May 4, 2025
Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
How can there be another genocide in our times–particularly in this world of instantaneous communication?
I hadn’t heard much news from Gaza – only hearing about medics being killed amidst the Ukrainian din. I thought a lull in the killing of women and children would allow me the opportunity to write a frivolous essay on the Trump/Musk/Hitler/Mussolini “salute”–until I read a passionate plea by a Palestinian in Gaza for help from the powers-that-be: to get food into Gaza.
The plaintiff suggested that Palestinians in Gaza are now being systematically starved — while the rest of the world looks away…
Reportedly, Gaza has become one large death camp. Ironic isn’t it?
A-year-and-a-half-ago I wrote an essay wondering what Hamas was thinking when they attacked Israel on October 7th. At-the-time I said that Hamas’ actions would see the average Palestinian become unarmed cannon fodder. And that is just what we see (when we choose to look).
Are we going to stand around (or in my case ‘sit’ around) while 2.1 million Palestinians are being starved to death? Where is the outcry from the world? Actually, much of the world may be protesting what’s going on in Gaza—but our American news service tends to be heavily censored.
And even though many wish to call the current Middle East turmoil a “war,” it isn’t really: It’s the round up of an entire culture.
Sure, there have been plenty of casualties on both sides of the Russian/Ukrainian War – but that is a war – and we all know the old saying: all’s fair in love and war. So why does Trump emphasize the deaths of Russians and Ukrainians and says nothing about the plight of the Palestinians — aside from suggesting moving an entire people to some foreign land and building a riviera on the rubble of the Gaza Strip.
I thought Trump was going to stop both conflagrations in-a-couple-of-days?
I’m thinking that a rare minerals deal might be worth much more than a Gaza Riviera—at least in the short term.
It’s as if Palestinians were born to be cannon fodder. Or are they being culled until those left will finally turn Hamas over to Israel (unless these survivors can successfully revolt against Hamas).
At least no one has put a bounty on the heads of Palestinians (as far as I know) like the Tasmanians, Aboriginals and Native Americans had on theirs. I wonder if killing a medic becomes a “prized kill”—as killing a medic leads to additional loss of life (since they are unable to service the wounded).
For some reason, this postulation reminded me of the pineapple mines US utilized in Vietnam. Instead of killing an enemy soldier—the mines were designed to maim—with the wounded soldier unable to shoot or walk. The crippled soldiers became a liability rather than a dead asset. A dearth of medics and medical supplies means a festering infection in the Gaza Strip.
But once the Strip is sterilized–who better to work the Gaza hotels and beachfront than Palestinians? They would probably work for slave wages too.
Oh the humanity!