Knowledge and memory of world events, even those of fairly recent vintage, appear to be deficient in the younger generation in the U.S. and Western democracies. Whether this information was once learned and subsequently forgotten, or never learned is unclear. History and civics are poorly taught, or not taught at all in our classrooms. This neglect has been evidenced by the choices made by voters in our local and national elections. Maintenance of our democracy and freedom of speech appear to be unknown concepts or unrecognizable to a large portion of our electorate. Only speakers with the “proper” views are allowed to lecture or provide information to the student body at large at many universities.
Over the last month, America and other Western democracies have had to deal with hordes of “progressive” ideologues on our university campuses and in the streets of our cities, railing against the use of disproportionate force by the Israeli military in Gaza in pursuit of Hamas terrorists. Progressives seem to have suppressed the knowledge that this blood bath was started by Hamas on October 7 when they invaded Southern Israel and butchered 1200 Israelis, most of whom were innocent civilians. Hamas’ brutality including killing children in front of parents, parents in front of children, raping women and young girls, and torturing innocents before killing them. Killing 1200 Israelis, more than 200 hostages were taken back to Gaza by Hamas to be used as bargaining chips.
The Israeli military subsequently invaded Gaza to try and destroy Hamas and free the hostages. Apparently using excessive force, many Palestinian civilians including women and children were killed, which was part of Hamas’ plan. They wanted to turn the US and other Western democracies against Israel and were willing to use their own citizens as human shields. It should also be remembered that since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2006, they have been given tens of billions of dollars by Quatar and other Arab states to make life better for the Palestinian citizens. Instead, Hamas used the money to buy weapons and build a network of tunnels for their own protection under the Gaza strip. There have not been elections in Gaza since Hamas gained power. The progressives who support Hamas in the West should also be aware that women are suppressed by Hamas, their public roles limited, and being gay can mean the death penalty. Hamas also supports suicide bombers and terrorism that kills innocent people.
Israel was granted as a homeland for the Jews by the United Nations in 1948 after the Germans and other Europeans killed six million Jews during the Holocaust in the 1930s and 40s. However, the Jews who went to the Middle East were not occupiers or colonists. Their ancestors were indigenous to the area and were dispersed by the Babylonians and Romans, so the Jews were merely returning to their original homeland. A two-state solution was envisioned, one for the Jews and one for Palestinians. But Yasir Arafat and the Palestinians turned down the attempts to carve out two separate states.
To end the war and move towards peace in the region, a two-state solution or the promise of one in the near future would be quite helpful. But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to end the war or see a Palestinian state. That would cause his right-wing coalition to crumble and Netanyahu likely to go to prison for fraud. Netanyahu is out for Netanyahu alone and indifferent to Israeli and Palestinian casualties. But whatever happens, the college progressives should learn more about the history of the region and what the combatants stand for in terms of governance. Terrorist dictatorship and theocracy, suppression of women and freedom of thought, versus a flawed democracy. Hamas deserves no support.
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Posted at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: civilian casualties, Gaza, Hamas, hostages, Israel, Netanyahu, Palestinians, Sinwar
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020