Category Archives: Atrocity

Try Not To Do Selective Outrage. (An Appeal)

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Sudan a nation riven by internal conflicts from more than since the 1950s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_Civil_War

And on the 15th April 2023 things became even worse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_civil_war_(2023%E2%80%93present)

A land where mass killings, rape and roving brutal gangs masking as militias do as they please, preying on hapless civilians. These are daily events  heart-breaking horrors which basically the Western populations have not bothered about much. You can even be told off for mentioning it, as distracting from other calamities.

Consider these figures taken from the Wikipedia link:

  • Likely significantly more than 150,000 total killed
  • More than 700,000 children with acute malnutrition (with 522,000 likely being dead)[
  • 8,856,313 internally displaced
  • 3,506,383 refugees

And now between 250,000 to 300,000 are trapped in El-Fasher while militia forces close in, forces that see these people as foes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8wzzjze8xo

Now the thorny part.
We know full well about the horrors which are taking place in Gaza. We see that a right-wing nationalistic fundamentalist government backed by an ultra violent section of the population are running free of most restraints and are taking war to the ultimate most extreme sort – elimination of the foe from its land. And people have taken to the streets and social media in protest. Because Israel and the Middle East always attracts news headlines and attention.   
People are naturally horrified by what is taking place.
So I will ask of you. Why doesn’t Sudan warrant the same reaction?
Why are there no marches or protests?
The BBC News (much maligned by some activist groups) has kept up a steady stream of items. So has Al -Jazeera. PBS, CNN, ABC in the USA have reported on it. Newspaper columnists have drawn attention to it. There is a steady output of appeals from Aid Agencies and Charities on Social Media. The campaigning group Avaaz is currently running an appeal for signatures.
And yet…and yet..
Where is the Western Public Display of Outrage and Horror? 

And there are more out there, maybe not as large but as equally horrifying for the people living through them.
Need to know more? Here’s one window.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/armed-conflict/ 

Of course you my dear reader cannot be everywhere physically marching, you can’t contribute to every appeal, you can’t be emotionally invested in every one of the conflicts across this world, you’d be frazzled out in a month.
Spare a thought once in a while for those suffering, everywhere across the globe, day in day, lament for them from time to time and if you have a spare few ‘coins’ choose one charity to donate to. Make it your business to have at least an idea of the series of conflicts taking place. You don’t have a working knowledge of each one, that’s not possible unless you are a professional.

But at least care. And stay Woke.

The War Posts Part III – When Industry Replaced Cavalry and its Arm Grew Long

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Precursor
The warnings had been there. To name but two: The American Civil War and The Franco-Prussian War. The message being the machines of Industry and the advances of Science were being fully harnessed to the carriages of war. Be the conflict on land, sea and now air advances were made, and each one provoked another. The term Arms Race had come of age. Meanwhile in the relative background research was advancing in Atomic Physics and in turn the new field of Nuclear Physics, nothing to really interest the Military and International Political Minds. Meanwhile the delicate system of checks and balances in essentially European and Russian politics contained such events as Germanic expansion and union, Italian unity and Independence and Russia’s messianic mission to free and unite all the Slavs. Empires prevailed, nations prevailed and wars were mostly colonial in nature; events which happened outside of the European sphere were left to the diplomatic core to summon up governmental and some military assistance where and when.

The Seismic Event (WWI)
By the second decade of the 20th Century, the political system was being pressured by variables. National identities as we know them, a product of the 19th Century had by now been given strident voice, having been urged on in preceding years by polemic writers working in the fields of Identity, Race and the more aggressive Philosophies. The web of alliances all based upon deterrents through Military Defence or Defence through aggression gave way and World War I commenced, in which the full potential of the previous decades were released. From now on The Logic of War became mainstay. In this case the Logic had lain out the issues in simple terms. Break the enemy’s armies and break the enemy’s Will. It didn’t really matter in which order.
Although much military thought had gone into what to do with armies and weaponry, amongst the principal powers, of late there had been no practical experience against a similarly weaponised foe. No one truly appreciated the full potential of the Industrial Army when unleashed either in attack or defence. That going to have to be learnt; the hard way. But the Logic of War would continue, because the foe had to be defeated, this was not just a struggle over some portions of land, some king’s ambitions, some passing fervour; the concept of National Survival was there. Thus all means were justifiable. There was no place or times for ethics; there never had been before, why should there now?
Meanwhile in 1917 in Manchester UK, Ernest Rutherford experiments with the first artificial  nuclear reactions. No doubt some would have huffed that these ‘boffins’ should be putting their talents to better uses helping The War Effort.
The war would come to an end, there were a series of military victories by the Allies, but basically the German led Central powers collapsed, the brutal truth being they had collectively lost the will to continue, bled by casualties and of resources, from within they fell. The Logic of War had favoured one side, by a thin margin its Will had prevailed.

Old Lessons Applied With New Tools
There is a line of thought that runs when later centuries’ historians view the first half of the 20th Century, they will place the two wars together. The same issues and with two major changes of sides effectively the same war.
In the interim the nationalistic feelings were fired by ethnic and racial divides, one minority or another being blamed for failures. And losers or those who had minor gains resolved they would do things differently next time. Then there was the dangerous innocence which pretended that if you ignored War it would simply go away, like when dealing with other Human flaws there was much misplaced faith invested in Wishful Thinking.

Meanwhile 1932 Cambridge UK under guidance from Rutherford and others’ discoveries James Chadwick discovers the Neutron. Following on these advances in December 1938 Berlin Germany chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman in conjunction with physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch enact the process now known as Nuclear Fission. The resultant energy is noted and considered a subject for later research into a cheap form of heating.

Elsewhere the inevitability of a stumbling to conflict continues. The steps, the errors, the hopes, the lies and the confusions need not to be repeated. September 1939 add December 1941 and the world is embraced in a war in which the full efforts of Industry and Science are marshalled into the Logic of War. Axis vs Allies. One aspect is not truly embraced by one Axis side which will have great fatal consequences for one of its allies.
In the USA during October 1939 Hungarian refugee physicists Eugene Wigner and Leo Szilard, while in the UK Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls German refugee physicists in March 1940 contact the respective governments alerting them to the potential destructive power of Nuclear Fission and concerns that the German Nazi government could also research this potential. Both governments take this matter seriously. Following the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 and the US entry into WWII the USA uses its industrial capacity to expand the research into a viable weapon. The logic of War has now embraced the nuclear field. No area of weaponry is ever left unexplored.
This is not the only development conducted by the Allies; the side which the Axis  considered decadent and weak, forgetting that Democracies can be as ruthless as any aggressive totalitarian regime. Amongst the many advances the Allies make is to construct vast strategic bomber fleets to take the war to the Axis’ homelands, while in their rush to quick victories the Axis only invested in air forces to support their armies on the ground, they made the mistake of not matching plane for plane the four engined heavy bombers. Germany will make advances in flying bomb and rocket missiles but too little too late for a war in which resources cannot be matched. The allies meanwhile direct resources to that age old target, the population and the foes’ resource’s, crippling Axis efforts to respond. And yet two Axis powers Germany and Japan calculate that the Will to Resist will prevail, as more ground is lost, the tighter is the grip to this belief held by those who have the final authority over their people.
Somewhere within the proliferation of the ideas that the Logic War calls upon, is that lessons are always being learnt and histories recalled. The Allies bear in mind Germany was not occupied or fought over at the end of WWI, and its later regimes made capital of this, Germany was not beaten, just tricked. The current coalition of Allies will not give this regime that wriggle room. Total War until the capacity to fight back is destroyed and surrender is the only option. On the other side of the World the Japanese regime holding to a warped version of a martial code demands and indoctrinates its armies and civilian populations into a fight to the death. And by now the Allies have the capacity to deliver just that.
Thus, there is the unavoidable fact that under the calculations of The Logic of War, if the foe will not surrender and you have the ability to prevail, you will prevail by ensuring the foe cannot continue to defy you. You will not turn your back on a foe which will not bow down in surrender. This is one Logic of War, for at its depths War reasons that death and destruction are the final arbiters.

The Last Military Acts
By the spring of 1945 Germany had surrendered, beaten down by what we refer to as conventional means, and at a high price in both blood and treasure. Across the oceans WWII continued. The USA being the principal allied proponent. In the light of the casualty rate on Okinawa, of 49,000, the next stage being the landing on the main islands of Japan suggested another high casualty surge, particularly as the military government holding sway showed no sign of unconditional surrender.
We now move into an area which in terms of that long history of warfare is not new, and was mentioned earlier. How to force an enemy surrender. The USA had by other motivation now come into possession of a fearfully efficient weapon. The Atomic bomb. This allowed the possibility of one aircraft with one bomb to level an entire city. There was some debate on how to deploy this. Drop it as a demonstration on some isolated place? Suppose the regime did not give way? Half the arsenal would have been used, and only one shot left? Since there had been no testing of the weapons suppose they didn’t work as expected? The regime would be encouraged to continue resistance and the allied casualty rates continue to climb. Meanwhile as the war ran down the alliance naturally was fracturing, The USSR was taking up larger portion of Europe than expected. Had this war best  be finished quickly and as is the case in many a war, face up to the next foe – your previous ally? And above all, a conventional invasion of Japan suggested casualties into of possible 500,000 allied and at least 1,000,000 Japanese.
Finish the war as quickly and conveniently as possible – that was the decision taken. The die was cast. Hiroshima and Nagasaki would take their place in the history books of the 1930s to 1945 wars. Along with Nanking, Warsaw, Leningrad, Stalingrad, London, Tokyo, Hamburg, Berlin; to name but a few. Only in the case of those two cities the results came swiftly, dramatically, and with a new force that scared everyone with its potential. Two cities obliterated, swiftly but leaving an aftermath that unlike the others whose long drawn out suffering were by conventional means, this heralded a new era. Same result though. Same as it ever was,

Four photos named in alphabetical order but not placed so Hamburg (firebombed) Hiroshima (atom bomb), Stalingrad (sustained military action) Tokyo  (firebombed). When I saved these images to my laptop and blog I did not identify them by name, only by the title War, followed by a number to satisfy the computer record. To be honest I am not sure which is which, I think the fourth might be Stalingrad – I could be wrong, it might be the third one.
War- the great equaliser. It kills and destroys because that is what it is there for.
In the aftermath there would be much debate over the use of the atom bombs, military, ethically, politically, socially, eighty years on the debates still continue with intensity. Hamburg and Tokyo do not get the same attention as examples of the horror of war. There’s only one location that seems to generate the same kind (but not volume by any means) of debate that revolves around Hiroshima and Nagasaki and that is the German City of Dresden February 1945
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden

But this was by conventional means and has passed into the annals of the many other acts of WWII.

Nothing frightens or horrifies us so much as Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s bombings. Maybe because of that swiftness and efficiency. Maybe because  it showed no one was safe anymore, War could not just happen ‘somewhere else’. Maybe because we can see exactly where the Logic of War can lead.
Not that the lesson has been truly learnt, ask the millions who were and are in the wrong place and the time since 1945.

The subject of the last post. War Continues,

The War Posts – Part I .An Introduction to War

The War Posts Part II – The Logic of War

The War Posts Part II – The Logic of War

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Foreword: This post is going to start off with what might be seen as in an unfair way. Bear with me.

Opening
I am going to ask you a few uncomfortable questions:

Have you ever felt there was a group of folk you disliked intensely for their views?
Have you ever felt some folk were so opposed to your outlook there was no arguing with them?
Have you ever felt personally threatened by some group for a perceived potentially invasive potential?
Have you ever felt that a group is such a threat to you and your way of life that  force as a last resort is justifiable?
Have you ever felt that a group or community holds views which you consider so repellent and inexcusable that they should not be allowed to continue?
Have you ever coveted anything?

You may feel justified in thinking these are a bit unfair and leading questions. Understandable. Yet I ask them, because in my opinion these are at the very basic, fundamental urges to resort to conflict. In short at this current stage in the development of Humanity, Humanity is wired for conflict. At the least in the verbal; at the worst in warfare. Now you may feel you, personally, can and have managed with much effort to circumvent these urges, and that is laudable. Can however you say the same for the majority of people around you, or to take it one step further, in the world?
Or does the evidence suggest that despite all the hard, harsh tragic lessons of History Humanity still defaults to conflict and thus War? I would contend on that current evidence this is the case. War is a facet of the current Human Condition and thus has its own Logic, one which exists in the extreme versions of those opening questions.

The Environment of the Logic of War
Being this extreme activity which involves the seizure or destruction of people, resources and property either because one side feels a need to or the other side feels the need to stop them, the thought processes, the perceptions and the decision making are ones outside of the usual civil procedures. After all willing acceptance to inflict Death and wilful Destruction are involved and those are very much Absolutes. It can be argued that some wars are conducted with some restraints at some times, but overall the application of violence to achieve or foil achievement are there at the basics. Thus those who are involved in warfare either by profession, political decision or simply in there by no choice at all will shift their perspectives from the civil and civic ways, eventually accepting in within such an environment indeed The Means Justifies The End. By Need or by Duty.

Practices Within The Logic of War 
As stated in the previous post the destruction of on side’s resources and will to resist in addition to their armies was always there in the campaign. This would take various forms.

Outright slaughter upon any who resisted – The Mongol Invasions of the 13th and 14th century took this to such extreme forms that some historians have cited the environment changed such was the loss of Human Life.

Subjugation of The Population – Either by terror or by enslavement. Common in the classical eras for a population of a fallen city to be put into slavery. Even in the 18th century prisons of war taken by the Hapsburg Empire could find themselves sold off to the Ottomans. And of course the continued fear of the armed enemy now living in your neighbourhood, quite at their whim. William the Conqueror to name but one dealt with an Anglo-Saxon uprising in the north of England by what was called ‘The Harrying of the North’. There a many, many more examples – the 20th & 21st centuries were and are carrying on an old response.

Treating People As Resources or Vermin – As briefly covered in the previous post and also during extreme examples of the above questions an action which is ingrained into war. Destroy the people and you destroy the foe’s abilities or will to continue. Jonathan Sumpton’s five volume history of the Hundred Years’ War is a masterful work in scope and in detail, although as you read through the fifth volume you are starting to wonder how there were any folk alive left in France by 1460 after the depravations of The English, The French Civil Wars and the ravaging by mercenary armies. The Thirty Years War is synonymous with slaughter, pillage and rapine throughout central Europe. To spare you any more details I would just summarise by saying in Eastern Europe through to Russia, down to the Ottoman and Persian Empires brutality was the order of the day. When you look through the history of China a similar picture arises. And you can go in any direction and find the same processes. The ultimately depressing or shocking facet being a people can be victims and later instigators, or the other way around and not unusually  both at once.

The Arrival of Industrial Efficiency – There would be some debate as to when this approach impacted on the processes of war. Arguably the overwhelming replacement of steel by the missile as the principal deliverer of action, so maybe the early years of the 18th Century.  Now over the next two centuries would develop a stronger intention to destroy armies by essentially blasting them apart and if the place of conflict happened to include villages or small towns, this was how things were. During this era the French Revolutionary armies developed the principal of mobility through not relying on long supply columns, but living off of the land; in the long history of warfare this was nothing new- grab what you want and if the civilians know what good for them they accept it. (Only this did not work out so well for the French in Spain or Russia, and in 1814 there was retribution visited by a revised Prussia) .  As armies grew larger and supply became a constant problem appropriation of civilians and civilian resources  was not reduced by enlightened thinking or the growth of request for ‘Rights’ and ‘Independence’  Far from it. Fired up by a new concept of Nationalism The Means Justifies The End edict was allowed to run riot, literally in many cases, and woe betide a minority living in an area where a majority had just gained independence, for minorities are always treated with suspicion (see those worrisome questions) 

Being Truly Professional and Social About it – There have always been professionals but the demands and developments of the 19th Century required far more study and contemplation of war, and many more books than simply instruction manuals were coming into print. Probably the one which springs to the military inclined mind would be the Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz’s ‘On War’ being treatises on political-military analysis and strategy, which although published in 1832, still hold some sway in these times. I would suggest this was when Modern War as we know it was distilled from its embryonic form of the Napoleon Era. The Means Justifies The End  now had a truly modern feel. The soldier had to be educated to some degree to handle sophisticated weapons; officer classes trained to handle the various demands of the modern armies and those armies motivated to embrace a nationalistic feel. Science ever in the background was also fully entering the mix and something to be given some study and respect, for it was an exciting new world and every advance had the possibility of finding a place in warfare. With all this taking place a nation looking for or to keep its place on the World Stage or simply stay independent had to be more than ever aware of all these factors. What had once been conducted at the behest of Princes, Kings and Emperors was now overseen by secular Governments and their professional armies. Public support on a national basis had been growing since the 18th Century but now became a strong demand. Thus a change was taking place in the industrialised world. War was not something which happened to the civilian population, the civilian population through the evolution of mass communication could now enter the dynamic, no longer involved in just local squabbles over land or defence or religion, but now through Nationhood. 

By the beginning of the 20th Century the capacity for destruction of not just a foe’s armies but it’s resources and people had developed by enveloping and refining the usage of all possible advances, scientific, political and social. The era we now call Modern needs its own post for there The Logic of War shows its true colours and potential   

The War Posts – Part I .An Introduction to War

The War Posts – Part I .An Introduction to War

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Foreword: The dates of the 6th and 8th of August hold particularly vivid images in the historical narrative. Most readers will be aware of their relevance. The days Nuclear Weaponry was added to the catalogue of weaponry. Thus, arguably these events became the starkest, most fearful indication to a number of people as to the horrors of War. Those who lived in times and places in which they did not personally experience the events and consequences of War. And to everyone how very efficient and finalistic War was now becoming.

Overview
As long as there has been Humanity there has been conflict, as it is with other species. Although as Humanity developed and started its path to civilisation War became more than just one group throwing things at another group. As did everything else War developed too, the logic being weapons had to improve to keep up with everything else; you could hardly conquer in walled city with a host of men armed with sharp pointed stick charging at it and valiantly poking away. Missiles, sieges, mining, poisoning of water courses, throwing in of dead diseased bodies and of course laying waste the land around depriving the foes of resources. Pitched battles could be quite rare at times. There was also the arts of marching and countermarching like chess, and maybe the foe would see no advantage to combat, give up and go home or seek terms. The latter practice carried on into the early 18th century; then with industrialisation war became more focused about destroying armies.

Throughout all this one thing was a constant. That being the suffering of the civilians and the ruination of their livelihoods. The idea of an army marching in good disciplined order with stony faces set of the horizon and their tryst with Fate might make good image on film. Only in the old style propaganda films or political slanted works will you see soldiers treating enemy civilians in sanitised bad ways, you will have to read about the true pillage, multiple gang rapes, random killing, casual cruelty and destruction. You would have to bypass the recent wars quasi-colonial style wars of the latter part of the 20th and thus far in the 21st Century to face the fact that the liberating armies of the Allies moving west through France and into Germany in WWII were not comprised entirely of firm but fair, tough fighting decent lads.

Armies are at best hard, brutal machines trained to expect danger; at worse they are ill-disciplined armed gangs with a smidge of training. And there are the majority, the in-between. Ill-clothed, ill-ed, ill-paid only there because there was no other option.
Civilians are the fodder, either swept up to be part of the violence or to be treated with no more concern than their houses. Either a resource to be used, or one to be destroyed thus depriving the enemy and sapping the general will, another resource.

Reasoning
I can understand that having digested this, the reader would conclude ‘I can see where he is going with this. He is trying to dilute the effects on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by a sweeping generalisation, that they were nothing special’
It would be a reasonable assumption.
From the perspective of repulsion and the sudden, swift, frightening devastation. A fearful power unleashed, a vision as to how War could now be.
Yes they were special. None of us were now safe. Anywhere. Anyhow. We were all subject to the Dread Logic of War.

War?
Suffering. Terrible, Raw, Suffering. Dealt out with a Logic more terrible than the weapons themselves.

The next part covers The Logic of War

History Taps Us On The Shoulder. In Our Embarrassment We Hurry For Justifications

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In advance and nothing to do with the subject matter. Sorry about the ragged look on this post and odd gaps…You guessed it WP is up to its quirks again. I lost the post once trying to fix it- thank goodness I had created my own back-up.

The chances are you are not going to like this post. You may be affronted. You may be angered. And I will be repeating a few themes from earlier posts. In my defence I am merely citing History and Consequences. There are always consequences. They sometimes arise from well-meaning intentions but usually from Ignorance, a quality Humanity is rich in.

Historical Overview
So where do we start? Take a place in history for your starting point on a subject matter and there will always be a ‘before’ which gave rise to it. In this case a starting point could be the oft misquoted Matthew 27:25 “So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” .And thence forth an entire people take the blame for a mob hyped up for political reasons by local power players. Blame all the Jews. Blame all the Americans for slavery? Blame all the British, every single one for The Empire- including the most devoted socialist radical? Blood curse. Every nation can sign up for that one.

Anyway fast forward through European history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Massacres_of_Jews
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Anti-Jewish_pogroms
This doesn’t include the day to day discriminations, slights, jibes, harassments, expulsions and so forth or the appropriations of wealth, nor the cynical ploy by kings / nobles to get out of the loans they owed Jewish financiers.

Roughly speaking Europe can rack up a thousand years of persecution of Jews. Mind you Europeans over the same period racked up other persecutions at an alarming rate, and there were responses which were allowed through applications of historical PR  to morph into ‘Fights / Struggles for Freedom’ and gain a certain romantic aura. What those folk did when they got their freedom and their patch of land was of course their own business, that would be skirted over, unless you happened to be in a minority there.

In some part; moving outside Europe two empires began to decline Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman and the double edged scythe of Nationalism began to take selective root. Our attention should focus on what we now term the Middle East and its various populations, alone they would have been turbulent enough but The Jewish Identity now sensed the time honoured words at the end of Passover “L’Shanah Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim” “Next year in Jerusalem,” might in this turbulent time of opportunity come to fruition. Within European Empires, Britain in particular sensing an advantage there grew a certain level of support, some political, some sentimental and some complicated contradictory religious. ‘Jews were almost acceptable, quite civilised and hardworking’. ‘They could have land, after all there were only a few Arabs there and what did they count for’. European Empire did a lot of that in those days, making sweeping generalisations ‘adopt’ one folk to suit their purposes and the rest would have to put up with it. At the onset there were Jews who were quite aware of there were not just Arabs but Palestinians and hoped as optimists do that the land could be fairly shared and both communities could live in harmony. It would have been a First in Human History. In the meantime the Jewish ‘re-settlement’ of ‘their’ land began, as if the previous two thousand years of later occupations didn’t count. Well this was their land, and as far as they could tell after all those centuries  Europe and also the growing USA had made it obvious they would rather Jews be somewhere else. In the meantime The Palestinians had found their identity

There came to turbulences of two World Wars. Britain and France having already made a paper parcel up of the Middle East  under Sykes Picot agreement were granted ‘mandates’ and proceeded for approximately thirty years use heavy-handed insensitive methods. Britain in particular unable to make up its mend whether to allow Jews in or not. World War One and the aftermath was deadly enough, then came the greater upheavals and atrocities of World War Two. In the event of that one it was obvious to many a surviving Jew there was only one place to go and if the locals didn’t like it, well the Jewish folk had been taught by their European overlords just how to settle that sort of problem.
Quite out of their depth and exhausted by the recent wars Britain managed to anger both Palestinians and now Israelis. Recently independent Arab nations found temporary on and off common cause with Palestinians, The Cold War found another place to have its conflicts without the danger of nuclear weaponry and the USA and USSR chose sides. What had been inter-communal violence had now grown into conventional and insurgent warfare. Roughly speaking there has been at least one hundred years of conflict.

An Assessment
Firstly it has to be accepted that there are very few, if any Human races, nations, regions and communities who have clean histories, Deep History, Recent Past or Current Day. A brief survey of Historical, Human Rights, UN and yes even CIA yearbook internet sites will give you enough enlightenment, reasons for cynicisms or cause for depression on that score. No one people. No one nation. No one history gets away with it. Accept it. When it comes to Races and Nations there are no Romantic and Noble Histories.
There are only degrees, qualities, quantities and consistencies of bad behaviour. Action. Reaction. Payback. Victory. Suppression. Subjugation, all the ugly, polluted stuff massaged later on, into justifications or if that doesn’t work just written out.

Warning: You may find some part hereon in particularly offensive. In my own defence I am passing commentary of the whole of The Human Race by citing examples. Those who read my posts regularly will be used to this.   

To repeat by the 20th Century sections of the Jewish people had learnt the lessons from their European rulers, hard and well. True, like the rest of us, they had not come into this world innocent and unconditionally tolerant, The Old Testament has a certain historical foundation to indicate that. What had been revealed to them that even existence was conditional. At any random time, be it by policy, just plain bigotry or random, rabid ignorance there could be assault, destruction of community or worse wholescale death. For a section of the Jewish communities  the lesson was simple. you battle to survive, and that is best done on what was and is again your ancestorial home ground. The whole world was against you -1939 to 1945 was the final grand example in centuries worth of selective violence. For the hardliners and for those who, well just wanted the persecution to stop, the answer was ‘Here We Are. Here We Stay. Back Where We Started. Never mind these protestations of justice, the ethics, the historical changes, the rights of others. No. no they don’t count. Europeans taught us that’. 

Did the Palestinians becoming a punching bag for centuries of pent up anger? Or was it just the old story of  a case of hard luck on the natives when the colonists arrive ? Maybe a mix of the two adding a few local undercurrents that Americans and Europeans just don’t get.

One thing is noticeable. Normally folk or nations get weary of prolonged wars. Populations run out along with resources. Political Castes get fed up with the whole business because they are unpopular and something approach a peace or very, very long truce evolves. This one if different. One hundred plus years and no end in sight. Worse, even harder liners have taken centre stage. By all the conventions and examples this one should have run down. Of course it is only one of a whole mix of wars running the length and breadth

from Turkish regions down the Middle East, North Africa, into the Sahel, along through Sudan and Yemen, then across into Iran. And meanwhile Ukraine. Maybe there is just no appetite for Peace Talks anymore, you and your sponsors try and batter down the other side, and the World Community which has its own problems will just have to accept it. Another old story, only these days it gets played out on the Media. ‘Why should one war matter more than ours?’ ask the innocents trying to survive wherever they are.

A Judgement ( ‘A’ – not ‘The’. Chose ) 
One overview is the current Israeli government has to concern itself with only two major support groups. The diaspora of the world-wide Jewish Community and the American  coalition of Fundamentalist Christians, Islamaphobes and ‘Israel is the Only True Friend We Have’ lobbies. Israel’s security service Mossad may well chuckle at that simplistic view. In our innocence we remain ignorant of who else while lamenting publicly would not secretly worry too much if the Palestinians were broken as a state (that will put an end to Hamas…right?). ‘No one people. No one nation.’ ‘We are Flawed’     

Honest to Badness it is so easy to write copy to support the Israeli Government to assuage to hardliners and the traumatised Israeli populations

It works like this:
‘Where was World Opinion and the unofficial Human Rights activists, when
The Rohingya were being massacred in Myanmar?
The Turkic Uyghur being culturally wiped out in China?
The innocents of Sudan and South Sudan being slaughtered or mass raped?
Iranian Women were being beaten, imprisoned and dying for wanting to wear clothes other than for proscribed by the state. Like wise in Afghanistan?
Does anyone care about the Muslims or Christians in India?
Why were there not demonstrations en mass on the streets of major cities in the world every week. Were there cases of natives or communities of expats of those nations being harassed by demonstrators masking as protests?
No that sort of thing only happens when the Jewish State of Israel is involved. It’s always the Jews which are the target. ‘

That only took the time to play three songs of average length on my cd player to write that. So easy. Why was it so easy? Because the Western campaigners make it damn easy to do so. That’s why. Best friends the current Israeli government ever had. And of course makes Antisemitism respectable too. ‘No I am not Antisemitic I am just Anti-Israel’ (Quit saying that, it’s getting old and only helps Netanyahu and his cabinet). There was a petition on Facebook asking for condemnation of Israel attacking Iran. Well I am sorry and weep for the innocents on both sides of the missile exchange but pardon my frankness. I do not fret over the fate of a regime or its active members also complicit in the spreading wars through the Middle East nor with a history of bloody suppression of its own Arab and other ethnic minorities or the treatment of its women. As I write this the news is out and about that The USA has come in and bombed Iranian nuclear sites. My initial reaction was ‘Gee. I wonder where this will go now?’ and ‘Hmm. Who was last in Trump’s Office before he took that decision?’ . Horror and condemnation of Israel….No. They’re all locked into together in a labyrinthian dance. It happens. Again History is littered with this. Spare me the outrage against Israel taking a swipe at Iran. And while I’m in this snarky mood. Those who didn’t vote for Biden /Harris because of their stance over Israel, how is that working out for you these days?

An aside: Actually my ire is not wholly directed at Americans who have been horrified at the IDF action meted out on the Palestinians. You in general are relatively new to this ‘world’. Of course you have been aware of the issues. But traditionally in the European Left’s lexicon you were all to blame for the Middle East by all of you being pro-Israel. I say this as you may not have been aware it, But since the same Left was only too swift to have excuses for Russia for invading Ukraine because it had no choice; the whole fault was due to the USA ‘s Imperialism, honestly I wouldn’t pay attention to that judgement, not since MAGA was doing the same thing. Selective, biased thinking just doesn’t cover it.

Let me just dial back over the history of these ‘Campaigns Against Israel’ or ‘For A Free Palestine’ . If folk had cared so very much why had they not made common cause with those groups of Israelis who had been working to this end. Why had they not affiliated or supported, them. There were enough examples

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meretz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da%27am_Workers_Party

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_Olam

And lest any campaigner out there has forgotten 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Silver

Once I was on a Facebook site where everyone was piling in with Who Can Be The Most Outraged Against Israel game and I mentioned support for Meretz and there was a silence, like I veered off onto Quantum Physics. Nothing. I gave up on them.
It’s very hard not to feel a substantial number of folks particularly in Europe are more concerned about Israel being a Jewish state with links to the USA than actual Palestinians. Yes, there we are The Old Game…..(Those Jews y’know).  

History points at us in The West and holds us in large guilty for Israel being Israel as it is today. A thousand years of hard lessons, decades of turning a blind eye to the excesses of those who are against Israel, little or no co-operations with those Israelis who had worked tirelessly to formulate some sort of accord. Sanctimonious commentaries about banning this and boycotting that. Wearing their I am NOT antisemitic badges on their sleeves but only, only protesting about Israel and no other regime. You will have to pardon my bluntness here. USELESS. ABSOLUTELY USELESS. All they did was cause the wagons to be circled.

Final Words     

‘Fine words Roger.’ You say. ‘You’ve torn apart the West and shredded the Protest movements. Anyone can pull down things. What solutions have you to offer?’

Well I don’t have quick fixes. It will be a very long, hard road because so much damage has been done. It starts will small steps. For a beginner have nothing to do with anyone targeting Synagogues like they had a direct line to the Israeli government. If anyone supports them on Social Media, you get back at them. Condemn them. You reach out to both Muslim and Jewish folk in equal measure. If you can find any groups within Israel still working for reconciliation, support them.

https://www.allmep.org/

If you come across anyone setting up another protest against Israel asking them what action they took against other abusive bloody-handed regimes?  If they are of the sort who make excuses simply reply ‘Sorry I do not do Selective’ . By all means donate to causes intending to give aid to the ordinary Palestinian, just makes sure Hamas and Iran do not have their hook in there. And for Pity Sake- Hamas is not a group of noble freedom fighters. Amnesty International has had them on the radar for years.    

Compassion. Respect. Tolerance for People, By People. That is how you measure things.

Final sign off. You know the really sick irony? The big dirty joke by and on Western Humanity?

Who are the groups most likely to be subject to random judgements, abuse and violence.
Jews and Muslims- that who. Some joke huh? Laugh?……I never even started, just used a great deal of bad words.

OK, I’m done here.  

Before You Go Any Further on Palestine

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Protests at DNC

Foreword / Forewarning : We are going to some very unpleasant places, where choices have to be made in which no one wins all that they want. There is no easy out either, it’s so narrow, even not getting involved is a choice, and maybe when considering the stakes and options, the very worst. Welcome to the Reality of The World. Accept the harsh facts. What ever you will do, you have to hope it was the least worst option. Bleak? I am afraid so. For many around this world, even in your home region, it is a way of Life. Read on. 

It is understandable that folk are upset, angry, furious or incandescent at what has been taking place in the Gaza region of the Middle East. Even though there is a fearful and dread predictability to it, you only have to travel a few hundred miles north to learn the same type of slaughter took place a decade and less ago; the difference being at least in the UK the demonstrations were not to get involved at all, apparently Assad was entitled to slaughter his own people and the government was criticised for trying to get involved.

Yes folk should be horrified. At any slaughter or mass abuse. I have listed them before, if you don’t know about any others I would suggest checking on Wikipedia under ‘Genocide’. Of course folk will tell me the difference now is that the ‘our’ governments are supporting Israel and supplying arms. This is a good and relevant argument, in part that is, for the simple, grim, unavoidable reason that this event in Gaza is not taking place in isolation. One of the many factors it is linked to is what is and will be taking place in the USA from now until 5th November 2024. The stark choice between a possibly less than perfect Democratic candidate of Kamala Harris and thence her administration, and the manifestation of all that is wrong with the USA’s political and social judgement Donald Trump along with the cabal of Right Wing reaction behind him. The forces which are restricting women’s right to abortion, censoring to what can be read in schools, intimidating the right to walk safely in public places by allowing guns to be proliferated, the persecution of the right to be of any sexual orientation, the eradicating of an administration staffed by folk who do not necessarily agree,  with the president and of course whether you will be allowed not to believe in a god of their manufacture. Make no mistake it will be one or the other. Make no mistake if Trump is let back in at a time of his own questionable judgement there will be a whole group of folk with him with their own agendas, and as long as they feed his ego that will be just fine.

There are folk demonstrating at the Democrat Convention, raising the political tensions. Distracting for events in their own back yard, truth be known. There appear to be some 750,000 voters who have made much of being undecided about voting democrat because of the current administration’s support for Israel. As unpleasant as they might find that stance, I cannot see what solace they would have in by withholding their votes and possibly allowing a Trump administration in, or how they would believe that administration would be sympathetic to the Palestinians. And this is a terrible fact. If this body of voters withhold their votes and by default Trump gets in, then they will be complicit in whatever fate befalls the Palestinians.

And it gets worse. Not just the Palestinians but the Ukrainians. Does anyone need reminding that for some twisted reasoning many Republicans like Putin, he is their kind of guy. And if that were not bad enough. Read back to the summary two paragraphs above. Withhold those votes let Trump in and those 750,000 will be complicit in the misery of women with unwanted or dangerous pregnancies, the fear gripping the LGBT communities in many states, the pressure on teachers to teach ‘The Right Way’, the questionable religious indoctrination of communities, the intimidation of minorities and of course the pardoning of several individuals found guilty of riot and assault on the seat of government.

By now I can imagine some readers may be shaking their head or howling at my words. Demanding what solution do I have then? Am I content to let an extreme religiously fundamentalist government slaughter thousands. Firstly I would have to say ‘no’ and then follow up with asking where were those asking that question when previous genocides were taking place? If you care, you don’t get to pick and chose which Crime Against Humanity you feel is worthy of your attention. Secondly and more importantly at this juncture, at this crossroad, at this challenge  to the stability and democracy of The USA do you, questionnaire feel you have the right to destabilise or hinder an attempt by the forces of true Democracy and Tolerance to halt the march of Intolerance and Regression in your own land? Because by your demonstrations and your other actions that is exactly what you are doing.

Some choice huh? Get behind a government that supports Israel or allow another in which will not just support but encourage Israel. There is no ‘wriggle room’ here. There is no space to shout loudly  in one direction and refuse to support them because they are not being perfect for you. When the Harsh Realities surface on your newsfeeds because everyone knows that the Middle East makes good copy, there are no simple choices involved. Not now. It’s not as simple as it was in previous wars. There has been one going on in your own backyard these past twenty years and it really heated up when an African American was voted in twice to the Whitehouse.

And there is the grimmest of all choices. You stick to your outrage, and you risk letting Trump back in. 

Simple as that.

Welcome to the Rest of the World. There are people making choices like this all over the world. Compromise, take the least worst path, for the alternative will come back to haunt you.   

No escape from that. You can’t switch it off like a TV or a Video Game.     

An Open Essay To The Current Protestors of The USA On And Off Campus

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US protests

Foreword: For those not familiar with my site. Just a brief introduction. British. 73 years old. Christian (slightly heretical- I’ll square it with God when the time comes) . Left Winger but not of a type you would be likely to recognise. 65 years with an interest in and an affinity to the USA. 60 years interest in politics. A possible affinity to Martin Luther of Eiseben without the vitriolic antisemitism common to his time. OK. That’s me. Let’s get down to issues.

Warning
There will be harsh statements, there will be very uncomfortable points of view, there will be a number reminders about The World, there will be questions asked of the reader, directly. And there will no simple arguments or points of view or answers 

Overview
It has to be accepted that the current one of the many outbreaks of full scale violence between Israelis and Palestinians has attracted the attention of the world. Emotions are running high as well as broadly justifiable feelings at the violence and the loss of life. Looking out from my allegorical window you must accept me thinking. ‘What a pity such demonstrations had not been expressed in other recent times for other peoples in their own sufferings through violence. The events were on accessible on the news and received sustained coverage on the Internet,’ I am not just discussing Ukraine here. Just check the word ‘Genocide’ and look back over the past twenty years. That said we must move on, for there is a future to discuss. We can learn from The Past. We may act upon The Present. But We must prepare for The Future. Your Future. The Future of Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Next, something about The Past and The Nature of Events.

Events, Reactions and ‘Causes’. The Shadows and Shrouds of History
Political and Social Events which make the news do not have simplistic backgrounds, they have complex histories, and History has a way of extending itself back and back and back. There is no sudden start point. Back into the deep past there will be a gradual build up of a momentum which at some juncture reaches the Deluge or Avalanche or Earthquake stage and from there on those Earlier Events will have a strong resonance in the causes of Subsequent Events, and so on. Each one causing its own set of ripples or fault lines, criss-crossing the Human Geography of Peoples and their Communities, while calling up the echoes and resonances of the Past at a pace and frequency which leaves the observer possibly embracing the notion that Time is not linear or moving in one direction.

To witness October and onwards and put these in full focus requires what some would call an unsatisfactory and arguably heartless approach. Some would in the spirit of outrage at the loss of life simply deny. Usually these opening words of mine would be a conclusion of a paragraph. In this case just take them as warning of where we are going, a place where Death and Ruination have often walked, and the participants comfort themselves with many justifications, which depending on your view can appear strong but reasonable. We start in A Place which will have a focus in History. 7th October 2023. A concerted incursion by Hamas into Israel causing a very heavy loss of Life.

Of those protesting ‘Regrettable’ some might say. Even condemnatory. However they will add, for there is often an ‘However’ in these matters ‘Just look at the way Israel has treated the Palestinians. That is terrible and has been going on for so many years’ . Well in the harsh prism of History, yes that is an understandable, even acceptable outlook. Treat a people badly and there will be a violent reaction. There is a problem though with that line. The Jewish peoples of Europe (Russia gets included whether it likes it or not) for one thousand years or more were subjected to similar treatments and killings. When they finally get back to what they call their lands they have a long history of their own justifications. They learnt from ‘Europe’ (since there still appears to be a majority of American citizens who can trace European ancestry that includes You too). Therefore the tacit acceptance argument which is used for Hamas gets comparably morphed with a bloody swiftness and ease into one of ‘understanding’ the Israeli approach. Still be horrified? By all means be so? Tell me I am distorting the position? Be outraged. Point out that the death toll in Palestine exceeds that of Israel 30 fold. That is your right. Of course.

Now dip into the bloody, wide, deep, tribute river of War, one that ever flows from the larger River History.  350,000-500,000 German civilians in the allied strategic bombing campaign of WWII. 70,000 British civilians in the German aerial campaigns by bomb or rocket. True that is ‘only’ 7 fold. At the time the governments accepted the other sides losses- ‘they started it’. Thus do not be surprised at the Israeli response. It is one that takes place with regularity throughout the world throughout the ages, and no one seems to have a solution which puts an end to it.

You may now, if you wish express more outrage, only please do not accuse me of justifying Israel’s response. I am merely pointing out to you the Horror. This is how it works. I cite a few others. Ask the Syrian’s. Ask those Chechen folk not in a warlord’s pay, ask the Tamils, ask the Uyghurs, ask The Iranian Women and the Afghan Women (although the latter two were not bombed or shelled, just beaten up and locked up, only ‘a few’ died the other thousands upon thousands only live in terror and cohesion, and being locked up ). Ask the Women where Rape is used as a weapon of war. Keep on asking. You should. Keep on asking. For if you have taken up the Palestinian Cause, it does not end there, not in this troubled turbulent dangerous world. Marching on one Embassy, up and down one street is not going to trouble the worshipers at the Triple Altars of Death and Ruin and Oppression

“We can learn from The Past. We may act upon The Present. But We must prepare for The Future.”

Into Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Now to you. You who have taken up a Cause. You who have felt the need to protest. What will you do now?
Pack up and say ‘I did my bit’, then go onto the ‘rest of your life’
Continue with the Palestinian Cause
Or sign up for the Great Struggle.-The one where the Oppressors, Merchants of Violence, Hate Mongers, and Opportunists With Guns are legion. The one where the victims are counted in their millions, be they dead, dying, sick, injured, terrorised, brutalised, violated and ever on the move or sitting in hapless squalor. All located somewhere on the inside pages of a newspaper, maybe mentioned as a filler on a news channel, or when some anniversary comes along, or to be found by following a few links on the net. Those dead and those anguished faces, along with those dulled-eyed with the whole horror, forgotten. What comfort do they have? A few dogged journalists? Charities working ever hard?

If you are truly honest, if you truly care, you will learn a lesson from this time in Palestine and in the South West of Israel. You will realise there is no respite, there is no time to congratulate and go home to Sunshine and Lollipops. Hate. Violence. They never rest. They are never cowed permanently. If you are not ever alert, keeping a weather eye, willing to challenge not just your government but the ones who gave the acquiescence to pull the triggers, then somewhere, somewhen Some Folk will be suffering. One episode of protest does not cut it. If you care, you do not get to select the Cause. The Causes will come to you and ask for at least some attention.

Just take some time out and take a lot at the Amnesty site, or Medicins San Frontières’ or UNHCR, or – you just look.

Did you? Will you? When you do, be prepared for the shock and the feeling of absolute helplessness. Be ready to say without thinking ‘But I Can’t Be Everywhere!’.

No you can’t. Nor can those in the charities which work through the world. They try and they spread slender resources. I know how you feel. I challenge myself every day. As I write this the nagging thought  burrows deeper. ‘Fine Words. Now What Else Are You, Roger, Going To Do?’ and ‘Do you know you are in danger of sounding like John Bolton. An old guy demanding younger folk sacrifice themselves for your ideals?’ 

But I am not trying to stir the passive or the complacent or the apathetic. I am addressing You, those who have seen it right and just to take up a Cause, remember it is but one piece of a larger, bloodied ghastly picture where blood, tears and body parts are the paints and the canvas is human skin.

This in Palestine, as it did in Ukraine, in Syria will pass from the headlines, it already has started. At least it made the headlines. Learn then from this which will become the Past and realise there will be more of the same next year and the year after and so on. Unless we all in same way, somehow, some-constantly do whatever we can, how we can, where we can, when we can.

My generation with its flowers, face paints, gaudy clothes and music which at times was over-long and self-indulgent, we quite frankly failed. We went to a music festival or two, we might have marched, most certainly purchased the right albums, and then? We in the UK voted in Margaret Thatcher, You in the USA did likewise with Ronald Regan and two Bushes (the elder Not So Bad, The Younger in Comparison with now…?). And in our later years We welcomed Boris Johnson and Brexit and  You let Donald Trump, the Action Toy of MAGA be placed in the Whitehouse. Don’t fall into the trap of complacency or that curse of ageing which tends to set in in the 40s the ‘Huh! In My Day’ response as if what will take place will be nothing to do with us ‘We did our bit’
Yes, about that

One Final Message, Wrapped Up In Fable, A Warning And Even Admonishment

And this year. This possibly fateful year. The one which made decide whether the USA carries on, stumbling as do all nations, or slides off that time-honoured road, down the one where there are always storms and you can only just make out the sign-post ‘Warning. Rock Slides Ahead’. You have seen the intentions of the Right, you have heard the ravings of the spolied Brat who did not forgive for losing the last Presidential Election. To elaborate let me tell you that fable:

There was this guy. A man of simple Christian Faith, who prayed every morning, noon and night. He did not doubt God for a minute.
One day he hears on the radio a severe weather warning, storms are on their way, bringing heavy flooding. At once he gets down on his knees and prays to God to protect and deliver him. The rains start, the worst he has ever seen. He prays. A little later, a knock at the door, a police officer is there ‘Sir. You’re house is in danger of being hit by the flood. You best evacuate,’. The man assures the officer God will protect him, he will pray. The officer doesn’t argue, he’s got more houses, anyhow the fellow will soon change his mind when the waters come. The waters come, his house is cut off. An emergency crew in a boat turn up, hailing him. He tells them the same thing. They get a call on the radio, a woman not far off is in labour. Well she comes first. Off they go. The waters rise. The man is now on the roof, still praying. Along comes a rescue helicopter. He waves them off calling up that God will protect him. The crew have been on a long shift, the storm is getting worst. They can’t hang around, they got kids to save. So the house is swept away and he drowns.
He arrives at Heaven’s Gate, greeted by and angel with a clipboard. The man complains at sound length about how he prayed and yet still was drowned, How does that figure? Why didn’t God listen and  help? The angel consults his clipboard.
‘Well dear friend. God sent you a radio warning. God sent you a police officer. God sent you a rescue crew. In the end God sent you a helicopter. What more did you want?’

So then, I ask you, in all sincerity. What is this business about not supporting Biden? Have you not had enough warnings about what the Right has in store for you and the rest of the USA? They’ve made it very clear, give them that. They are going to roll up their sleeves and they are going to do their level best to sweep away liberal reforms. They are going to display their ignorance of socialism, squawk about this ‘woke’ word like crows with indigestion, get hysterical about what other folk do in their privacy, pick bits out of the Bible like stale crumbs and their followers are going to love it, then as a special treat they will throw minorities to the mob.

I would ask you, do you think, not just for one spasm of angry thought, but as a whole agenda that your selective punishment of Biden over Palestine is going to help those folk? Must I remind you that the alternatives are locked into an style of Christian Fundamentalism that is quite content for Israel to do this? If Trump gets back in the Whitehouse and you still stuck with your own fundamentalist agenda then you in part will be responsible for any more Palestinian deaths. Yes. Cause and Effect are terrible twins. In this ever tightening world none of us are actually free of them, but some choices can have more bitter effects than others. You do not get to try and parse your way out of this one. It is Biden or it is Trump. You cannot hide from that brutal truth. This World I have to emphasise is ever complex, nothing is easy, nothing is straightforward, nothing has but one answer. It is all hard work and dirty words like Compromise, Accommodation, Acceptance, Deals, Manoeuvre, Politics and all the rest that get the job done. You might wish for a better one, you might even be working for a better one, but in the meantime, you have this one.
There are other implications to punishing Biden and the danger of letting Trump in. Other aspects you will have to take in part-responsibility. You will have to explain to the LGBT+ community, to women living in fear of getting pregnant, to librarians, to minority groups, to teachers, to the future casualties and families of mass killings how your stance in punishing Biden was the right moral choice.

I am aware I appear cutting, but there is no other way. Implications hang heavy on the shoulders of anyone taking up a cause. They have the challenge of getting the balance right. and the challenge which turns inevitably into a responsibility. There is no way out. Nothing is simple. Ever. You might call me cynical. You are mixing that up with Realism. If I was cynical I would not have taken ten hours over four days out of my time to work on this. (That doesn’t include the thoughts running through my head while doing chores). I would have ‘let them get on with it, they’ll find out in time,’

In Conclusion
You will, I expect be holding fast to your beliefs that your opposition to Israel is the right course for you to take, that this is not a passing phase in the summer of 2024. If this is your choice may I make a plea in these points.

Remember the target is the current Intolerant Fanatical Government, whose brothers in Hate reside in Tehran, who gifted Trump the playbook on how to get The Big Seat. The target is not the Israeli people. And curses upon those who tell you it is the Jews. The target is the government, don’t forget.

Reach out across the distances to those in Israel who are angry at their government and wish to be rid of it. Support them. If they are demonstrating , then you should be in sympathy to. Have them realise there are friends out there, that they don’t have to circle the wagons with the unsavoury fanatics. Israeli politics is another complexity, one shove in the correct direction can bring change.

Research just who are the internal oppositions in Israel, the ones who for long years have tried to preach the creed of accommodation and partnership with Palestinians who also tread that dangerous road of recrimination and violence from within their own communities. For too long The Western Groups supporting Palestinians have not taken that road. When it is the blindingly obvious one.

We must prepare for The Future. Your Future. The Future of Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Presidential Election 2024: Why Good Intentions About Palestine Remind Me of Cuba October 1962.

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Roads to Hell

The latest war between Israel and the Gaza Strip Palestine strikes us all in some way or another. I have to subsume my anger at the protestors, I wanting to know where they were when the Rohingya, Sudanese, Uyghur and Iranian Women, to name but just four examples were and still are suffering. I have to remember that tens of thousands of Palestinians are dead, dying, injured, brutalised, traumatised. homeless, starving- in short also unjustifiably in Hell.

I can see the strategy of those who mobilised the votes in Wisconsin and Rhode Island for  “uncommitted” or “uninstructed,”. The idea to put pressure on Biden to move to a stronger stance on Israel has its merits and is more useful than joining loud parades up and down the streets of America. And it can be argued that in an election years where every vote will count the strategy has played a part in Biden taking a tougher stance. So far so good then.

However every action has its historical resonances; part of History’s construct lies within its echoes, some do not come in a straight line, they flow in from over hills and far away. For their full effect maybe you had to have been there at one point in the long path.

For me the echoes are coming in from October 1962, when as a child of eleven growing up knowing the fear of what nuclear war could bring if only in a tabloid comic book form it was a fearful few weeks. Particularly as the filtered down news was suggesting atomic weapons would be used. In later years it became apparent there were generals and officials pushing for their use. First strike, Get the hit in. Frighten the other side into backing down. And these were not the ridiculous cartoon characters of the dangerously frivolous film Doctor Strangelove. These were men trained and school in a fearful ominous world of threat, counter-threat and then the unthinkable. They were the ones who saw the use of Nuclear Weaponry as a Necessary Eventually, far better displayed in the film for grown ups Fail Safe. Cooler, more pragmatic, subtler heads prevailed. Realpolitik came into play. Everyone had puffed up their chests. Now time for the deal to salve pride. And avoid the catastrophe.

Very well. Enough background for my allegory. Just bear in mind those last words, And avoid the catastrophe 

At this stage parts of the allegory have to be separated from the current situation.

Today the principal issue is the Democrat vs the Republican candidate Biden vs Trump. One a politician of balance and traditional perspectives. The latter an egotistical insensitive fellow feeding off of the desires and beliefs of Right Wing coalition of the disaffected, fundamentalist, and outright intolerant. In effect if elected their meal ticket, their flag of approval in all matters domestic. Bear that in mind.

No, Biden’s administration is not perfect. None is particularly when it comes to foreign policy and day to day responses. In this world you can forget consistently fair minded and ethically clean. And not just governments either. Need I have remind you about a comparative public lukewarm response to the suffering of other populations in equal numbers? It is not just in the tens of thousands in Gaza where Hell has come a’ calling.  If you care about Human suffering as a principal you do not get to be selective. Selective means preference which means agendas or worse tragically naïve. But that is an argument for another day. Because we are all culpable.

So let us return to the Domestic situation and the Risk of using this for International Ends

The current polling suggests that the race between Biden and Trump is tight. This is sobering news for those who have fought long and hard for a more tolerant and forward thinking society, for those of once lived in shadows for fear of discovery, or realised from their very birth they were considered inferior and viewed with suspicion. For those who practice their religious beliefs in quiet open-mindedness.

Not only are the polls tight, but the reaction of the hysterical right in 2020-2021 should be born in mind. These folk do not subscribe to democracy, unless it is on their terms of course. Thus unless there is a mobilisation against The Republican MAGA grouping and their nominated Trump, the situation does look grim for those who seek an equal and tolerant society as the norm.

Consider what has already happened in some states. The persecution of the LGBT+ community. The limiting of education and reading matter. The effective removal of Women’s independence of their own bodies. The underlying threats to any community not White and apparently Christian. The tolerance of violent neo-nazi quasi-militias. And there are the manifold Risks. Some might say this is all hyperbole and turning to their personal matters assume someone else might do something about it. And you have seen Trump’s attitude to the judicial system, his rantings roared on by his sponsors, MAGA.

Therefore these are outlined the risks involved in not concentrating the Biden vote and the necessity of mobilising those who would normally not vote.

Now comes the very hard and some will find upsetting part.

I appreciate the sentiments of those who have read so far and are in strong disagreement with me, particularly when the matter of the Cuban Crisis Allegory is returned to.

Those who thought the Nuclear Strike was a balanced, correct option. Dare I compare those with today’s Folk who in all goodwill are looking to contribute to ways to ease the sufferings of the Palestinians? Have I any right to suggest such a strategy and its tactical deployment carries, morally similar risks?

Yes, I do.

In a time of narrow gaps in the polls, when one side in violent in its language, imagery and implied resorts to physical violence, all under a blasphemous mix of their ideas of ‘Liberty’ and ‘Christianity’ – the same basic ideals as those who would have used nuclear  weapons?

Yes, I do.

Because one false move, one minor poor calculation, one gifted gap to the Republicans. One suggestions that your actions will encourage Trump to announce he could solve the problem; he who says he will solve something, never does and throws a tantrum, yet still convinces folk he can solve the next one, and inconsequence have some folk switch to him.

All far-fetched are they? No. Sixteen years ago, Trump would have been thought an impossibility. But It happened. A discredited fellow in court still a viable presidential candidate? Could still return? Those are the possibilities. And this very dangerous strategy of tampering with the Biden vote makes the allegorical nuclear result likelier. Because you who subscribe to this strategy cannot be absolutely certain you will not play a part in Trump returning to The Whitehouse, and with his Evangelical pushing him on to their Book of Revelation scenario, how will that help any Palestinians? You cannot say for certain what will happen. Other than it will not be a sunny uplands for every American.

If you are still offended by Cuban Nuclear Allegory then I will give you another take on risks. Any responsible driver will take note of extremes of weather. Going out in such conditions does not automatically lead to an accident with fatal or near-fatal repercussions, but you take heed of the warnings. You check your speed. You are alert to dangers. You will have taken precautions. Even if you must go out you do not drive as you would on a calm, clear day. You limit the risk, the reason may be urgent, but you still take care, you do not rush along, you rein in your emotions. Getting there is the important thing.

Therefore those who are using this strategy to influence Biden or think they are taking a moral stance which is worthy. Bear in mind the risks you are taking with this. If Trump does get into the Whitehouse and the statistics reveal that your actions played a part in that, what will you think in the future when the Right runs rampant through the nation.

You have gone far enough. You have had your say you may have played a part. Think on what might happen if you persist.

All actions have consequences, and I regret to say, in this world, there are no easy options, and no option comes without a price to pay.

These Days The World War Comes In Many Sizes.

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Crocus City Hall

Crocus City Hall, Moscow 22nd March 2024 .It was 14, then 30, then 60 then 93. Dead. Injured? It was many, then a 100. How many escaped? Not known, but they will carry scars. Maybe they will be fearful of being in a crowd, never to go to any event again, fearing they may hear screams and gun shots. Will they ever sleep naturally again. Then multiply by numbers by relatives, friends, associates.

They were going to a concert. To have a good time. Enjoy themselves. Forget the troubles of the World. Maybe ease the pain of the loss of someone sent to Ukraine. Parallels to many Israelis back in October 2023. They were going about their ordinary lives. Just like Americans who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in 83 mass shootings in 2024 (Up until February that is).

They weren’t in combat. They not were fitted out for fighting. They weren’t even living in dread. Not like folk in Port au Prince. Folk in Gaza. Folk in the Sudan. Folk across the Sahel (look on a map for yourself). In Congo. In Nigeria. In Pakistan. In India. In Philippines. In Malyaia. In Myanmar. In Mexico. In Ukraine. In Yemen. And that list goes on and on and on. World War. Not neat. Not one side vs another. That’s out-dated, washed away amongst the mudslide of agendas and causes, and the debris of alliances; mostly based on Hypocrisy. 

Somewhere there is at least one record tallying up the estimates of non-combatants being killed. And someone will be parsing those numbers up into those unfortunately killed in cross-fires. those who were living near strategic targets, those slaughtered in some frenzy of hate and those who starve or sicken untreated because of a lack of resources. As if there is some comfort in pointing out that portions of those deaths were ‘unfortunate’. Like the police chief in To Have and Have Not says laconically about the death of the American tourist caught in cross-fire ‘It is unfortunate’ .But it’s war. What can you do?… Don’t start one? Or is that just a painfully innocent a suggestion.

Nothing worthwhile is easy to solve.

Crocus City Hall, Moscow 22nd March 2024. Dead, dying, injured, traumatised  by being there, traumatised by association. Multiply that by the number of wars, rebellions, militias, gangs, mercenaries, authoritarian states, hate-groups. Some calculation. Like one of those massive boards that physicists and mathematicians have to use.  

There will be the usual dash to social media to pump out the agenda. Blame this group. Blame that nation. ‘I hate…. I’m gonna blame them’….. ‘Yeah me too’. The keyboards must have been hammered over the last 12 hours.

And there will be those who will justify, or glorify those who walked into Crocus City Hall on Moscow 22nd March 2024 and killed ‘in the name of’. Like the killing of non-combatant folk of a nation is going to make any state think ‘Oh gosh. We were wrong. Sorry,’ Russia, Israel, USA, China. Four classic examples of what happens when you tread on their toes, their majorities. No, they default to ‘Someone has to pay,’ Like any group, any region, any nation with a grudge or agenda really, deep down, worries about the loss of non-combatant life. Like any of those listens to any protest across the world.

Crocus City Hall, Moscow 22nd March 2024. It’s 115 dead now. Four suspects held. Flowers being left at the site, people donating blood. It’s what ordinary folk do. Do something. Meanwhile as expected both the Ukrainian and Russian governments or security services make claim, counter claim and ridiculous assertions abut the other side. At least the ordinary folk are doing something constructive.

World War. As in a world beset by wars in all shapes and sizes, many so deep, convoluted and old that the original reasons were lost somewhere and there’s only The War. You could claim Political Expediency, Culture, Religion, Poverty, Corruption, Old Enmities, New Ones, Suspicion, Communal Hysteria; take your pick; add another, there’s no shortage.

But what to do? No use saying ‘It’s Not my Problem’. USA.Back in the 1990s what was going in The Middle East, Saudi Arabia, ‘The Gulf’ Lebanon was not ‘Your Problem’. Sure the government sent armies and folk got killed, which was a shame. But nothing to do with you. Then came 9/11- direct Cause and Effect and the USA went into several sorts of hysteria which is still plaguing you today. 

And why do European nations and the USA wonder why folk from other nations are flooding into their lands. War. Famine through War. Why else should folk be so desperate? 

In these days of hyper-travel, hyper-trade and hyper-communication what happens somewhere will eventually find its way in some way to your door, even if it is but an increase the cost of your favourite…..

Crocus City Hall, Moscow 22nd March 2024. It’s our problem. It’s our tragedy. It’s our concern. And that nagging one, deep down inside. The one place where you get into the tangle of Cause & Effect, of Apathy and its distant cousin Selective Outrage, of Disassociation, of Assumptions Without Thought, and the rest. The one where we have to ask ‘Was That Something To Do With Me?’ Hopefully not. Hopefully you started out as innocent bystander who tried to do something constructive, even in a small, small, hardly noticed way, a ripple. Me? Involved in a war? You’d be surprised how far the reach is. 

Still, bear this in mind. It takes a lot of folk a long time to make a World War. And there are never simple answers.

One thing though. Those who beat the drums loud, and long. Folk who give you one liners as solutions. People who claim that killing their neighbours is the only solution. Mobs that blame an entire people for the crimes of a government. Ones who claim they have a direct line to a deity who says its OK to kill. 

They are liars, wretched creatures. And irrespective of the differences in their politics, religions, races and locations, they are all the same. Hate mongers. Blights. Bloodied hands by deed or association.  

Crocus City Hall, Moscow 22nd March 2024. Take some time out today to think of the victims. 

It’s a regular event in some parts of the world.

An Uncomfortable Fact

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Sudan Suffering

It is understandable that folk should have become angry and upset over the latest events between Palestine and Israel. The news made the headlines. The actions by both sides were militarily and politically inexcusable and neither come out with any honour. 

 Arguably there might not have been the same impact with the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainians fought back and even if Russia does win grinding down stage the price is high. Some grim satisfaction for the observer. 

For more than a few October 2023 may have been their first introduction to the full brutality of war upon civilians en mass. And to be fair most folk have to rely on the media feeds, the intensity and the duration of the reporting. And whether any outlet bothers to gather experts, journalists and activists  to discuss the events at prime time. As for the political arenas….Well that depends on whether there is any mileage doesn’t it? Is there a Sudanese vote this presidential year? Can Trump find it on the map. At least Biden went for sanctions (which is a bit like a bucket of water in a forest fire, but he tried) 

And so Sudan suffers.

Sudan The current round of destruction of homes, slaughter and mass rape began on the 15th April last year, when fighting began between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force (previously known as The Janjaweed whose levels of brutality have been a byword in Sudan for decades). The current death toll is 13,000 -15,000, the injured reaching 30,000 + the internally displaced about 6,000,000, refugees 1,700,000+ and if you add all those figures together and take just 1% you would have a lower figure for the number of women and children raped. Some official figure says 88. My rebuttal is redacted, even self-censoring doesn’t cover my fury.

Other internal militias have piled into the chaos, some neighbouring states have become involved. Those stalwarts of Peace-Keeping and Liberation The Wagner group operate there with the RSF and there are rumours that Ukrainian Special Forces have found time to deploy anywhere Wagner is. 

Sudan bleeds, cries, screams and finally sits in dull-eyed trauma regularly. Blink and you miss the news items. 

And are there large scale demonstrations on any streets of The West? Do any large groups concerned about the rights of one group of peoples care about the rights of the Sudanese? Do  folk who raise their flags and ranks of demonstrators any time the US , anyone in the West or Israel acts consider the Sudanese? 

Just to repeat. I can understand folk being upset and outraged by atrocities being perpetrated on any group, when that news is made known to them. Of course you would. When it is made known to you. But some professional activists? Those who cry long and loud for one case, or give a free pass to another aggressor because they ‘were provoked’ (Russia is allowed to be provoked). And yet are  quiescent when it comes to an equally bloody episode, which ‘regrettably’ does not interest them politically, or is beyond their limited capacity for perception. Where are the thousands out on the streets in support of the innocents of Sudan? (It’s nearly a year now people!)

Sudan 3

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68606201

To be fair, some do care. So let us tip our hats to students in Cambridge:

Sudan in Cambridge

https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/27249

And Sudan did get a mention thanks to the efforts of Sudanese in London:

From Sudan to Palestine: United in London’s March Against Genocide and Injustice

 

And that is to name but just one human manufactured catastrophe in our world. If a village of fifty folk gets burden down, its folk killed or raped in some remote area of a country you would be hard put to say one sentence about, the misery is just as great for them, as a nation in torment.

So pardon me if scoff in bitter derision at those who only march against Israel. Selective outrage does not hack it. And unless you are weeping, seething for the rest suffering out there, yes, it does look like antisemitism. And that ‘some’ folk are just not worth your attention. Change that image people. 

All Human suffering deserves our attention, wheresoever it may be.

(Feel free to mention those you wish to add)