A Rare Gaza Reaction.

It seems that the mass of public opinion around the world – and even in some of the right wing media – now agrees that Mr Netanyahu has gone way too far in his response to the Hamas atrocity. It now has the unmistakeable stench of that old mediaeval and Nazi tyrants’ principle: For every one of ours you kill, we’ll kill ten of yours.    

So is this post to be primarily about the arch villain Netanyahu? Not really. He and his hard line cohorts are merely the latest example of the kind of dross running most of the world. If karma is a fact, they are building the weight of their debit side by the bucketload. And if the hungry ghost realm exists – as the Buddhists say it does – they are surely destined to suffer there before too long. Netanyahu’s day will come if there’s any justice in the universal consciousness.

What really bothers me is America’s reaction, and that of the UK, America’s persistent poodle. I don’t remember the exact words used by the likes of Biden and Cameron, but it may be accurately paraphrased as:

We think you’re overdoing it a bit, and we’d rather you were a little more careful.

Excruciatingly weak, isn’t it? A classic case of trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, of making a facile attempt to appear humanitarian while ensuring that they don’t risk offending a useful ally. I’m tempted to ask why America, if it really wants to appear humanitarian, doesn’t simply withdraw all military funding (which I gather is substantial) to Israel until Israel agrees to a long term cessation of hostilities and serious negotiation.

But of course, this is unthinkable, primarily I would suggest because it would deplete American influence in the Middle East. But then there’s also the case that it would leave Israel in a vulnerable position since the country is surrounded by hostile Arab states, and that would be unfair to those Israelis who disagree with the murderous policy of Netanyahu and his Orcs. (But would it or would it not be reasonable to consider that the Israeli people were the ones who put the hardliners in power? That’s a difficult one for various reasons.) Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians – including children – are being killed or irrevocably maimed by the actions of the Israeli military under the instructions of a hard line government.

So where do I go from here? Should I embark on the rationale around the existence of terrorist organisations? Should I argue that terrorism is ultimately created by oppressors? Should I consider the similarities between apartheid in South Africa and the Jim Crowe laws in America, and ask how they compare with the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli state over the past seventy years?

No, I’m shutting up. Maybe it’s all just another example of the serious deficiencies in the human condition, or maybe there’s something I’m not being told. I still agree with whoever it was who said that revenge is the most abject of motives, and the whole business is depressing the life out of me. I dislike being depressed. Out.