Gaza
“Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks it, I will always stand on the side of the egg. Yes, no matter how right the wall may be and how wrong the egg, I will stand with the egg.”
-Haruki Murakami
I felt like I had to comment on Gaza, even though I have nothing original to add, just because I couldn’t be silent now, and remember I was silent years from now, and live with myself. Then I remembered this quote from Rosa Luxemburg: “The most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening.” So I thought I’d just lay out, in brief terms, why my overall feelings on the conflict are so simple.
You should be thinking about this primarily at the level of your overall evaluation. Something which should be far more general than your appraisal of recent events. One of the problems with how we view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that we see it as a series of flash-ups and current events, not as a persistent imposition of power. Arguments over particular incidents and crimes are largely irrelevant at this level, although they can illuminate the overall dynamics of the situation.
All deaths that can be prevented should enter into our calculations, not merely the spectacular or obviously criminal.
History matters only insofar as it impacts the present. Arguments over who is truly the indigenous inhabitants of the area are irrelevant. What matters is suffering and the absence of flourishing right now.
And what determines that is, in the main, who holds the majority of the power and who endures the majority of the agony. There are of course numerous other aspects of the situation that should be discussed and aired, numerous questions about individual responsibility and desert, but at the first pass, what we need to know is something more general than that, which side, if either, is the oppressor, and which side, if either, is the oppressed.
Gaza is a blockaded region. Few can leave. Many, including children, are starving.
Any suggestion that Israel’s actions are purely defensive is nonsense. The Israeli government continues to support the settlement of the West Bank. Even if we accepted the blockade was essential, it is possible to conduct it without malnutrition.
Israel must stop oppressing the Palestinian people.
I do not want anyone to die. The people who I am most worried about dying are the people currently dying in the greatest numbers. Israel is oppressing Gaza, hence Gaza needs our help. Is that a very simple moral framework? Yes. But though individuals bear their deeds through their lives, on both sides, and though history contains many turns and passages, the essential moral truth of this world is that the strong try to do what they want upon the weak, and we are obliged to try to stop them.
I think the comments here are way too negative so I had to drop in and offer support. Israel holds 90% of the power, and Palestine suffers 90% of the agony. Well said.
…except the quote at the beginning. I really don't think it sends the right message and probably ticked off a lot of people who didn't read the rest of the article and went straight for the comments.
"If an egg kills, kidnaps and rapes innocent civilians, but is weaker than the wall - then I will always stand with the egg" - Philosophy bear
By your simple framework, A bank Robber that is shot by the police is weaker than the police, and the polices obviously creates more suffering for him than he creates for the police. So we should stand with the bank robber and not with the police.
In any case, thank you for letting me know where you stand and letting me unsubscribe from someone who implicitly supports the massacre of my family and my people.