I have been critical of Israel in the past and I will continue to do so until they start acting like a civilized nation…..this Gaza thing has me being labeled all sorts of things like un-American or antisemitic or naive or a whole wealth of other small minds can come up with….but I soldier on.
I read an article from the Libertarian Institute that I wanted to share….I am no Libertarian….I do share some points with them especially on war but that is about as far as it goes for any support from me…..however I do read and I do share with my readers what I find.
Recently online Antiwar.com and some voices in the antiwar movement have come under criticism, accused of being “left” leaning or pushing an anti-Western agenda. It is nothing new for those who are consistent in their criticism of war to receive backlash from supposed philosophical allies or the usual pro-war beings. Collectivists however are seldom consistent when it comes to principles. They tend to lack an ability to discriminate nuance or to absorb criticism of their ‘side’ when it comes to injustices inflicted upon the innocent. Certain social media ‘celebrities’ in the American liberty movement have zeroed in on Dave DeCamp, Scott Horton and those at Antiwar.com.
To condemn those who would murder innocent children should be an obvious position for most people. The fact that such condemnation needs to occur at all and that so many children are often murdered reveals the cold hard fact that it is not that common a position to be held. For collectivists even the innocent must suffer and die. There is a savagery in the ideology of those who view a baby as fair game simply because it has been relegated into a specific demographic. A child from a familiar camp is viewed as sacred, precious and innocent. Those born inside the borders of a pariah or “insignificant” region are forfeit, they must suffer to satisfy the gods of foreign policy or ideology. The consistently antiwar, understand this. Tourists to the cause seldom do.
Israel has taken on a precious position inside the realms of Western, especially American ideology. To criticize specific Israeli government policies risks one becoming tarred with the brush of anti-Semite or even to be accused of inflicting hatred upon Jews. It is a tiresome slur that seems to have stood the test of time with the horrors of the holocaust and terrible spectre of Nazi Germany an ever present reminder to be used as a sword to justify violent foreign policy. Rarely do the defenders of collective punishment policies ever provide dignified nuance, instead the victims are either ignored, minimized or dehumanized. The crimes and injustices committed by the enemy are emphasized and at times exaggerated. Even if no exaggeration is required. Take the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th , it was a vile act of terror, yet extra claims have meandered into fanciful horror stories that will only devalue the suffering already felt.
(Read On)
Well said!
I do not expect to change any minds but at least this feeling is out there….
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
When people and nations are at war, sufferings of the enemies are of no concern… or should not be….try to remember some of the fire bombed cities of Germany and Japan during world war 2– nobody gave a damnned about suffering people or their brats in those days, did they? –War is going to have that kind of damage and that is what war is all about and people had either better get used to it and accept it or find something else to do besides bitch and moan about it because that is the way war is and that is the way war is always going to be and there is always going to be wars.
Those attacks were at the mercy of a media that fed crap to readers…it would be different today. I will continue to bitch and moan as long as their are unfeeling people. chuq
If that is the case, you will be bitching and moaning as long as you live… and all the bitching and moaning will do nothing at all except perhaps satisfy the ego of the ones doing the bitching– I find that to be part of my own problem…I bitch, my parents bitched, their parents bitched, and nothing ever happened but more bitching.
Have been for 60 years and will continue until I am dead….I refuse to be a defeatist….we have enough ot them now….I will not add my voice to that ignorance. chuq
So if you are not a defeatist, does that mean that you believe you are making a difference? I know that I am not making a difference because I do not reach enough people to be an influencer.
Yes but if you gauge success by the number to converts then you are just feeding your egotism….nothing is accomplished without trying. chuq
And sometimes nothing is accomplished no matter how hard you try
As my mother us to say to me “Can’t Never Could”. chuq
Trying to physically push a 25-ton boulder up a steep hill is one of those occasions where can’t is valid.
And anyone tr5ying that is a moron. chuq
Americans are trying to do it every day.
I suspect more Americans feel like you do about the excessive response to the October terror attack in Israel. I’m one who am pro-Israel most days, but the closer the death toll gets to 30,000 Gaza children, women, and men, the less support I can give Israel.
The ratio must be approaching 20-to-one of Gazans to Israelis dead in this mess. An Israeli friend says she will block anyone (on Facebook) who supports the Gazans, not (seemingly) seeing how excessive her country’s response to the terror attack has been.
Looking at the news from Gaza, I’d say “terror attack” can apply to what Israel has done there.
Hostages, yes, That is a tragic and senseless situation. And so is pushing the citizens of Gaza father and farther south, denying them food, medicine, living quarters, any of life’s necessities.
You can imagine, mentioning my feelings to my Israeli friend is inadvisable! Then, though, there is my Palestinian friend, whose father’s olive orchard was taken from him in the 1950s by the Israeli government, without compensation. He can be aware of my sentiments about Gaza!
Thanx Doug for your insights…..chuq
It hurts to see how friends on both sides feel anger and sorrow toward the other. As is common with Mediterranean peoples, both are very hospitable in their homes and communities, yet have this hate that can’t be quelled.
Accurate depiction….chuq
I am sick and tired of being labelled ‘antisemitic’ because I criticise Israel. I don’t criticise jews in any other country, and when I lived in London I had many Jewish colleagues and friends. They understood that the actions of one country do not represent a worldwide religion, but now everyione is on the ‘antisemitic’ bandwagon.
I have to pose another question that nobody is asking, specifically to the American and European govenments supporting anything Israel does. During the period from 1974-2001, the Irish Republican Army carried out many terrorist bombing attacks and shootings on mainland Britain and in Northern Ireland. Large numbers of people were killed, and many other maimed or injured. So would that have justified Britain bombing Dublin and other Irish towns and cities in ‘self-defence’?
Best wishes, Pete.
Good point Pete. I have written about people calling me antisemitic….I personally do not care about what they believe….it is their actions that I address. chuq