There's something splendidly Pythonesque in the pictures from the scene. The intrepid Resistance defy the evil Occupation forces, and are offered a sandwich and a ride home.
I have no doubt that having been shown footage of the atrocities of October 7, they'll all be in full denial mode. Or maybe they'll just close their eyes; it's worked so far.
Thank you for the insightful article about the moral indulgence that drives the liberal West. The 1973 quote from Saul Bellow was brilliant as it documented that the behavior we are seeing exhibited today is nothing new. I can well imagine that 50 years from now the Bellow quote will be unearthed and it will be as relevant as it is today.
As you point out the West has forgotten the horrors of war but I would argue that it’s worse than that. In the name of humanitarian justice we have assured, by changing the rules of war through international law , that wars like we see in Gaza will be a reoccurring event.
It used to be that there was a cost to war. If you attacked another state the price if you lost was permanent loss of territory and dislocation of population. Those consequences acted as a deterrent to starting a war. Today at the end of war under international law you just return to the same starting position as at the beginning of the fight. Sure, people have been killed and property has been destroyed but when death of civilians is just used as another weapon of war and somebody else will pay for the rebuild, under western rules there is no consequence for launching an October 7th. That’s why Israel has to fight on until Hamas is eradicated and something better is put into place. So it does not suffer deja vue down the road.
Thank you Ed. I agree the west should not have to pay in any form to rebuild Gaza. I was also surprised how few news reports were done about the Gazans who started to protest against Hamas a couple of months ago and Hamas killed them.
Your last sentences reminded me of a conversation I had with a young women once. She said ‘violence is never the answer!’ piously. I calmly explained that there are some bad people in the world that would rape and kill her without a second thought, and that I (like most decent men) wouldn’t hesitate to use violence to protect her; that’s why we have an Army (I used to be a soldier).
I think she might have reflected on my comment a bit as the next time we spoke she had a more nuanced view.
Great, thought provoking article Jake. One would hope that seeing the footage of 7th Oct massacre might just crack through the naivety of today’s entitled activists. I recall at the time, international journalists were shown the GoPro Hamas footage of their genocide against innocents and they still went back and spread terrorist propaganda. Maybe all the footage should have been shown across the world and the terrorists would have had no support whatsoever. Just the few videos that were circulating across social media were not enough.
Greta׳s boat should have been allowed to beach / dock in gaza .. and what ever would happen to Greta and her entourage would be their own responsibility.
I share this bleak view of western culture and values. The slow decline not only seems to have picked up speed, before 7 October but surely after it, and even worse: I don’t see any tendencies or trends that signal a turnaround. Though there’s good reason to make a snarky punchline out of Greta’s egregious sailing trip, it also feels like we’re arriving at the western cynic’s last stand in doing so.
And her parents fed this stupidity and self centeredness. Some one should send them a free plane ticket w a tent for accommodation to Gaza to enjoy the summer heat.
She has Aspergers which she is proud of..I viewed a video where she said Aspergers made her not care about what others thought about her. She’s not stupid, merely emotionally blunted in her circuitry. Not an excuse merely a reason for her unbearable behaviour.
There's something splendidly Pythonesque in the pictures from the scene. The intrepid Resistance defy the evil Occupation forces, and are offered a sandwich and a ride home.
I have no doubt that having been shown footage of the atrocities of October 7, they'll all be in full denial mode. Or maybe they'll just close their eyes; it's worked so far.
Or will simply eat another sandwich!
Thank you for the insightful article about the moral indulgence that drives the liberal West. The 1973 quote from Saul Bellow was brilliant as it documented that the behavior we are seeing exhibited today is nothing new. I can well imagine that 50 years from now the Bellow quote will be unearthed and it will be as relevant as it is today.
As you point out the West has forgotten the horrors of war but I would argue that it’s worse than that. In the name of humanitarian justice we have assured, by changing the rules of war through international law , that wars like we see in Gaza will be a reoccurring event.
It used to be that there was a cost to war. If you attacked another state the price if you lost was permanent loss of territory and dislocation of population. Those consequences acted as a deterrent to starting a war. Today at the end of war under international law you just return to the same starting position as at the beginning of the fight. Sure, people have been killed and property has been destroyed but when death of civilians is just used as another weapon of war and somebody else will pay for the rebuild, under western rules there is no consequence for launching an October 7th. That’s why Israel has to fight on until Hamas is eradicated and something better is put into place. So it does not suffer deja vue down the road.
Thank you Ed. I agree the west should not have to pay in any form to rebuild Gaza. I was also surprised how few news reports were done about the Gazans who started to protest against Hamas a couple of months ago and Hamas killed them.
Great article. There's an old saying, "To those who don't want to know, no amount of evidence will suffice."
Your last sentences reminded me of a conversation I had with a young women once. She said ‘violence is never the answer!’ piously. I calmly explained that there are some bad people in the world that would rape and kill her without a second thought, and that I (like most decent men) wouldn’t hesitate to use violence to protect her; that’s why we have an Army (I used to be a soldier).
I think she might have reflected on my comment a bit as the next time we spoke she had a more nuanced view.
Great, thought provoking article Jake. One would hope that seeing the footage of 7th Oct massacre might just crack through the naivety of today’s entitled activists. I recall at the time, international journalists were shown the GoPro Hamas footage of their genocide against innocents and they still went back and spread terrorist propaganda. Maybe all the footage should have been shown across the world and the terrorists would have had no support whatsoever. Just the few videos that were circulating across social media were not enough.
Greta׳s boat should have been allowed to beach / dock in gaza .. and what ever would happen to Greta and her entourage would be their own responsibility.
Except it wouldn’t. They would blame the Jews.
Exactly correct, every word. Thank you for your writing.
Yes! Thank you for these profound words.
I share this bleak view of western culture and values. The slow decline not only seems to have picked up speed, before 7 October but surely after it, and even worse: I don’t see any tendencies or trends that signal a turnaround. Though there’s good reason to make a snarky punchline out of Greta’s egregious sailing trip, it also feels like we’re arriving at the western cynic’s last stand in doing so.
Very powerful. Thank you. Yes Greta is an example of what is wrong with our world, and how we allowed this disease to spread.
Generous of you to refer to her as “myopic”. IMO she is stupid and self centered, all about herself.
And her parents fed this stupidity and self centeredness. Some one should send them a free plane ticket w a tent for accommodation to Gaza to enjoy the summer heat.
😂
She has Aspergers which she is proud of..I viewed a video where she said Aspergers made her not care about what others thought about her. She’s not stupid, merely emotionally blunted in her circuitry. Not an excuse merely a reason for her unbearable behaviour.
https://substack.com/@isitpropaganda/note/c-124129310?r=2flx18