Enough. Stop.

In its war with Hamas, Israel has killed thousands of Gaza residents, many of those noncombatants. Today more thousands in Lebanon and Syria were injured when Hezbollah pagers simultaneously exploded. This latest aggression is pure atrocity. Israel has the right to defend itself, certainly, but not like this. Innocent children are among the few known so far to have died.

If a UN resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the United States should vote in its favor. It should also stop supplying Israel with weapons. Every time innocents die in Gaza, Israel claims it was targeting Hamas. That excuse is no longer believable. Hezbollah used pagers because Israel was too good at hacking their phones. This along with the technical prowess  required to explode pagers on command make me wonder why Israel can't target Hamas without killing innocents as well. Does Israel really care about which Palestinians they kill? It should because the world is watching and thinking that its violent excess must stop.

In Biblical times the Jews made a covenant with God to uphold His laws. One of those laws is, "Thou shalt not kill." Israel no longer keeps its ancient covenant. I am appalled that a people would break its promise to God. Perhaps Israel will come to its senses. Perhaps it can still seek peace. I will pray.

Nine clouds and an illusion

The Nine Cloud Dream (Kuunmong)
Penguin Classics 2019
Fiction 288 pages
Kim Man-jung
Heinz Insu Fenkl (Editor, Introduction, Translator)

Serious spoiler alert. The cheapest writer’s trick ever is telling a tale and then revealing it to was all a dream. Yet the author gets away with it by using reincarnation to obscure his intention.  Toward the end of the novel he introduces the sage who dreamt he was a butterfly and wakes wondering if he is now a butterfly dreaming it is a sage. One questions what is real and what is illusion. The story is fantastical. A master sends a young monk to Hell and then the reborn monk sets off as a poor scholar. Along the way he finds good luck and meets women he promises to reunite with. Eventually he becomes an adopted prince and takes those nine women as wives and concubines. Then in his mature years he becomes disillusioned and seeks an ancient master for instruction. He must now confront the realization that what appears real is actually illusion.

As the hero woos women with poetry and engages in fantastic feats of warfare and diplomacy the reader eagerly comes along. This rags to riches story entices readers until their “suspension of disbelief” hits the inevitable surprise promised by the title.  This drives home the point that we are all victims of the illusions we experience.

Kim Man-jung’s story, Kuunmong, takes place in Chinese and is written in Chinese. Author, Kim Man-jung himself resided in Korea and was active in the royal court. Some scholars believe the Kuunmong was published in 1789, though other scholars question that date.

Collateral damage

The 1968 Democratic convention is remembered for the violence that Chicago’s police unleashed upon Vietnam War protesters. In statements before this year’s Democratic convention, Chicago officials have forsworn a violent response to war protest, but not overruled arrests if protesters break laws. Nobody wants a repeat of 1968, yet sizable protests are expected.

Protest issues at the Republican convention included, the war in Gaza, immigration, reproductive rights, and a perceived racist agenda. Protests at the Democratic convention will largely target the Gaza war. Some feel that the current administration has done too little to confront Israel’s aggressive tactics in Gaza and elsewhere. This obscures the truth. Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have confronted Israel verbally — its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has deflected those criticisms. What can one do when an ally refuses to listen? Continue supplying it arms?

Sadly, the administration’s options are hampered by decades of US support for Israel. Since many Democrats and most Republicans support Israel, strong criticism of that country would be political suicide for a leader who does so.

When people are secure in their beliefs, those beliefs can be rubbish and still go unchallenged. International bodies have condemned Israel for allowing settlement in occupied territory, but the United States says little about the matter. Knowing it has a strong ally, Israel ignores such international criticisms and permits settler lawlessness. This is bad enough but Israel now uses tactics that many countries are calling genocidal. Many here believe in Israel’s “right to defend itself” and ignore the reality that Israel’s actions go well beyond self-defense and decency. The belligerent statements by some Israeli leaders demonstrate an unwillingness to pursue peace.

Israel has long said that its Palestinian enemies use citizens as “human shields” and there may be some truth in that. However, this doesn’t grant Israel license to attack schools, hospitals, aid convoys and refugee camps. For Israel, finding Hamas militants is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Hamas is the needle and innocent civilians are the haystack. Israel destroys haystacks to find needles. Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intent is to eliminate Hamas. Perhaps he could do so, but he can’t erase memories. As long as Palestinians remain so, too, will remain those who seek vengeance. Groups like Hamas will form again and the violence will continue. Hamas, or its ideas, can’t be destroyed without either genocide or the utter subjugation of Palestinian citizens. Neither is a viable solution.

Israel’s current behavior cannot continue if the Middle East is to remain relatively peaceful. As long as Israel has a powerful ally willing to bring aircraft carriers into its region to discourage escalation, Israel has little incentive for peace. Pro-Palestinian protests at the Democratic convention may focus unearned blame on Democrats. This could help Republicans win in November and continue enabling Israel’s bad behavior. Regardless of which party wins, unless our leaders forcefully demand peace by withholding arms and assistance, our country may drawn into a vicious Middle East war.