Why are people protesting so much about Gaza? Worse things are happening in Syria. But people only protest when its Israel doing it. Can we maybe clear this up? 1) Some of us are also protesting about Syria. 2) The conflict in Syria is an extension of the Iraq war. I remember protesting against that too. 3) The idea that Im only concerned about Muslim lives when its Jews killing them is therefore, demonstrably, bullshit. Going a little deeper: 4) One million people - or more - protested in London in 2003 about the initiation of the Iraq war. 5) If you stuck every pro-Palestinian demonstration in the UK in the last month end on end, you wouldnt even scrape 20% of that number. 6) The idea that people are uniquely keyed up about anything to do with Israel is also, demonstrably, bullshit. Going to essentials: 7) A bad thing is a bad thing. That there are worse things doesnt excuse it. 8) If you fire on a school, you may not be explicitly targeting children, but there is a 100% chance that you will kill children. Any doctrine of proportional warfare fails at that point. 9) Israeli warfare is not Jewish warfare. Israeli war-crimes are not Jewish war-crimes. But anybody who supports a Zionist ideal has a responsibility to confront the reality of that ideal. Zionism is optional in a way that Jewishness is not. Personally: 10) My life has been saturated in Jewish culture. My home nation (Ireland) was founded on ideas that explicitly drew on Zionism as an ideal. 11) I dislike the idea of a state founded on explicitly religious or racial citizenship. I grew up in one. But I would no more question Israels right to exist than I would Irelands. 12) Similarly, I grew up in a nation marked by terrorism. We talk about The Troubles as a period between 1968 and 1998, when terrorism was mostly confined to Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. But there were 200 years of conflict before that. The graves are still there, and Ireland still hasnt come to terms with it. Politically: 13) The only thing we can do for Israel and Palestine is support what we think is best - or most needed - in both societies. 14) There is no greater bulwark against (para)military extremism than simple quality of life. 15) The UN Development Programme supports NGOs in Israel and Palestine. You have to be a nation to give funds directly to the UN, but you can give funds to individual charities and NGOs. Pick one you like and give them money: undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html To Israel: LChaim! To Palestine: Hayāh!
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 19:13:16 +0000
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