Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
A Thought on Israel
To paraphrase Edward Said from his last interview, this conflict is basically a human tragedy. What this really means is that neither side has any sort of moral high ground, and everyone's hands are stained with blood.
Look, there are plenty of passionate voices saying everything ranging from "well, the Palestinians don't want coexistence and are hell-bent on killing every last Jew and driving them from Israel" to "the Israelis are murdering the Palestinians for financial gain and political purposes, and they are just as racist as the Nazis were" et cetera et cetera ad nauseum. I am usually the last person to say that the truth doesn't matter, but in this case, the Ultimate Truth in this matter is nothing but an obstacle to the hope for any kind of peace these embattled societies can ask for. Truth can come later. First, this shit needs to end.
Now, if you lift the veil of the Palestine-Israeli conflict from the two societies and just examine them for what they are, one thing becomes strikingly obvious. There's a David and Goliath thing occurring here. Russians flock to Israel for their awesome medical care, while Palestinians are lucky if they have running water. Hmmm. I would hazard a guess that Palestinians wouldn't be so fixated on driving Jews from their new found homeland if they enjoyed even a fraction of the quality of life Israelis enjoy. Sure, there'd be some religious grumbling and some talk of land being unfairly taken. But if they weren't starving, without electricity, indoor plumbing, and their daily lives didn't generally suck ass, this would amount to no more than grumbling. The kind of abject poverty seen in Palestine is a breeding ground for discontent. Christ, think back to that Dylan song about Medgar Evers - if you're ass-poor, the best distraction from your condition is an enemy.
Of course, Palestine isn't gonna bloom into wealth overnight, or anytime soon. Terrorism is a hot word today, what with 911 and all, and Hamas is a "terrorist organization". So there's no way in hell Palestine's gonna get any shred of support from the western powers, let alone Israel. That's just the way it is. And in this environment, kids are being born every day, and every successive generation lives with poverty, strife, and anti-Israeli sentiment that is perpetuated in part by Israeli retaliation towards Palestinian hostilities and in part by the unemployed, hungry bellies of Palestinians. And in Israel, these kinds of hard-line policies will continue to be made by opportunistic politicians who see every wife that lost a husband to a rocket attack and every mother that lost a son to some suicide bombing as votes to be plucked, or worse, as personal justification for the kind of militaristic right-wing zeal that results in a whole country being bombed to shreds just because a soldier got kidnapped or a rocket hit the side of a building.
Yeah, nothing can bring the dead back, and only time can heal the wounds of grief. Life sucks, and the universe is a black, empty pit that doesn't care about our drama. Human beings are the only ones who have the power to alter their destinies. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen in the case of Israel and Palestine. Too much blood has been spilled on both sides, and it would take a superhuman amount of collective humility, kindness, and reconciliatory efforts on both sides to break the cycle of violence. That's why it's a human tragedy. It will continue this way until one side is completely wiped out, or until the burden of war simply becomes too great for either side to bear. The Palestinians are ass-poor, as I've mentioned, so that point will never be reached in their society because they have nothing to lose. The Israelis will never reach that point for a whole bunch of reasons that are tied in with the history of the Jewish people and the Israeli state - they are a bit too complicated for this post to go into. The only way any of this shit will be altered is if the rest of the world makes a concentrated effort to bring Palestine's quality of life up to par with that of Israel. That means lifting the embargoes, incentives for development, etc...
Also, the anti-Israeli sentiment has to end. It's only going to polarize the debate about this, and it's going to further inflame people's feelings and attitudes. The whole bit about this being a 'human tragedy' means that neither side is to blame, and both sides have an equal right to grievance. Talking shit on Israel will just isolate them in their worldview, and cause them to disregard the rest of the international community. This pic that I am commenting on right now is a perfect example of what not to do. Yeah, Israel is the bigger guy here, but that's only relevant to illustrate why Palestine shouldn't be in an economic shithouse. The feelings and griefs of Israelis are just as valid as that of the Palestinians. Dead people are dead people no matter what side of the barrier they are on.
Look, there are plenty of passionate voices saying everything ranging from "well, the Palestinians don't want coexistence and are hell-bent on killing every last Jew and driving them from Israel" to "the Israelis are murdering the Palestinians for financial gain and political purposes, and they are just as racist as the Nazis were" et cetera et cetera ad nauseum. I am usually the last person to say that the truth doesn't matter, but in this case, the Ultimate Truth in this matter is nothing but an obstacle to the hope for any kind of peace these embattled societies can ask for. Truth can come later. First, this shit needs to end.
Now, if you lift the veil of the Palestine-Israeli conflict from the two societies and just examine them for what they are, one thing becomes strikingly obvious. There's a David and Goliath thing occurring here. Russians flock to Israel for their awesome medical care, while Palestinians are lucky if they have running water. Hmmm. I would hazard a guess that Palestinians wouldn't be so fixated on driving Jews from their new found homeland if they enjoyed even a fraction of the quality of life Israelis enjoy. Sure, there'd be some religious grumbling and some talk of land being unfairly taken. But if they weren't starving, without electricity, indoor plumbing, and their daily lives didn't generally suck ass, this would amount to no more than grumbling. The kind of abject poverty seen in Palestine is a breeding ground for discontent. Christ, think back to that Dylan song about Medgar Evers - if you're ass-poor, the best distraction from your condition is an enemy.
Of course, Palestine isn't gonna bloom into wealth overnight, or anytime soon. Terrorism is a hot word today, what with 911 and all, and Hamas is a "terrorist organization". So there's no way in hell Palestine's gonna get any shred of support from the western powers, let alone Israel. That's just the way it is. And in this environment, kids are being born every day, and every successive generation lives with poverty, strife, and anti-Israeli sentiment that is perpetuated in part by Israeli retaliation towards Palestinian hostilities and in part by the unemployed, hungry bellies of Palestinians. And in Israel, these kinds of hard-line policies will continue to be made by opportunistic politicians who see every wife that lost a husband to a rocket attack and every mother that lost a son to some suicide bombing as votes to be plucked, or worse, as personal justification for the kind of militaristic right-wing zeal that results in a whole country being bombed to shreds just because a soldier got kidnapped or a rocket hit the side of a building.
Yeah, nothing can bring the dead back, and only time can heal the wounds of grief. Life sucks, and the universe is a black, empty pit that doesn't care about our drama. Human beings are the only ones who have the power to alter their destinies. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen in the case of Israel and Palestine. Too much blood has been spilled on both sides, and it would take a superhuman amount of collective humility, kindness, and reconciliatory efforts on both sides to break the cycle of violence. That's why it's a human tragedy. It will continue this way until one side is completely wiped out, or until the burden of war simply becomes too great for either side to bear. The Palestinians are ass-poor, as I've mentioned, so that point will never be reached in their society because they have nothing to lose. The Israelis will never reach that point for a whole bunch of reasons that are tied in with the history of the Jewish people and the Israeli state - they are a bit too complicated for this post to go into. The only way any of this shit will be altered is if the rest of the world makes a concentrated effort to bring Palestine's quality of life up to par with that of Israel. That means lifting the embargoes, incentives for development, etc...
Also, the anti-Israeli sentiment has to end. It's only going to polarize the debate about this, and it's going to further inflame people's feelings and attitudes. The whole bit about this being a 'human tragedy' means that neither side is to blame, and both sides have an equal right to grievance. Talking shit on Israel will just isolate them in their worldview, and cause them to disregard the rest of the international community. This pic that I am commenting on right now is a perfect example of what not to do. Yeah, Israel is the bigger guy here, but that's only relevant to illustrate why Palestine shouldn't be in an economic shithouse. The feelings and griefs of Israelis are just as valid as that of the Palestinians. Dead people are dead people no matter what side of the barrier they are on.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friday, January 09, 2009
NSFL
Not Safe For Life. Goes a step beyond NSFW, because it doesn't matter where you view the material; you will be scarred.
"Why did I click on goatse? That shit is NSFL"