the peace we know (not)
its been 2.5 years since the war in gaza started. it also expanded to other territories in the middle east and its still going. being a resident of israel, i am surrounded by death and news about a war that never seems to wanna end. and its natural for anyone in such a situation to ask themselves: why?
why are there people out there killing each other, and why are there even more people that joyfully condone these acts of violence? it often seems incomprehensible to me that one human is able to end the life of another, even after all this time.
maybe i cant speak much for either side, but having been radicalized at different times in my life in favor of one side and then the other, perhaps i only need to look into myself for the answers. i know i have been guilty of thinking i knew one side was more "moral" than the other, and that one side was perhaps even more "righteous" than the other. but i can see now that whenever the atrocities were done to one specific side, i just tended to be more considerate of the suffering of that side. when israel was attacked initially, i thought i knew at that point who the bad guys were, and who the good guys were. but i know now that at that point in time i was just being more sympathetic towards israelis because i knew they're my people, and that at that point in time they were the ones being attacked. but then when israelis started attacking gaza, i became less and less sympathetic with the people i had thought were my own (and little did i know many of which had never even considered me a human being).
because how can you look at the situation at any point in time and draw a logical conclusion? how can you consider any event that happened over the past century in this land, and be able to think clearly? when there is so much death, and so many atrocities being committed against one side or the other at any point in time, it is hard to not get boiled up with anger and fear. and perhaps other negative emotions that can always get the best of you.
and so it is, one broken mind passing their trauma onto another. two nations that are filled with hate, fear, trauma, and a strong sense of superiority to the other. is one guilty and the other innocent? fuck no. both sides are disgustingly guilty and should be held accountable for each life lost, no matter whose life it was.
many israelis claim that they didnt choose war. this implies that what came beforehand was peace and not war. but what came beforehand was the constant suffering of palestinians perpetrated by israel. what would you call the constant oppression of palestinians and the attacks on them, including expelling them out of their homes and burning their villages, if not war? if that isnt war, then perhaps "peace" just means a "quiet night in tel aviv"? or perhaps peace is a state in which only palestinians die while israelis reap the benefits? is that how we should define peace?
on 7.10, after the attacks began, i opened my feed to see people i grew up with celebrating the event. i was beyond disgusted and disturbed. but then those same people, just a week later, were pleading for peace and begging for the war to stop because they saw that israel had begun its brutal retaliation. what i would conclude from this is that, in the minds of those people, what happened on 7.10 wasnt an event of war? because if it was, why would you celebrate it, and then just a week later, begin to mourn it and plead for it to end? so perhaps "peace" just means a state in which israelis can be freely attacked without being able to retaliate? is that the kind of peace you would like?
i dont know what the formal definition of the word "peace" is. but i know sure as hell it isnt whatever i just talked about. and i am right enough in the head to not confuse it with a state in which one side gets to freely oppress the other and get away with it.
why are there people out there killing each other, and why are there even more people that joyfully condone these acts of violence? it often seems incomprehensible to me that one human is able to end the life of another, even after all this time.
why are we at war
so indeed, why? why is there war and what caused it? why is it that on 7th of oct on 2023, when i heard the sirens and i opened my social media feed, i saw horrible occurrences of violence that were cheered on by people that i had considered friends, some of which i had at some point been a very good friend of and spent years of my life with. and why is it that when gaza was being bombed and children were blown up, the feed i had on some social media channels was full of cheering and celebrating? why do we have 2 sides that just like to have each other killed? is it just in our nature? are we really simply that bad a species?maybe i cant speak much for either side, but having been radicalized at different times in my life in favor of one side and then the other, perhaps i only need to look into myself for the answers. i know i have been guilty of thinking i knew one side was more "moral" than the other, and that one side was perhaps even more "righteous" than the other. but i can see now that whenever the atrocities were done to one specific side, i just tended to be more considerate of the suffering of that side. when israel was attacked initially, i thought i knew at that point who the bad guys were, and who the good guys were. but i know now that at that point in time i was just being more sympathetic towards israelis because i knew they're my people, and that at that point in time they were the ones being attacked. but then when israelis started attacking gaza, i became less and less sympathetic with the people i had thought were my own (and little did i know many of which had never even considered me a human being).
because how can you look at the situation at any point in time and draw a logical conclusion? how can you consider any event that happened over the past century in this land, and be able to think clearly? when there is so much death, and so many atrocities being committed against one side or the other at any point in time, it is hard to not get boiled up with anger and fear. and perhaps other negative emotions that can always get the best of you.
and so it is, one broken mind passing their trauma onto another. two nations that are filled with hate, fear, trauma, and a strong sense of superiority to the other. is one guilty and the other innocent? fuck no. both sides are disgustingly guilty and should be held accountable for each life lost, no matter whose life it was.
what peace is
one thing i have come to understood, is that many people around here seem to have a flawed understanding of what the word "peace" means. maybe it is driven by ignorance, but it often seems clearer to me that its just deliberate misinterpretation of the concept.many israelis claim that they didnt choose war. this implies that what came beforehand was peace and not war. but what came beforehand was the constant suffering of palestinians perpetrated by israel. what would you call the constant oppression of palestinians and the attacks on them, including expelling them out of their homes and burning their villages, if not war? if that isnt war, then perhaps "peace" just means a "quiet night in tel aviv"? or perhaps peace is a state in which only palestinians die while israelis reap the benefits? is that how we should define peace?
on 7.10, after the attacks began, i opened my feed to see people i grew up with celebrating the event. i was beyond disgusted and disturbed. but then those same people, just a week later, were pleading for peace and begging for the war to stop because they saw that israel had begun its brutal retaliation. what i would conclude from this is that, in the minds of those people, what happened on 7.10 wasnt an event of war? because if it was, why would you celebrate it, and then just a week later, begin to mourn it and plead for it to end? so perhaps "peace" just means a state in which israelis can be freely attacked without being able to retaliate? is that the kind of peace you would like?
i dont know what the formal definition of the word "peace" is. but i know sure as hell it isnt whatever i just talked about. and i am right enough in the head to not confuse it with a state in which one side gets to freely oppress the other and get away with it.