| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Why is it only Israel that daily makes the news re 'genocide'? | |
| Posted by: | Steven Rose | |
| Date/Time: | 23/07/25 14:17:00 |
| The psychopathology of the debate over Idrael is interesting. Sympathy for the plight of civilians caught up in a war us a natural human emotion. But so is the desire to appear virtuous. And so, unfortunately, is the pleasure to be derived from righteous indignation at the wickedness of others. Summary condemnation of Israel and a call for an end to their campaign in Gaza satisfies all three desires at once . You can express no doubt genuine sympathy for Palestinian civilians. You can gain credit as an apostle of peace. And you can castigate the Israelis as criminals and those who support them as complicit in their crimes. Unfortunately the comfort of this position is undermined by the reality of the situation, which is that Hamas will only return the hostages if Israel agrees to withdraw from Gaza, leaving Hamas in control of the territory. This conflicts with the second satisfaction outlined above. You can't pose as an apostle of peace when what you propose would have the effect of leaving a band of genocidal maniacs, rapists, torturers and child killers in charge of a territory. At this point the critics of Israel employ several strategies. One is silence. That is to say, they refuse to answer any questions and ignore all requests to state their position on a reasonable solution. Another is abuse, arguing that they won't discuss the issue with 'bores' and 'propagandists'. And another is digression. They introduce irrelevant material such as the naqba of 1948 or the (reprehensible) behaviour of the settlers on the West Bank. The truth is that there is no easy solution. Everyone would like to see and end to the war and the safe return of the hostages. Most people would agree that Hamas cannot be allowed to govern Gaza. And most people would like to see compromise whereby the Palestinians can rebuild their lives while Israel is safeguarded grom attack. But how to achieve this? |