Gaza Gripe

I started Pleasure Notes to discuss and highlight only pleasurable things, things that get me excited, that I think are cool, that make me smile. As a result, I’ve spent the past few days NOT talking about what I really want to talk about, because it isn’t pleasant.

Guns by Andy Warhol

Unless you are an arms dealer. I used to work for one of those guys. He’s probably happy as a clam at the moment.

But rants, particularly rants that argue an unpopular position, tend not to drive anyone toward ecstasy, and rant is what I’ve been wishing to do. Luckily, one of my can’t-do-without friends made me thing of bad sex – as an example – to illustrate her point that some things brings a person great pleasure only once they are over. Sadly, I understood this analogy. So, I am going to rant a wee bit. About the situation in Gaza. You have been warned.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a policy wonk and I can claim family who perished in Auschwitz. If you want an in depth analysis of who did what, when, where, how or why, I suggest you visit the brilliant soap boxes where Arianna, Rachel, or the Scholars stand. I’m just going to tell you, in a way that fifth graders would think simple, exactly why I think the current situation in Gaza is entirely absurd.

I understand the suicide bombers are a bummer – and despite my language, I do not make light of the loss of life attributed to them – but I’m finding the use of the word “terrorist” to be increasingly muddled. The British thought Americans were terrorists when we fought them back in the 1770s; we tend to look at that history a bit differently. More recently, Reagan labeled as “freedom fighters” the Nicaraguan rebels trying to over-throw the Sandinistas in the early 1980s. Depending on your religious affiliation, the IRA was either a group of devil-driven terrorists with super sexy accents and a penchant for beer or god-fearing freedom fighters with super sexy accents and a penchant for beer. Basically, it seems to me that the only thing distinguishing most “terrorists” from most “freedom fighters” is what the entity doing the labeling is trying to gain from the fight. We like that we got independence from Britain way back when, so we’re the good guys in that story. Reagan didn’t like the Sandinistas’ trade and land-acquisition plans or their Marxist bent, so once again the minority contingent fighting to overthrow a government is hailed as the good guys. But in Gaza, the violent contingent of the Palestinian population – Hamas – is demonized and the majority population – the Israelis – is, ironically, sanctified. Why? Because we all feel like shit for the Holocaust? Because Israel exports great oranges and Gaza exports… nothing?

I understand that Hamas sends missiles into Israel and, yes, that sucks and should stop as soon as possible. I also understand that most of those missiles cause little more nuisance than the LAPD choppers which buzz my building. And before you scream that I have no idea what I’m talking about, I will disclose that I lived in Greece in 1991 and the local anarchists really liked detonating car bombs in front of my apartment and all along my street. One hell of an alarm clock.

No one should have to live with the fear that the Hamas missiles cause, but it’s important to note that people are LIVING with them. Most of the skirmishes Palestinian rebels, i.e. rebellious, frustrated, unemployed, and bored teenage boys, start with Israeli soldiers consist of rock throwing. Rock throwing, people. How does anyone in good conscience think that good judgment is being used when people respond to a thrown rock with a bullet? That’s like responding with brass knuckles to a pie in the face.

I would have been able to keep my trap shut and fume in silence about the injustice and imbalance I perceive in the current situation in Gaza, I really would have, if I hadn’t flipped on the television last night and been bombarded with one of the most offensive ads in the history of advertising. And, no, I am not exaggerating the level of offense. Before I get to the ad, let me remind you of the most recent statistics regarding the current violence in Gaza. Depending on whether you go with American, Canadian, or German reports – and guess which guestimation is the lowest – anywhere from 450 to 600+ Palestinians have died, with another 2000 injured. The Israeli government claims to have killed at least 130 militants. Let’s do the math. Being generous, only one third of the Palestinian fatalities are Hamas. That leaves hundreds of innocent, very poor, and very desperate Palestinians as – oops – collateral. Now, on the Israeli side, the death toll has been – brace yourself – SEVEN SOLDIERS.

From the folks at Despair.com

So imagine my surprise last night, as I sat watching what can only be described as a children-starving-in-Africa type infomercial and plea for assistance – complete with grotesque pictures of carnage, urgent sounds of screaming children, and huge, billowing explosions – and was told that I must “call now” in order to SAVE ISRAEL. Huh? Talk about blatant propaganda. Haven’t we had enough fear-mongering in the past eight years to see past this shit? I think so. I hope so. But, as I said, I’m not a policy wonk. For this, I couldn’t be more pleased.

And just like that, I realize my can’t-do-without friend was absolutely right. Sometimes the most pleasurable thing to do is get off your chest whatever it is that is weighing it down. What’s your rant?

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