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eumeliaIsraeli Reserve Soldiers have been deployed into Gaza.
I've been told by friends that I'm thinking too much about the war. I want to reply that not thinking about it is a privilege which does not extend to large portions of the population: In Israel, I don't think the people of the South are able to concentrate about much other than wait for the siren to go off; in Gaza... well, seeing as they're actually living in a demolition area I doubt they're thinking of much else expect trying to find shelter against Israeli fire; as for the rest of the country (including the West Bank), friends and family - on both sides.
They don't get much rest.
I'm seeing so much belligerency IRL and the interwebs that it makes me kind of sick.
And again, I'm caught up in the discourse of needing to establish the fact of acknowledging the suffering of the people of Sderot and the South (constantly reminding people that my Girlfriend lives in the fucking line of fire!) and that of course Hamas are bad.
Why is this even an issue?
Perhaps because no one wants to acknowledge the fact that for eight years the Israeli government has been using the (working-class, Mizrahi, Jewish) residents of the South to Symbolise National Strength (which I've dubbed the National Erection) and that they are, de facto, human shields as well.
But because they're not used as human shields, one on one... the ethics is less shaky, right?
Not to mention, those "open fields" Qassam rockets fall into?
There are dozens of unrecognised Beduin villages scattered in the areas south of Be're Sheva and between Arad and Dimona. And by unrecognised I mean they get no municipal support from any where, they have no sewage system, they have no proper housing.
This is what happens to certain ethnic minorities in Israel - and the Beduin volunteer in the IDF like the best ofthem us.
Another thing that's easy to forget is that Gaza, in comparison to Israel, is tiny and one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
You know what?
Fine let's not talk about nearly 1000 dead Palestinians in Gaza (who can only blame themselves, of course, for electing a government that's sole propose is to destroy Israel and the world Jewry - let us not forget who put Hamas there, first as a charity service and then as an opposition to the PLO) and thousands more wounded.
It isn't normal for people to live under rocket barrage day in and day out.
It really isn't.
Very likely that there is an entire generation high on PTSD that can't wait 'till the day it gets an M-16 and has a chance to shoot back at the Arabs that destroyed their childhood, adulthood, livelihood etc.
It isn't normal for boys and girls to be trained to work as a police force against a civilian population which isn't even getting the chance at communicating with those who are not wearing a uniform.
It isn't normal to walk around being suspicious of any girl wearing a hijab and any boys and girls who speak Arabic.
It isn't normal that the boys and girls who are now fighting Hamas in Gaza see the destruction that was created so that their movement won't be hindered and that the combat will be easier.
Is it not inhumane to send teenagers to seek and destroy?
Is it not inhumane to call up reservists, people with jobs, families and lives, disrupt them and possibly even end them in an operation which will only create more animosity towards Israel and establish another generation for Hamas to train in firing rockets and/or commit suicide in one big event of defiance.
For what greater defiance is there against an Occupier if it isn't declaring "I will not live like this" and go out in a blaze of glory.
I shake my head at this.
We also glorify the dead soldiers.
Our Memorial Day is a day of mourning, black and white and candles, reading out the names of those boys and girls who gave their lives, willingly, for the protection of this nation state.
The siren sounds and we stand for two minutes of wailing silence.
Woe is it to anyone who doesn't stand during this time.
Even if all we are thinking about is wanting it to be over already.
Are these glorious dead not martyrs also for the cause of Jewish Nationalism?
Are the thousands of bereaved families worth it?
I can only sigh.
I hope the boys and girls and reserve soldiers do not have to stay a long time in Gaza.
I hope the people of Sderot and the rest of the South will not have to endure for much longer
I hope the people of Gaza overcome and survive.
I can only support and hope that the soldiers retain the humanity the IDF system tries to extract and that they leave Gaza as soon as possible.
I can only hope that enough soldiers and reservists say that "No, this is not right".
This video is of a demo made up of Refuseniks. It's in Hebrew with English subtitles:
I've been told by friends that I'm thinking too much about the war. I want to reply that not thinking about it is a privilege which does not extend to large portions of the population: In Israel, I don't think the people of the South are able to concentrate about much other than wait for the siren to go off; in Gaza... well, seeing as they're actually living in a demolition area I doubt they're thinking of much else expect trying to find shelter against Israeli fire; as for the rest of the country (including the West Bank), friends and family - on both sides.
They don't get much rest.
I'm seeing so much belligerency IRL and the interwebs that it makes me kind of sick.
And again, I'm caught up in the discourse of needing to establish the fact of acknowledging the suffering of the people of Sderot and the South (constantly reminding people that my Girlfriend lives in the fucking line of fire!) and that of course Hamas are bad.
Why is this even an issue?
Perhaps because no one wants to acknowledge the fact that for eight years the Israeli government has been using the (working-class, Mizrahi, Jewish) residents of the South to Symbolise National Strength (which I've dubbed the National Erection) and that they are, de facto, human shields as well.
But because they're not used as human shields, one on one... the ethics is less shaky, right?
Not to mention, those "open fields" Qassam rockets fall into?
There are dozens of unrecognised Beduin villages scattered in the areas south of Be're Sheva and between Arad and Dimona. And by unrecognised I mean they get no municipal support from any where, they have no sewage system, they have no proper housing.
This is what happens to certain ethnic minorities in Israel - and the Beduin volunteer in the IDF like the best of
Another thing that's easy to forget is that Gaza, in comparison to Israel, is tiny and one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
You know what?
Fine let's not talk about nearly 1000 dead Palestinians in Gaza (who can only blame themselves, of course, for electing a government that's sole propose is to destroy Israel and the world Jewry - let us not forget who put Hamas there, first as a charity service and then as an opposition to the PLO) and thousands more wounded.
It isn't normal for people to live under rocket barrage day in and day out.
It really isn't.
Very likely that there is an entire generation high on PTSD that can't wait 'till the day it gets an M-16 and has a chance to shoot back at the Arabs that destroyed their childhood, adulthood, livelihood etc.
It isn't normal for boys and girls to be trained to work as a police force against a civilian population which isn't even getting the chance at communicating with those who are not wearing a uniform.
It isn't normal to walk around being suspicious of any girl wearing a hijab and any boys and girls who speak Arabic.
It isn't normal that the boys and girls who are now fighting Hamas in Gaza see the destruction that was created so that their movement won't be hindered and that the combat will be easier.
Is it not inhumane to send teenagers to seek and destroy?
Is it not inhumane to call up reservists, people with jobs, families and lives, disrupt them and possibly even end them in an operation which will only create more animosity towards Israel and establish another generation for Hamas to train in firing rockets and/or commit suicide in one big event of defiance.
For what greater defiance is there against an Occupier if it isn't declaring "I will not live like this" and go out in a blaze of glory.
I shake my head at this.
We also glorify the dead soldiers.
Our Memorial Day is a day of mourning, black and white and candles, reading out the names of those boys and girls who gave their lives, willingly, for the protection of this nation state.
The siren sounds and we stand for two minutes of wailing silence.
Woe is it to anyone who doesn't stand during this time.
Even if all we are thinking about is wanting it to be over already.
Are these glorious dead not martyrs also for the cause of Jewish Nationalism?
Are the thousands of bereaved families worth it?
I can only sigh.
I hope the boys and girls and reserve soldiers do not have to stay a long time in Gaza.
I hope the people of Sderot and the rest of the South will not have to endure for much longer
I hope the people of Gaza overcome and survive.
I can only support and hope that the soldiers retain the humanity the IDF system tries to extract and that they leave Gaza as soon as possible.
I can only hope that enough soldiers and reservists say that "No, this is not right".
This video is of a demo made up of Refuseniks. It's in Hebrew with English subtitles:
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 08:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 04:13 pm (UTC)Yep.
You know I've been accused of being brainwashed! For voicing an opinion that isn't mainstream.
Sometimes people use words that don't mean what they thing it means :P
no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 04:24 pm (UTC)I speak from experience, you come into the army knowing it's the right thing to do, it's how you "give back" to your country, though it's never clear what exactly your country gave you.
From a very early age we're taught how Israel came to be, that all the wars fought were necessary, we have Memorial Day, the Holocaust is used in a demagogical way as well.
It's a whole bunch of things, less the actual training in the Army per se.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 01:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 04:02 pm (UTC)Israel hasn't been a dream for a long time, but I understand what you're saying.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 03:27 pm (UTC)oh, but i loled at "national erection." ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-01-12 04:15 pm (UTC)I've been using the term "National Erection" ever since a bunch of Anarchists and Activists went around Tel-Aviv on Independance/Nakba day with a giant penis float which ejected blue tinted water... and called it "The National Erection".
great post, trying to address it point by point
Date: 2009-01-12 08:57 pm (UTC)"I'm seeing so much belligerency IRL and the interwebs that it makes me kind of sick."
YES.
"The Israeli government has been using the (working-class, Mizrahi, Jewish) residents of the South to Symbolise National Strength...and that they are, de facto, human shields as well. But because they're not used as human shields, one on one... the ethics is less shaky, right?"
I think the blind spot in the mainstream Israeli consciousness might also be related to the fact that the people of Sderot have been manipulated largely through economic means rather than through physical violence, and the violence of poverty rarely gets taken as seriously as military violence.
As for the treatment of the unrecognized Bedouin villages, I don't really have anything to say except to thank you for raising awareness. And your final points regarding your points about Israeli society are beautifully put; I really don't feel I can add to them.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-13 12:12 am (UTC)I always keep forgetting that when you have a toothache it is very hard to think of anything else besides it. And that, perhaps, is the main problem with it.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-13 12:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-13 01:25 am (UTC)Ive lost faith in humans. When you take in consideration the blood being spilled in Palestine, the needless violence in Iraq for years, that there are children sex slaves, genocides and massacres that go largely unreported in Africa, tons upon tons of unethical acts that are not only injustice but inhumane, that no country can honestly say it's hands are free of the blood of innocents, that never a day in human history has someone not suffered from the hands of another human being....when you see the pictures and read the articles and watch the news about the gaza, it's impossible to see even a glimmer of hope or light in this world.
Especially when I read some peoples thoughts on this issue. Either "burn Israel burn!" or "those Muslims all deserve to die!"... that kind of ignorance and hate makes me want to bury myself in a hole and never come out again.
But thank you, for wanting peace... and for hoping. Because lurking on your journal restores something in me... and it makes my heart alot lighter.