Week ending November 24, 2012

Not so surprisingly, the articles I want to talk about in this post all relate to the recent war between Israel and Hamas. The first two were written while it was still going, and the third was written shortly after the ceasefire took hold.

The first article was quite personal for me. I grew up with an attitude much like the author's son. But there was a very important difference -- the bullies didn't pick on me. This was mostly because such violence was so much NOT tolerated at my school. It was also because I was always big for my age. Therefore, I did not learn what this woman's son learned until much later in life and, thankfully, NOT from personal experience. There is STILL apart of me that wants to believe that love and nonviolence will conquer all. But now I know that this is mostly wishful thinking. I was basically almost a pacifist when I was young. I have now learned from much observation and study of history that there are times when war is necessary and just. The Second World War is one example, and the recent battle with Hamas is another, albeit on a MUCH smaller scale.

The second article is a letter from an Israeli guy to an imaginary counterpart in Gaza. In it, he manages to highlight the difference between the two sides and to help all of us understand what is really happening. It was originally written in Hebrew, but the English translation is very good, except for the title, where "from" should have been "in".

Our last article is an important reminder, just in case anyone STILL needs it, NOT to believe the pictures you see of wounded or frightened children (or adults, for that matter), especially if they purport to be from Gaza. It gives some specific examples, including pictures of children in Syria, a picture of a girl actually killed by a stray HAMAS rocket, a fake of an injured man (who later in the video is seen walking around perfectly normally!), and (worst of all) pictures of Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks, all purporting to be pictures of victims in Gaza! I must add one more thing here: even genuine pictures of wounded or killed people in Gaza actually prove NOTHING (remember our second article above). The important fact is that, while Hamas's GOAL is to kill, injure, and frighten civilians, Israeli takes extraordinary measures to AVOID civilian harm, even to its own detriment.