January 04, 2009
Party to Murder
Chris Hedges in Truthdig:
Editor’s note: In light of the recent fighting in Gaza, Truthdig asked Chris Hedges, who covered the Mideast for The New York Times for seven years, to update a previous column on Gaza.
Can anyone who is following the Israeli air attacks on Gaza—the buildings blown to rubble, the children killed on their way to school, the long rows of mutilated corpses, the wailing mothers and wives, the crowds of terrified Palestinians not knowing where to flee, the hospitals so overburdened and out of supplies they cannot treat the wounded, and our studied, callous indifference to this widespread human suffering—wonder why we are hated?
Our self-righteous celebration of ourselves and our supposed virtue is as false as that of Israel. We have become monsters, militarized bullies, heartless and savage. We are a party to human slaughter, a flagrant war crime, and do nothing. We forget that the innocents who suffer and die in Gaza are a reflection of ourselves, of how we might have been should fate and time and geography have made the circumstances of our birth different. We forget that we are all absurd and vulnerable creatures. We all have the capacity to fear and hate and love. “Expose thyself to what wretches feel,” King Lear said, entering the mud and straw hovel of Poor Tom, “and show the heavens more just.”
More here.
Posted by Abbas Raza at 07:38 AM | Permalink
Comments
This editorial gives voice to all the thoughts crossing the minds of many of us who are watching this horrible crime unfold.
Look at this photograph that accompanies this editorial: the brutality done to this man, it is unbearable. God forgive us who only watch and watch and watch and do nothing. And look at this Palestinian man-destroyed--but he lies there even in this moment holding his land in a loving embrace.
Posted by: maniza | Jan 4, 2009 1:48:37 PM
The innocents who suffer and die in Gaza is a reflection of a finite game we continue to play. The selfless man lends a hand to those in need regardless of his well being. The admired man who has met all his basic needs will lend a hand to those in need. Which one are you? The resented man, who has more than enough to live well, will take from the poorest and up by following his desires to be more equal to those who have more, and to have more than those who he resents. When this desire is organized into nation states and religion, the inequality of outcome is magnified to the extreme. The innocents in Gaza are horribly unlucky because of the ‘resented man’ which is magnified by the resented race, culture, religion, state or ideology.
Posted by: Mark Stenekes | Jan 4, 2009 4:44:03 PM
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-the-death-and-life-of-my-father-1225793.html
Posted by: Steven Augustine | Jan 5, 2009 5:26:45 AM
Thanks for the article.
“What is the difference between the pilot who blew my father to pieces and the militant who fires a small rocket”?
The most rational Israeli pilot has a bond to the idea that collateral damage of non-combatants is justified by fighting an opponent who is not legitimate to exist.
The Hamas militant who fires a small rocket can hardly be rational, as his bond lies in something much deeper and physically experienced.
Who is more likely to want peace?
Posted by: Mark Stenekes | Jan 5, 2009 12:48:08 PM
Who is "We"? It is ironic that a piece supposedly aimed at breaking down us-them distinctions actually reinforces them. Do people not hold Israel to a higher standard, deservedly or not, because they are considered "We"? Meanwhile Morocco can oppress Western Sahara without notice, to give one example, because it is a case of "Them" vs. "Them" - and "they" are beyond the moral frontier of easy dichotomies.
Posted by: Ben | Jan 7, 2009 12:19:23 AM
“Who is We”?
Why do you ask who when the author is urging the reader to ask itself if “We” is I?
What have I done to help the innocent victims of tragedy?
“We forget that the innocents who suffer and die in Gaza are a reflection of ourselves, of how we might have been should fate and time and geography have made the circumstances of our birth different”
I think this statement reminds me how human and lucky I am, and my guilt is begging for its quick release, so I become defensive ending that beautiful short lived moment of introspection, turning to point the blame elsewhere, and all that could have been gained is lost.
Posted by: Mark Stenekes | Jan 16, 2009 12:55:22 PM
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