thing operating here and will lead Israel to a dead end, much like our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did after 9/11.
If we espouse the universal principles of human rights: equality before the law, freedom, liberty, and security. Then how can we justify Israel's existence, without doing the same for the Palestinians? "Oppression breeds retaliation, and violence begets more violence." There seems greater forces keeping this negative feedback loop going and not enough work towards neogotian, reconciliation, and peace. In our lifetimes we saw an end to Apartheid, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the USSR. We have also witnessed Rwanda, Bosnia, Chechnya, Sudan, Somallia, 911, Iraq, Afghanistan, War in Georgia, Myanmar, and in Ukraine, and this ongoing violence in Israel. Surely we can do better.
We can do better only if we can enlarge our moral and political imaginations beyond our own needs and passions.
Yup. I think it takes risk for leaders each side of the conflict.
Yes, this endless quid pro quo cycle between Palestine and Israel needs to be broken. Without compromise, it will never happen.
1/5 Kevin: you said: “The problem of course is that their is no end game here, as there are no military solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Power and the will to apply it is the only thing operating here and will lead Israel to a dead end, much like our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan did after 9/11.” Kevin, well said—worth repeating—w/minor changes for brevity; after, I’ll point to where I differ.
Kevin rightfully said: “Justifiable outrage at Hamas crimes has an emotional appeal that will allow leaders in US/Israel to condemn consideration of plight of Palestinians as only making excuses for terrorists. A total blockade of Gaza is now in place…leading 2 more suffering in an act of illegal collective punishment which will be justified & criticism of which will be condemned.”
2/5 In my view, the ultimate goal (end game) is apparent/Machiavellian; hegemony in the Middle East for European neocolonial settlers & increase profits for Western oligarchs; messianic cultural intrusion & dominance (consumerism); access to and exploitation & theft of (extraction) resources at the expense of the Indigenous people valued only—if cheap and servile—labor.
3/5 Israel serves as a White supremacist proxy to promote Western ideology, that requires suppression of the Indigenous, except for tourist venues. This endgame has been & still is pursued by China, Russia, Europe and the U.S. It’s a subtle form of imperialism & the neo-colonialism it depends on.
“Power and the will to apply it” is also an intricate part of the endgame and may be “the only thing operating here.’ “ I suspect greed, the obsessive compulsive addiction to hoarding wealth/power, are at play.
Military solutions are seen as viable tools, for those w/no moral scruples. It worked in China, et al, as long as the military was/is willing to shoot pesky unarmed civilians.
4/5 It worked in the U.S., eradicating indigenous people, obstacles to fascist, White supremacists definition of ‘progress,’ (an Orwellian euphemism) reducing their population to about 1%.
It ‘worked’ in the Americas where up to 100m native people were slaughtered in the name of the cross & royalty, most if not all psychopaths/sociopaths; thieves and murderers operating with impunity; handsomely rewarded for their evil work.
5/5 “Zero Degree of Empathy: A New Theory on Human Cruelty” (2011) is the title of a book by Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert in autism and developmental psycho pathology; a new and lucid definition for “evil.” It focuses, rightfully, on empathy instead of evil.