I flew yesterday and I'm currently very close to Israel. There are huge billboards erected in solidarity for the country, which is fine—ordinary citizens there have suffered greatly. What really grates on me, though, is the unforgivable cowardice of many of our leaders in refusing to condemn the response that Israel has implemented and the clear intentions behind it. I'll likely be in Jordan soon and it should be interesting to see what the sentiments are there.
I'm clinging to a charitable view of most Getbiggers, in that they're too busy getting absolutely massive in the gym and shagging 10/10 Playboy models to worry about trivialities such as another potential regional conflict that their own soldiers will die in, but what events like this reveal is that some people really should be forcibly branded on their forehead with an iron that reads 'I'm a fucking moron'.
If someone were to say that they're essentially nihilistic, everyone can fuck off and die, life is a war against all and we should do away with every law and norm governing conflict, well, fine. It’s a bit like when I speak to the devoutly religious who oppose abortion under
every single circumstance. I completely disagree with their premise but I can at least tell that they're following the correct logic of it.
Some people, including a few here, just say things because they think it sounds 'cool', which is really quite hilarious given the average age of everyone. What they are really saying is:
- I'm too stupid to understand the need for a principled application of international law.
- I'm too stupid to understand the predictable consequences of tearing apart the notion of universal basic rights in favour of political expediency.
- I’m too stupid to separate fact from transparent propaganda, and I'm too stupid to realise that I'm regurgitating the intentionally false narratives of people who are paid to spout them, without being compensated myself.
- I’m too stupid, even after the 2003 Iraq war, to appreciate the blowback and backlash that comes from states lying to their citizens in order to achieve a dangerous policy goal.
The things that most people here seem to rail against, e.g. huge numbers of people seeking asylum in Europe, soldiers dying needlessly, increase of terrorism on home soil, etc., are what will be the results of this escalating.
The president of Israel literally said at a press conference last week that they are at war with an entire nation, not just Hamas. Israel has already bombed civilian convoys along ‘safe’ evacuation routes. Israeli settlers have been gunning down Palestinians in their own homes. Entire residential buildings have been destroyed. Power has been cut off to hospitals, and Israel already has a history of targeting them and then denying it, or claiming they were targeting militants.
It is largely irrelevant now if this particular hospital was hit by the IDF or a stray missile from 'the other team'. Israel is carrying out an illegal, genocidal campaign against a population. Anyone with a spine should be able to say that.
As an aside, there’s a good podcast (The Rest Is Politics) released on Tuesday, with former Conservative MP Rory Stewart, journalist Alastair Campbell, and the Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot. Worth a listen to get some more context.
