At this point, another colloquy on Israel is a pointless endeavour, and I apologise for the role I’m playing in pulverising this dead horse to a mushy pulp. Yet the sadomasochist in me can’t resist reaching for The Daily Rag and skimming past all those Boxing Day advertisements to seek out the latest coverage depicting this bloodbath as a righteous struggle between Pure Good and Unholy Evil - the latest mass media fairy tale coming right on the heels of their similar production: “Glorious Ukraine VS Putin the Disturbed.”
The lengths that they’ve gone to primp this one up is nothing short of breathtaking: two months of steady obfuscation from politicians, experts, intellectuals, “journalists,” and citizens alike, utilising all sorts of logical slimnastics and mythical imagery to justify a murderous rampage - and all to no avail. No matter how hard these people try, the pleasant fable of “Virgin Israel” continues to crumble away along with what little dignity the U.S. has remaining. (Leave a comment elaborating on whether the U.S. had any dignity left in the first place.)
Trying to twist wanton destruction into a Holy Crusade was always going to be a difficult task, and I applaud those who thought they could accomplish it in the internet age. That people in Gaza would document the IDF’s brilliant and subtle strategy of demolishing an entire city, upload the results to the World Wide Web, and display these images to millions of people worldwide should have, at the very least, been considered a possibility by the Associated Press and the rest of their ilk. You’d think as these poor saps were putting the finishing touches to their latest piece explaining the necessity of blowing up a hospital to expose an empty tunnel, they’d have experienced a moment of self-doubt as the thought crossed through their helplessly indoctrinated brains: “I wonder if there is anything out there that totally contradicts what we’ve just written?” Did they truly believe no sympathy would be felt toward the Palestinians after seeing rows of dead kids covered in sheets and the cityscape reduced to rubble? No matter: if polls are to be believed, all these young people protesting on university campuses are just ignorant anti-semites, anyways! (There’s a word that deserves a post in itself: “ANTI-SEMITISM.” Post a comment if you want an in-depth analysis on this appalling appellation!)
And while we’re on the subject of abusing the term “anti-semitism:” how about those Israeli politicians! Clearly, subtlety isn’t a Zionist’s strong suit. (Which is great, because it makes writing this a lot easier.) You’d think someone at the State Department would call up the Knesset and beg them to keep the rhetoric down - just for the sake of making the Western propagandist’s job a little easier. But in the end, what is wrong with expressing your love for the Holy Land? Why should Zionists fear the vitriol from the legions of anti-semites lurking out there? And so, day after day, the ruling coalition of ultra-nationalists (democratically elected) let a few comments slip about Palestinains being parasitic subhuman animals that don’t deserve to live (wait a second: where have I heard that kind of rhetoric before?), while the opposition proclaims what’s going on in Gaza must be done, there is no other option, and all the dead people were human shields anyways. Case closed. Can you guess what you’ll be called if you disagree?
Without a doubt, the most difficult task of our time is that of the Israeli Apologist. To insist that this is all for the greater good reaches a level of deluded patriotism I wish I had the stamina to master. (Alas, even the simple act of waving a small paper flag makes me feel like an absolute bastard.) I am convinced that after Israel “totally eradicates” Hamas, deals with the subsequent blowback, sorts out its badly divided politics, and fights a few more wars in an effort to defend itself, the country will finally be the shiny beacon of democracy the Middle East so desperately needs. With devotion like this, how can you not succeed?
Now: I would make a solemn oath not to write about the Israel/Palestine conflict again, but it’s very difficult to resist the temptation to lampoon mass media and their “objective” coverage. Thankfully for you, I can only take so much awful journalism before my body rejects it like a virus and forces me to create much more interesting and creative content. Stay tuned! And Happy Holidays, WikiSprites!
(image by hosnysalah on Pixabay)
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