...pictures of jubilant masses rejoicing in misplaced triumphalism in the streets of Gaza, celebrating and skiting as if they've just achieved, not a painstakingly arrived at ceasefire, in the very nick of time, but rather a glorious victory upon the field of battle. And, to add sad and inglorious insult to injury, pronouncing this 'triumph' as if it were one more notch in a tally of victories against the much loathed and feared 'Zionists' of Israel. For such is certainly the tenor and substance of the understandably emotive but surely inflammatory language reported by foreign correspondents in Gaza. That is, if we are to trust the evidence of our eyes, admittedly often a dangerous thing; but the telecast celebratory marches and associated 'spontaneous' street demonstrations of solidarity with the militant, yea terrorist Hamas movement presently governing Gaza, would tend to lend 'cred' to such an interpretation. Leaving one to wonder whether this present 'blip in [Israeli-Gazan] proceedings' is really serious and liable to extend beyond the token customary period.
And certainly Israel's Government, on the other hand, by threatening speedy and severe retaliatory measures in the immediate aftermath of the recent conflict, may well bring short-term comfort to its citizenry, but how such helps accomplish a climate of goodwill and hope in the extremely fraught situation is incomprehensible to the nth degree. For surely in such a highly charged atmosphere every pebble thrown into the maelstrom of muddy waters known as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not altogether dissimilar from yanking the lid off of Pandora's Box. Sure, the potentially dire consequences are anything but unexpected, yet they are certainly considerable, and where they might ultimately lead 'God only knows'...
*Necessary Disclaimer: In saying all the foregoing I'm well aware how utterly and thoroughly insensitive such comments no doubt initially and superficially might have appeared, and so I hasten to add that they were in no sense to be taken as casting any sort of unfair and untoward reflections upon those who've lately been suffering extreme grief and anguish from the killing, maiming and otherwise mutilating of their kids, parents and other relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours, let alone the destruction of their homes and environs. Mind you, surely that 'goes', i.e. applies equally to all those likewise innocent Israelis suffering similar - if on a much lesser scale - trauma, and let's not forget the ongoing and irrevocable psycho-emotional trauma induced by all of the same, as well as that inevitably caused by the ongoing regular bombardment of one's overall vicinity, though apparently without (military) 'success', which so often either goes unnoticed or not fully appreciated by the casualty 'number crunchers' in their penchant for 'cold hard facts and stats'.
No comments:
Post a Comment