SHOW NO MERCY
When it comes to acts of war, what matters is not the truth,
but the mood of the nation. Donald Trump
handed Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu and early Christmas present that he
desperately needed. He needed to get the
protestors within Israel of his back and with the last remaining living
hostages freed he got his wish. There
will be no huge crowds protesting and waiting for dead bodies to be
repatriated. Family members affected
probably realize that their remains are buried in the rubble, victims of
indiscriminate bombardments. Therefore
the resumption of the conflict, although on a lesser scale, doesn’t come as a
surprise. It is really difficult to call
this a war because the damage and casualties inflicted are rather
one-sided. Palestinians are dying by the
tens of thousands and the last bit of what remains of their homeland lies in
ruins. Nethanyahu needed two things: get
the disenchanted home crowd of his back and put a stop to the increased calls
for his resignation by the opposition.
He can once more concentrate on his end goal: the total destruction of
the Gaza enclave and with Israel in complete control of the survivors and their
future (if there is one!).
He’s been getting away with murder. With genocide. And the world watches on with much
handwringing and protestations that amount to little world than an ineffectual
tut-tutting. With American support
remaining strong and American-made bombs doing the destroying, there appears to
be little or no appetite for anyone to step in and put a stop to this. The Palestinians have few allies left and
even fewer friends. The conflict has
been dragging on for nearly a century and as Israel gained independence and
increased its power in the region, any attempt to integrate the two tribes,
Jews and Arabs, into one state, has been consistently ignored as the preferred
option. Language, religion, culture,
history, isn’t it amazing how it can separate people, even if they have lived
in the same area for centuries. How can
you even contemplate a two-state solution when the mood between the two parties
has soured to such an extent that the only thing that remains is an implacable
hate.
The Middle East has been split in two. There is no cohesion and cooperation between
Arab states. Some are dirt poor and are
struggling to keep it together as a nation.
Regional wars and conflicts, religious differences and factions of
Hezbollah and Hamas stirring the pot and hundreds of thousands of refugees
permanently stuck in camps. The bills
are piling up and nobody knows what to do with this hapless bunch of humanity
that keeps hoping and dreaming of a land they used to call Palestine. The Middle East has become a region of
extremes. The impoverished states lack
the resources to mount any kind of offensive and the oil rich states have no
desire to risk their wealth on a war they might lose. All of this has given Israel a window of
opportunity to solidify their position, getting rid of Palestinians or at least
reduce their population to such pathetic levels that they no longer form any
kind of terrorist or military threat.
Show no mercy
As a writer, a student of philosophy, history and the
humanities, I don’t take sides. I don’t
condone violence of any kind, no matter what the intended objective is. I do have my doubts about the October 7 attack
which saw an estimated 6000 Gazan militants breach the border of their enclave
in 119 locations during the Nova music festival. Nearly 1200 civilians were killed and nearly
400 security forces and 250 people were taken hostage. Between the IDF and Israel’s Mossad they have
one of the most impressive and lethal security forces.
Do you honestly think
they were asleep at the wheel?
Create a crisis.
You would think that with so many Israelis and international
guests celebrating a large festival that security would have been
heightened. Not so. Security was incredibly lacking. There are also nasty rumors circulating that
government and intelligence sources were aware of an imminent attack. Remember, we’re not talking a few insurgents,
but thousands. And with vehicles and
weapons! Space and drone surveillance
is so sophisticated that any abnormality or oddity can be spotted in an instant. Why did it fail in such a stupendous manner?
Human history is filled
with dirty tricks and provocations to justify retaliation, war and occupation.
For those intent on provoking a conflict the casualty count
is immaterial. People can be
replaced. What is important is not the
truth, but the mood of a nation. Fire up
the masses and if the masses want revenge, give them what they want. Mission accomplished. When it comes to the lengths we’re willing to
go through to justify murder and mayhem, I have to confess that I’m a cynic
when it comes to human aspirations. We
disappoint. Over and over again.
Beware of Greeks
bearing gifts, because you don’t always get what you want.
Thank you Mr. Trump for putting Nethanyahu firmly back in the
saddle—Qatar has been forgiven thanks to Donald holding a phone to his hand
while Benjamin begged for forgiveness for his brazen attempt to take out a
Hamas negotiating team. A bit of a
political stumble and a gambit that could have gone horribly wrong. As a result of this misplaced Mea Culpa the
IDF can continue virtually unmolested in neutering the Gaza population. Israel has no desire to allow for two
independent Palestinian enclaves to exist within Israeli borders.
Show no mercy
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and part of the US team
that helped negotiate a temporary truce (I wouldn’t call it a lasting peace
agreement), made one very valid observation and it shows his insight and
maturity: Israel will have to come to some kind of negotiated settlement with
the Palestinians that is fair and guarantees a lasting peace. I hope that you realize than within the
current political climate and with everything that has taken place, that
Palestinian statehood and independence is but a dream. We can cast serious doubt on our so-called
humanity and human aspirations when it constantly calls into question the state
of our morality and ethics. Despite all
the marvels of modern technology it has done nothing to improve base human
instincts that are as primitive and reactive as ever. Whether you pontificate in front of TV
cameras dressed in suit and tie, or whether you’re dressed in filthy rags, if
the real intent is murder and mayhem it makes little difference. You can’t dress up murder as a noble
enterprise.
The face of modern warfare and armed conflict has changed
dramatically, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that war has never
solved anything, it only leads to shaky truces and festering grievances. The days of decisive battles are long gone
and most wars drag on for years, even decades.
You only have to look at the past one hundred and fifty years and check
the timelines, the devastation and the number of people killed and maimed. Despite all that sophisticated weaponry and
the immense destruction they can unleash, wars and conflicts continue to drag
on. In the air and on the ground. Devastating new weapons are countermanded
within weeks or months with countermeasures.
Political and battlefield stalemates.
We’re hoping and
praying.
The Arab states currently lack the cohesion, the technology and the armies to conduct any kind of meaningful warfare against Israel. Poverty, internal strife and religious tensions have fractured the region. Global battle lines have been drawn up, divvying the world up in spheres of influence. Globally the world is fracturing along uneasy political and economic lines and profitable economic strategies and ambitions trump the whole notion behind potentially unpopular and unwinnable wars. For now that is.
Nobody really wants an all-out war, but we’re working on it.
Fraying political nerves will defy common sense and rational
thought in a heartbeat and before you know it, we’ll be at each other’s throat
again. Catering to our primitive
instincts and emotions. When the mood in
a nation sours, when globally we’re faced with political stagnation and instability
we will once more reach for the apron strings of immaturity and ineptitude that
are the characteristics of humanity at its worst. Cutting ourselves loose from our primitive
and instinctive emotions appears to be nothing more than wishful thinking as
intellectual maturity continues to be as elusive as our efforts to get along
with each other.
We have created an existential crisis because we continue to
obsess about borders, cultures, past experiences, grievances and spheres of
influence, when we should be concentrating on the kind of cooperation needed to
tackle some of the worst problems that we face as a species. Tackling overpopulation, a fairer
distribution of wealth, sharing skills and technologies and improving global
living standards and opportunities. Just
to name a few things that we should pursue rather than ramping up defense
budgets, military spending and weapons development.
As always I invite you to comment and share.
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