What’s another fluid ounce of ink to spill on this never-ending war on stolen land? Wasn’t the Israeli decimation of Gaza in 2014 bad enough? Then the casualty split was 73 Israeli to 2,310 Palestinian- 70% most of which were civilians. The present death toll in Gaza creeps up like the clack of changing digits on a second hand flip clock of damnation. There is nothing civilized about this conflict both sides have a primal bloodlust akin to the Assyrians fighting the Babylonians over the Fertile Crescent some millennia before.
The keffiyeh in my closet is gathering dust acquired in 2006 showing up to peace rallies only to get shouted down by Hillel for voicing support for the underdog. We can talk about peace in the Middle East for Iraq, AFGHANISTAN- two lost souls and lost causes of uncivil levels of civilians, lost, maimed, or rendered interfertile from depleted uranium munitions. Yet these failed wars fell from the headlines while this never-ending war prevailed.
Naturally, the powers at be of the U S of A are in favor of such brutality; Israel is the largest recipient of foreign aid; our watchdog in the Middle East. Hell, politicians talk of Israel more than Puerto Rico, an argument could be made that Israel is state #51 and PR #52. Now if General Dynamics, Raytheon, and KBR could peddle munitions to a never-ending war over a line on the Caribbean island then by Borriquas as they can in Israel then Congress would be lip syncing to Reggaetón.
Squelch the resistance– waving the Palestine flag is terrorist sympathy! Don’t mind the settlers in the West Bank- publicized for taking over Palestinian homes, a Brooklyn man participated in such crusades in the public light. Palestinians are fighting for a shrinking homeland that’s rendered to rubble every few years while Israel touts the latest war machines on sale from Uncle Sam.
What’s unique about this chapter of the conflict as to previous blood-soaked pages is the unparalleled level of armchair activism vis-à-vis social media flag status updates. Comments and tweets are one thing – people can duke it out with words and one-upmanship or troll Instagram feeds such as that of famed Israeli actress Gal Gadot…
But talk about the lowest effort Zoomer “check the boxism” of typing heart Israel or heart Palestine for third-wave hipsters in their grunge attire when they were in diapers in the 90s.
Maybe that’s what\’s left of the left! If enough of us emoji-type hearts Israel or heart Palestine we can change the tides! I can hear Jello Biafra’s carnival-like cackle through the social static.
WHAT works is promoting Boycott, Divest and Sanctions BDS– but the right called that hate speech and antisemitism. Boycotting is about the most democratic thing you can do in this economy. It worked for apartheid in South Africa- the token social justice movement for Generation X. But these days on X (I’ll still call it Twitter) you could get your social status canceled and barred from job opportunities dare you to use your real name.
Voting with your dollar is just about the only thing we can still do in this post-COVID hell hole. Support your local halal shop, stop into a mosque, slurp some Xinjiang Noodles wave and smile to the next woman you see in a hijab, bid farewell with assalamu alaikum!
Don’t buy Hillel. Buy Halal.
Peace,
Anders