Skip to main content

Holy Landmine

 As if we didn’t need another major news trauma to occupy our fearful minds, here comes that old nemesis  the latest version of the Arab-Israeli conflict to bring new heights of despair to the airwaves. Of course, what we are dealing with these days is the unprovoked attack by Hamas on the state of Israel. Yes, I know using the word unprovoked here is debatable, but for now it will have to remain.

This conflict is as convoluted and complicated as it is frustrating. It is not a simple matter of just making sure the Palestinians have a homeland. If that were the case, surely a compromise satisfactory to both sides could be hammered out. I turned an International Relations class of high school seniors loose on this conflict 25 years ago and after looking at the arguments on both sides, and spending time with maps of the region, they came up with a solution that allowed Israelis and Palestinians to live and prosper side by side in the land they have both occupied for centuries. Would that this was so easy to accomplish. 

What is not so easy to deal with is the mentalities both sides hold.  Golda Meir, the former Israeli Prime Minister once said that you cannot talk peace with “someone who has come to kill you.”  And now the media has a field day with confirmed and unconfirmed reports of atrocities. Most Americans probably don’t know the difference between the Palestinian people and Hamas, let alone the history and current status of the crisis. 

So, with Ukraine suddenly on the back burner, the world watches their news anchor of choice appear under night skies covered with the sight of deployed missiles and explosions. The helmeted news reporters    duck for cover, they shed a tear here and there, and report live on the 24 hour cycle. Programs are preempted, live war comes into your living room around the clock. Just in time for Halloween.

And what of innocent Palestinians who are not supporters of Hamas? The two way bloodbath that is sure to follow will, no doubt tighten the judgment of those who follow the daily array of bombings and atrocities. Who can take sides in a war that kills babies and the elderly without shame?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To a Tee

 I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt.  They are the foundational garment of my life.  My day starts with selecting a t-shirt and it ends with sleeping in one.  Once thought of as under garments, t-shirts are now original art and no doubt, a billion dollar business.   You can get a t-shirt with anybody's picture displayed.  You can commemorate an event, a birthday, a death, even a specular play in any sport.  Family reunions usually have a commemorative t-shirt.  Also, any organization that solicits your support in the form of a donation is likely to offer you a t-shirt. Where once I only had the basic white t-shirt, my drawers are filled with all manner of colorful choices.  Some recognize major events in my life, some, spectacular performances or plays I have witnessed, and some unforgettable places I have been.   I say I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt because I have taken the bait on what I perceived as a must-have only to be disappointed. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Illusory

What does it take to enrage you?  That moment when your words fly on pure emotion because enough is enough.  Is it a driver that cuts you off at high speed?  What about being an eyewitness to blatant racism or on the receiving end of some obvious injustice? I know some people who never express rage.  I admire them but know full well I am not capable of such distance from that which would bring about such a strong response. Another senseless shooting and 7 people die at the hands of a mentally ill gun owner.  The father of the 20 year old college student lets it fly and somehow millions feel a new sense of relief.  He calls the politicians bastards who do nothing, he wears his pain in public.  The news media responds but we all know that nothing is going to change.  We are the gun country.  We are the place where anybody, anytime, can be cut down just for being there when somebody else snaps. Usually the perpetrators are delusional. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mr. Greene v. Mr. Brown

I want to tell you about something. Something I've carried inside myself for a number of years now. Perhaps if I were a different kind of person I wouldn't need to talk about it. I'm not. My need to tell it is stronger than your need to hear it. Because, however, there are a number of teachers and former students of mine who may read these meanderings from time to time, I need to tell this story all the more. About 7 or 8 years ago I was asked if I would allow a university PhD. candidate to observe an English class. At first I decided against it because I was scheduled to have a student teacher placed with me the second half of the semester in question. After some urging, however, at the request of a respected colleague, I agreed. Soon I was committing to extra meetings, signing documents and explaining to the class in question who the young woman who thoughtfully pounded away on a laptop in the rear of the classroom three times a week was. I knew that the topic of ...
3 comments
Read more