The True Enemies of Palestine

Hamas' activities in Palestine are truly the handiwork of mindless extremists. Israeli treatment of the Palestinians has been despotic and oppressive. However, the real culprits in the Palestinian conflict are the Arab nations who have continuously funded and promoted armed insurgency in Palestine. They are fully aware that these extremist groups have no hope of either eradicating the Israeli state or winning back land through military means. Yet they continue to fund and push for armed insurgency in the region. 

The Arab nations funding Hamas have two primary objectives:

(1) To show the world that the Israeli state is oppressive and illegitimate. They count on the fact that the Israeli response to shelling and bombings will be repressive and genocidal. This will highlight their claim that the Israeli state is evil. In doing this, Hamas is used as puppets and the people of Palestine are exposed to grave danger and virtual eradication. 

(2) It is in the best interest of these Arab nations for fighters in the Palestine region to remain there fighting the mythical beast that is the Israeli state. These wealthy and self indulgent Arab nations are aware that should peace be achieved in Palestine there will be huge number of battle hardened Islamic extremists in need of a new subject for their righteous wrath. The fear is that these rich Arab nations will become the new enemy due to their impure lifestyles and oppressive regimes. This was the very problem they had with Saddam Hussein and his regional power grab. 

As ever the real victims in the Palestine conflict are the Palestinians who are having their lives, society and land destroyed. They are victims of the Allies who took their land, the Israeli state, Palestinian extremist organisations, the West, who blindly support the Israeli state; and Arab nations who are funding a fruitless military insurgency. 

The Bottom Line

There are times when you've got to take a deep breath, crack your joints, loosen up; and step to the toilet and take a huge dump. You may have to strain a bit. It may smell a lot. But that's just the way shit goes down.

In this life we are continuously torn between the expectations of others and our own painful realisation of our all too real inadequacies. Very often in these situations truth loses out to embarrassment. It's not that we don't know we can't do what's asked of us but the acceptance and acknowledgement of that sends us to a place between trauma and psychosis. It dredges up all sorts of historical guilt stemming from times we should have done something but didn't. It also challenges our fragile and desperate aspirational image of ourselves.

Ultimately the question becomes does duty trump honesty. For politicians, the wealthy, and celebrities this question is easily answered. They are almost pathologically impelled to put self interest first. The rest of us have to answer to whether we are really that shallow and selfish. This is a true test of our mettle. And maybe for all humanity.