Black and White thinking

I have been so frustrated by, first the one-sided news coverage, and then Biden’s statements regarding the attack on Israel. As a statesman, in my opinion, it would have been better to condemn the horrific attack and then go on to talk about a way to make peace, not to say, ‘we stand with Israel’. For one thing Netanyahu is a nasty bully and under investigation. He’s been in for 20 years. Israel has been accused of apartheid by the U.N. and Biden’s unequivocal support has given Netanyahu a green light to do whatever he wants. And the idea of sending military aide? They don’t need it!

This is what we do now. We jump in with both feet and take sides. I remember a time when we were diplomatic, thought things through, and made our way through the gray. This is the same kind of thinking that went on during 9/11. People went temporarily insane — it was scary. Without being able to think critically we are doomed.

It seems that now, a few days later, reporters are beginning to see what they’ve unleashed. We’ve already seen the hate crimes against Muslims here in the U.S. The people trapped in Gaza are without water, electricity or even shelter. They are boxed in. Why can’t we as intelligent human beings look at both sides of a situation? Tribal thinking will get us exactly nowhere.

If anyone has been paying attention, what’s been happening over there has been terrible for more than forty years. Even longer. If you look up any articles you will see on the charts and graphs how much land has been taken from the Palestinians. They fight with sticks and rocks while the Israeli military fights with guns.

I am wading into a mess here. I am not knowledgeable enough about the situation to comment much further. I only know what I see and what I feel inside my heart. We have supported Israel since WW2. But much has happened in the ensuing years. Hamas is a military movement and a political party. Should the people living in Gaza suffer the consequences for the actions of Hamas?

And just like in the U.S. not everyone believes the same thing. All you have to do is take a look at our Congress to see the dysfunction that happens when people can’t even talk with one another. This is no way to run a government. And going to war is no way to settle a dispute.