With all the reports of massive rocket bombardment in Israel from Gaza, you’d think there would be some photographic documentation of the damage. But there isn’t, even after a week. The only property damage they’ve shown in Israel is one house in Beersheba, Israel (about 25 miles from Gaza) & it must have been quite an event because they have published photos of that house taken by several photographers. That’s it!? In contrast, to the torrent of photos coming from Gaza showing not just massive property damage from continued Israeli air strikes, but unimaginable human carnage.
Two Israeli web sites, including the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Flickr photo stream, do show photos of shrapnel & cosmetic damage done to a few buildings, a few burned out cars, Israelis running from red alert sirens & people standing around outdoors posing for pictures, even a little group hiding in a pipe used as a bomb shelter, & a terrorized guy taking cell phone shots of a puny rocket that landed. The death toll still stands at three.
Despite the fact that the terror, destruction, & death is all in Gaza, living in Israel must have its hardships--especially all the red alerts & sirens going off. There must be an enormous psychological burden to living in an armed fortress with Iron Domes & one of the biggest & deadliest militaries in the world. Where not Judaism but racism & hatred are the state religion. Where apartheid & ethnic cleansing are promulgated as a way of life. Is this the original Zionist vision of Zion, the promised land? Is this what Theodore Herzl, the theoretician of Zionism, had in mind? Although, wasn’t it Herzl who said, ‘When I see my first Israeli prostitute, I will know the Jews are free’? What a visionary guy!
Zionism is a bankrupt, right-wing ideology based on two cynical convictions: a defeatist belief that anti-Semitism cannot be overcome & an elitist belief that Jews are superior & should not be assimilated to the human race. Israel--of the Iron Domes & red alerts & ethnic cleansing--is the progeny of those beliefs. The Israelis have more to fear from this rancid ideology than they do from home-made rockets. We will know Israelis are free when they have uprooted Zionism, ended its tyranny, & choose to live in a unified, democratic, secular state in harmony with Palestinians. That’s not utopian; it’s visionary. And possible.
In this photo, children in Gaza stand in the rubble of a bombed out house. The media caption said the Hamas health ministry claimed the damage was from an Israeli air strike. Once again, with over 100 air strikes in Gaza every day, what the hell else would cause this!? (Photo by Reuters)
No comments:
Post a Comment