What War Does to Us
It Makes Us Hate; It Leads Us to Slaughter
From the Gaza Strip, the Hamas offensive against Israel has been murderously effective. The vaunted and much-celebrated Israeli military was caught by surprise and is responding to the Hamas attacks with its own version of murder, as captured in this announcement:
Israel Defense Minister: "I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly." [emphasis added]
Actually, we have laws against allowing animals to starve. Think of the SPCA, the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Furthermore, comparing humans to animals is most often an insult to animals. Animals’ thirst for blood is sated quickly compared to humans and our thirst.
Let’s be clear: Hamas and the Palestinian people are not “human animals.” They are not lesser humans or beasts. Are the Jewish people forgetting the way that the Nazis reduced them to lesser humans or beasts to be exterminated during the Holocaust?
Announcing a siege against all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (no food, no power, mostly unsafe water) is the equivalent of launching a holocaust in slow motion. How is this in any way a proportionate and defensible response to the attacks by Hamas?
Meanwhile, as usual the U.S. government, showing its inherent unity and conformity, is 100% behind Israel, sending an aircraft carrier and issuing blank checks of unequivocal support. The mainstream media once again is telling Americans which side to hate. Think of the Palestinians as a gaggle of little Putins and you’ll be applauded for your right-think.
This is why I hate war. It turns us into killers. It leads us to hate those we kill. And hate kills our minds and makes us even more willing killers.
I applaud and support neither Hamas nor Israel. I applaud and support those who fight for a peaceful future in which we don’t see each other as “human animals” to be slaughtered with impunity.
As usual, a Manichean approach is applied to the current flare-up in Gaza/Palestine, so of course this is turned into yet another battle between "good vs evil." And, as always, the US and its allies, in this case Israel, are the good guys, and the bad, evil, "human animals" are the Palestinians. This way of thinking is so backward, so frankly insipid, that it is hard to believe anyone still falls for it. Anyone with a functioning brain could have foreseen that, by turning Gaza into an open prison, one day the people living in Gaza would eventually be forced to rebel against their oppressors. Or are people just supposed to accept occupation and second class status forever? Unfortunately, to analyze the situation and understand the history and causes behind the Palestinian resistance is simply verboten, because it might lead to the wrong conclusion. Instead, and just like with all the other wars--Ukraine/ Vietnam/Libya/ Syria Afghanistan/Iraq, etc.-- a simplistic "good vs evil" story line is fed to the US population 24/7 by the mainstream media. It's all they know how to do. I just wonder---when this is all over, will Gaza be transformed from an open prison into an open mass grave?
Sledge-hammer conclusion, Bill. And inarguable, imo.
Also agree about the insult to non-human animals---they don't wage war. My thought? They're much too smart for that!