A few thoughts on Hamas, the Palestinians, the Israeli's, terrorism, and war.
The people living in Gaza have been under occupation for nearly 2 decades. They cannot travel freely. They have no place to go - no one wants them.
What seems to be missing from the conversation is that the travel restrictions are not only from the Israeli side. Egypt holds one border and thus far has not even opened a humanitarian aid corridor, let alone provided safe passage and a path to citizenship somewhere in the Arab world for the poor, benighted Palestinians.
And benighted they are. They are under-educated, over-populated, and seemingly without a credible voice on the international stage. Hamas, like ISIS, feeds ravenously on the easily manipulated passions of teenagers who've never lived an un-enclosed life, of the young adults who remember life before the fences.
The opportunity to go paragliding and then kill your oppressor must be irresistible.
I'm not condoning it. I'm trying to get my brain around living with the hatred that led to such evil.
A woman representing the United Nations' relief programs in Gaza was on NPR this morning. Her description was heartbreaking. No opportunity, no food, no supplies, no reliable electricity, hospitals running ut of water ... on and on, with no context but lots of detail... and then she made me scream out loud.
After painting a bleak picture of Gaza's vulnerable civilians coping with the impending incursion of the IDF, threateningly massed at the border, she paused for dramatic effect and then exploded my brain with this:
After all, there are rules in war.
Rules? The Israeli civilians murdered, raped, kidnapped, paraded naked through the streets were not being used as human shields. They were concert goers and parents and grandparents and peace activists.
What rules are being followed by Hamas? Beheadings and rapes are war crimes.
Hamas has no agenda other than the extermination of the Jewish people. Hamas does not believe in the right of the state of Israel to exist. There is no political framework beyond that, no plan for improving their little corner of the world.
They just want to hate.
That's not in the rulebook of any civilized society.
Really.
These are wise and yet confounding words. The Hamas covenant states that even conversation about a two state solution is forbidden and the organization is committed to the extermination of Israel and the Jews. The atrocities being reported evidence sub human actions.
ReplyDeleteThis group of barbarians has ruled Gaza for 17 years.
And yet…there ARE rules of war. There was an Oslo accord that Israel has belligerently violated by aggressive settlements and the human tragedy for the Palestinians for 17 years of an Egypt Israel blockade that creates the “open air prison” is horrific as well.
I have no solutions only great sadness and the realization that my people in Israel can no longer survive with this organizations flagrant actions and commitment to the destruction of Israel and taking all of the land. In my view this occurred because the balance of power on the Mideast was about to shift with a Saudi Israeli accord and it could not happen. Iran and Saudi’s Arabia now jointly align behind the Palestinians and no accord will happen. In addition, as if it was nit hard enough to converse with those aligned with Trump for me, it is again a true challenge to be able to discuss this rationally. And yet, that is what we must figure out how to do because civil discourse is an essential element to peace.
Thoughtful as always, Kerry. Difficult conversations around difficult subjects make things tense these days. Everyone seems to be looking for what's right, but coming from such different outlooks, is it even possible?
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I was with you in your opening remarks. Then you seemed to suggest that since Hamas acted like barbarians - no rules - then Israel can forget the "rules" in retribution. I hope they don't.
ReplyDeleteThe Palestinians trapped in Gaza need to be treated humanely. How do you punish and eradicate Humas without slaughtering the innocent?
Neither side is folowing the rules.... the occupation is immoral, using civilians as human shields is immoral. I should have been clearer - rules in war is a philosphy that seems to have died in the 20th century. Where is/who has the moral authority to run something like the Nuremburg Trials?
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I've been having a hard time with Israel for a long time now. I do support Israel's right to exist, but I sure wish they'd extend the same to the people displaced and uprooted by the creation of their state. Jewish people were not the first, or only, people who lived in that place. All the sides need to give a little and figure out how to work together and coexist. I don't know how they can do that. Netanyahu and his ilk acting like bullies with the settlements and demonizing Palestinians is only making things worse. (It's kind of like folks here in Arizona griping about the nasty brown people teeming across our border.) Of all countries, Israel should do better. Hamas is horrible and I'm not defending them at all here. Everybody needs an attitude adjustment. I'm afraid that Israel is just going to annihilate
ReplyDeleteGaza and say "Oopsie."
Israel should be better - that's our American idealism shining through. The fact of the matter is that the Zionists did want to push everyone else out, and the British Balfour Declaration didn't do much to help the situation.
DeleteIt's hard to be Jewish and have a state existing in your name that is involved in the inhumanity that exists in Gaza. It's hard to have your co-religionists act in your name and condemn others to misery.
The notion of a safe haven is something to wish for all peoples - why does it always have to be at another's expense?
Netanyahu is a corrupt blowhard. They seem to be everywhere these days.
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I wish more people knew the actual history of this land instead of jut the rhetoric that is so prevalent today. As for current times and the people of Palestine being prisoners--the guy who buys our lambs is from Palestine and left there for what he felt would be a better life in the US where he became a citizen. They can leave. They need someone to be willing to take them...
ReplyDeleteLeaving requires a functioning government to process paperwork. That's lacking. The Palestinians have always drawn the short stick in the Arab world. This situation is no different.
DeleteStarting over in a new country requires abandoning the fierce allegiance to the actual land itself. That's at the heart of it all.
Like Big Cuter said when he was 12 - Religion just gives people more reasons to argue.
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Sometimes I just feel embarrassed to be a human being.
ReplyDeleteRight?!?!?
DeleteTBG and I were agreeing last night that if there is intelligent life in the universe they wouldn't want anything to do with us.
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