effloresce

some thoughts
2021-05-17 16:04:24 (UTC)

Israel-Palestine

For the second time this week, I felt I had to avoid Democracy Now's broadcast altogether and fast forward through NBC's Nightly News. Violence happening in Israel-Palestine and particularly in the Palestinian areas where the weight of a well-financed and heavily armed state is being brought down on them is more than I can bear to watch.

Yes, Hamas, poses some threat to Israel but the violence is disproportionate and also is the sort that can be categorized as collective punishment and on a population that already was deprived and oppressed and during COVID heavily impacted by the pandemic -- the Israeli population is vaccinated, while most of the residents of Gaza and the West Bank are not.

Then what was the spark for Hamas (100% a terrorist organization)? Palestinians being forcibly removed from East Jerusalem to make way for settlers. Settlers who are often people from Ukraine and Russia who have a Jewish grand or great-grandparent but have been identifying as Orthodox Christians up until the opportunity to make aliyah to Israel came up, who then will displace Palestinians who have lived in their areas for generations.

I feel for the Israelis who feel under siege and are under rocket attack. All of this is - in which I include Zionism - is bigger than them. But then, my Jewish friends are critical of Zionism while being supportive of Jewish people. So much has gone wrong and is going wrong in 2020 and this year. My daughter reminds me frequently that things can always get worse




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