This will probably be my last coverage of Gaza because Gaza will unlikely exist much longer. These hapless Gazan’s who were mostly displaced, moved or driven out of their homes in other parts of “Palestine” had the temerity to assume that the land occupied by their ancestors for over two thousand years, where their forefathers were born, died and buried for generations, was their land – – – but only to discoverer it really belonged to another people who left or were driven out over two thousand years ago but who still, miraculously, have retained a God-given right to it all along.
That’s only part of the tragedy. Aside from the argument over rights to the land, a perhaps greater tragedy is being perpetrated on these desolate people, long the victims of a brutal, radical and suppressive regime called Hamas, who remain possessed with the impossible mission to restore the past in any way possible.
The forlorn civilians in Gaza have been paying the price for the accident of birth. The ultra right wing Israeli government is hell bent on killing any Gazan who might hold a gun or maybe the thought of revenge, regardless of the cost to others, hell bent on destroying every standing structure, school and hospital to make this tiny enclave of 140 square miles a desolate, unlivable hell. Meanwhile the local population is chasing from one corner of Gaza to another looking for a place to hide from the relentless and indiscriminate bombings, missiles and drone attacks. And the world looks on, often with horror and disbelief – – but does little or nothing to try to broker a meaningful resolution. Shame on us. It’s all too easy and too comfortable to rationalize that, in war, terrible things often happen. That’s really too bad. Collateral damage sucks but ‘stuff’ happens. Over 60,000 deaths, the majority women and children. Yeah, that’s sad but you know, it’s war and Hamas did a terrible thing so somebody has to pay. Shame on all of us idle observers.
A rather new way for waging war has emerged in Gaza. It’s called systematic starvation and deprivation. No munitions needed, no troops on the ground. It’s war on the cheap, slow and painful, but highly effective. Shame on us.
Where is the moral outrage? Where is our touted insistence on human rights that we proudly proclaim the world over? Has the reputable voices for human values been paralyzed, incapacitated, or silenced by political dealings and selfish interests? The so-called Christian right seems to believe this is all scriptural, meanwhile Christian love they profess for fellow man, the God-given right for human dignity and right to life has yet again been thrown under the bus.
Double shame on us.
– – – – Just the shame of a common man
Views of a Common Man 
Wow Ollie, that’s very strong, hope they don’t come after you with shackles!! Sent from my iPad
LikeLike
This post captures not only the devastation unfolding in Gaza but also the numbing effect of global inaction and rationalization. Moral clarity often becomes inconvenient in the face of geopolitics.
Whether one agrees with all your framing or not, the raw truth is undeniable: a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in plain sight, and indifference, by governments, institutions, and global citizens, is part of the machinery that sustains it.
Thank you for daring to write what many are afraid to say.
LikeLike