We were always asked at school what we would have done if we were German civilians as the Final Solution was being executed and whether or not we would stand up and speak out against it. I presume most students including myself thought that we would.
In the most horrific example of cultural childhood trauma, the victims of the Final Solution genocide are now committing a huge massacre/genocide of their own in what appears to be a classic case of a cycle of trauma and violence where victims become the monsters and create more victims that become monsters that create victims ad infinitum. It now appears in hindsight after listening to the vile denialism and gaslighting by Israel of what everyone on this planet can see with their own eyes clearly, that they have been slowly walking towards becoming genocidal for decades. I suspect this has crept up on Israelis and blinded them now to what they are doing.
I took part in the Champions of the Flyway in Israel in 2014 and was criticised by good friends at the time for supporting an Apartheid. Champions included Palestinians and a Palestinian team and was seen as a way of bringing these communities together through birds and birding. By-passing our elite governments and forming our own autonomous communities is what I stand for and I would rather support the birding community than stand with global narratives which are the narratives of the elites anyway. Birding has it own politics and should not be controlled by global elite narratives.
However sadly since 2014, the organisers of that event have been dragged into war and at least one of the key organisers has become what appears to be brainwashed and appears to support the massacre of children. Zionism was also promoted at the event (whether there can be a just Zionism is of course a possibility). In hindsight now, it appears that the 'true colours' of this event was bubbling below the surface and personally feel like I was duped. I haven't seen anything from these event organisers or Birdlife Israel calling for a Ceasefire now although of course due to information overload I could have missed it. Also many participants and NGOs now appear to be PEPs (Progressives expect Palestine).
Like 99% of the humans on this planet I have no meaningful power and nearly all of us live in a world ruled by minority elite groups who lobby, hack and buy democracy and control narratives in which the majority of people are non-player characters, livestock and commodity. We can only watch as ecocide and genocide is committed and then can only watch as the consequences of that, a divine punishment such as the effects of climate chaos, dehumanisation and oppression is delivered on us all.
The only thing we can do is bleat in protest, detach as much as possible from a genocidal and ecocidal system, call it out for what it is, do all we can to save us much nature and our own humanity and pray that the horrific consequences of our leaders behaviour is something we can overcome.
So I know this is a birding blog and we are supposed to stay on topic and in line but to be talking about birds when thousands and thousands of children are being murdered with the backing of 'my' government (UK) seems vulgar and makes me complicit in it. Also in this blog I am regularly trying to contextualize birding as everything is connected and nature conservation is part of a moral system that is multidisciplinary. While the threat of a World War 3 hangs over all our heads, nature is side-lined as food security and security become priorities and it's destruction is hastened.
It comes back to when I was at school and asked what would I do if my government were involved in a genocide? (I know the UK government have been involved in wars etc but never before have we seen them supporting a genocide by a nation who perform in the Eurovision Song Contest). Not a lot is the answer but I will use any platform I have to highlight the need to call for the end of the mass murder of children (to be honest I don't feel so compelled to call for an end to murder of adults who are complicit in murdering each other but on this occasion Hamas have no chance of murdering as many IDF and in any fight a referee would intervene in such a situation). I have the privilege of a freedom of speech (or sorts) that I can criticise my government without being executed so unlike the German citizens during the Final Solution there is no risk to condemning them- which only deepens the feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness- they now commit these atrocities with pride and in plain sight.
I don't like the Guardian, its a sensationalist leftist rag (the equivalent of the Daily Mail on the right side of aisle) and the problem with polarisation is that we all learn to ignore everything anyone says who has been crying wolf in the past. It becomes impossible to know what is important and what is not important and this is how things slip into the darkness. However the content on the piece of journalism in the link below is something being shared across the entire media spectrum and on this occasion the Guardian have actually nailed the journalism on it. Israel's response to the 7th October attacks has been completely disproportionate and unjust and there is a real chance it could trigger a third world war that we could all be pulled into. We need a ceasefire now or an immediate evacuation of all the children before the Genocide is completed.
To be clear I am not 'pro-Palestinian' (I'm pro-justice and represent nobody but myself- a powerless citizen) and rightly or wrongly I believe that Hamas would commit an equally atrocious genocide on Israel if only they could. Massacring children is never the answer and if somehow you have constructed a story in your mind that justifies it- that is called something, its called a Psychosis. I don't know what the answer is but I know that massacring children is not the answer and should stop immediately.
2 comments:
I missed this post at the time but I agree, the blinkered and horrific ongoing destructionn (with no end in site) is just abysmal behaviour. I am as powerless as you are, but I also see my other country (the USA) essentially signing off on it. It's just horrendous. I know some history of course, but I have virtually no knowledge of the detailed circumstances that have brought about this lethal hatred between peoples. The response is utterly disproportionate, everyone can see that, but what exactly did Hamas think would happen? There is tons I don't understand, but this is what perplexes me the most.
Agree, that is the most frightening question; what did Hamas think would happen? They presumably thought that Israel would over react in the way they have, basically allowing themselves into being provoked, displaying their irrational religious beliefs and embedded hatred and violence to the world, driving world wide antisemitism and rallying rising powers against the western alliance (indeed the US fund Israel to the tune of 280 billion dollars a year and UK also funds Israel). Already the conflict has spread into Lebanon against Hezbollah, the Houtis are kicking off from Yemen, Iran are posturing, Turkey are threatening and global powers are taking sides with Russia attacking the west from Ukraine and China may soon start attacking the west via Taiwan. It's a potential brink of world war 3 fuelled by the religious ideology of apocalyptic US Christians funding the messianic cult surrounding hardcore Zionism. Meanwhile the Islamists see an opportunity for their own religious goals and furthermore the whole religious narrative is wrapped in modern economic ideology and market driven incentives hurtling the whole situation into a potential terrifying tipping point.
I think this may well be exactly what Hamas wanted to happen- the potential to bring down the Western global alliance and in doing so destroying Israel. It could however indeed back fire and strengthen Israel and strengthen the west. Time will tell. It could go either way.
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