It might be difficult to get one’s head around what’s happening in Gaza. It’s difficult to gauge what Netanyahu’s end game is, or if anyone has even thought about the end game. So far, it’s been exactly as Bibi said it would be, or as we’ve known the Israeli response to be in previous conflicts—excessive and disproportionate. But the civilian toll—in lives and in upset and dislocation and horrible living conditions—is what’s getting the world’s attention.
It’s not as if the only source of information is a screed from Hamas. The major networks, the traditionally trustworthy outlets, are all reporting pretty much the same things. Soon twelve thousand civilian deaths running the gamut of age and gender, a majority of the population displaced and on the run, half of all dwellings destroyed, growing shortages of life-sustaining necessities, woefully inadequate medical care.
It’s hard to visualize a daily four-hour stoppage in fighting to allow for refugee movement and humanitarian aid. How easy is that to pull off? And what good will it do? How long is it going to take to rebuild, or is that a sadly laughable consideration at this point? By the sound of it, there will be little left for families to go back to, anyway.
So many lives destroyed and upended. It’s a tragedy among worldwide tragedies, I know, but this is too much. We’re no better than your average animals fighting over territory or a harem.
And I can’t shake the highly unsettling, infuriating thought that religion is playing a role in all of this. Mere words are inadequate when trying to express how tragic that is. Opiate of the masses? How about curse of the masses?
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