Tough Guy Yarmulke

Approximately 200 people, including 40 children, have been killed in the last week with the recent uptick of violence between Israel and Palestine. The brutality in Israel's counterattack is highlighted by an assault on Palestinian children playing on a Gaza beach that killed four kids and hit none of the strategic targets located on the beach. And by that, I mean there were absolutely no strategic targets on the beach, only families and journalists. This is another example of Israel's growing boldness against its enemies in the region, and one cannot help but think that one day, the region will get tired of the shenanigans.

I, like so many others, am really exhausted by religious violence in the Middle East, particularly because religion is a goofy thing to fight over. If we could just get over all of this religion that is holding us back, we'd finally see one another as human beings, not Jews, gentiles, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and all of the other make-believe magic ghost stories that only divide us. 

That aside, Israel has become America's loudmouthed step kid that scraps with and shit-talks to every Muslim nation around them, knowing that we and other allies are going to step in and punch someone in the neck for snapping back at Israel. They dehumanize Palestinians as much as possible, tell Iran to eat dick bouquets, and accuse every nation in the region that isn't them of plotting the ultimate destruction of Israel and the West. Now, I'm not saying that the last point is completely untrue, but I am speaking more to the overall IDGAF attitude that Israel routinely takes, versus a stronger diplomatic agenda. How long will we support a nation that constantly drags us into fights like a slutty girlfriend who tells the guys at the bar how badass her boyfriend is?

My issue here is not Jews vs. Muslims, or hating Israel and loving Palestine, but rather the issue of stooping to the villain's level. Yes, Hamas fired first and continues to fire. Yes, that is stupid of Hamas. No, they are nowhere near a military force strong enough to match Israel, which does matter when calculating necessary retaliatory force. Yes, Israel has a brilliantly designed missile defense shield (that we apparently pay for, goddammit), and the rocket attacks by Hamas are typically fruitless as few ever get through. Yes, Israel was absolutely justified in retaliating to the recent attacks. Yes, a cease-fire was drafted by Egypt and accepted by Israel. No, it has not been confirmed as of yet whether or not Palestine actually received the terms of the Egyptian cease-fire like the Israelis did, ignore it entirely, or anything else. No, attacking Palestinian kids on a beach that had zero military targets on it was not justified in any way. What the hell would Hamas have in a fucking beach shack, you overkilling dicks?

To salt the wound, Israel's reaction of initially not owning up to the fact that it blew kids up, stating publicly that it is "under investigation," then later claiming that a "beach shack" supposedly belonging to Hamas was the intended target, makes Israel seem very petty as the superior nation that keeps such a tight leash on Palestine, including randomly bulldozing the shanty homes in which Palestinians are forced to live. Such brutal behavior makes any nation, Israel or otherwise, appear just as villainous as their enemy, especially in the eyes of those on the opposing team, fueling the hate-fires and moving those who were on the fence about peace towards the opposite direction. Yeah, I'm talking to you Syria, or more specifically, your newly re-elected dictator.

This violent behavior also makes it harder for other nations to be their ally. I feel that Israel would be much more diplomatic in reaching a resolution, or at least more careful about its targets, if it didn't have allies like the US, most of the European Union, etc. War is hell, I know, but the lack of regard for basic humanity makes Israel look like a careless aggressor here rather than the retaliating defender and only serves to destabilize the region with this kind of indiscriminate killing. America faced the same well-deserved criticism with its use of nuclear weapons in Japan, as well as our brutality in more recent conflicts (100K dead, plus waterboarding and countless other abuses). I would only hope that as a leading nation in the region, Israel would not act so much like the thugs that they are fighting. Us either.