Israel and Gaza
Posted on January 7, 2009 - Filed Under American Politics, Film, International Politics | 1 Comment
I have nothing particularly original to say on this matter and I find the whole affair sadly reminiscent of other Israeli-Arab conflicts. It has a seemingly implacable militant group, unrestrained Israeli counter-aggression, a massively lopsided death toll (reports vary, but at the time of writing it stands at something like 600 Palestinian dead to under ten Israeli dead), and an all-round disregard for civilian life. Typical as well is the way in which US politicians have unanimously lined up in support of Israel’s offensive while most other major international players have called for an immediate ceasefire. The US media has followed the political establishment; a few bloggers aside, so far the only person in the US media that I’ve seen even profess even the slightest sympathy for the Palestinian people is Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart.
As usual, the whole situation is a mess and neither side can stake much of a claim to the high moral ground. I’m just glad that I don’t live there and that my government doesn’t having any role in funding this madness.
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I think it’s fair to say that while both sides are in the wrong, the Israelis are the “most wrong”, given the nature of their reaction to the rocket attacks which is counter-productive at best and terrorism at worst. I can think of no better way to make a man a committed terrorist than to bomb his family and destroy his home.