It seems to me, after following what has happened in the past and what is now occurring concerning a multiplicity of demonstrations, mostly by the left, that people are confused and misled. And to be clear, I am a progressive, and as a progressive I have always found that a foundation in history prepares someone to logically and calmly assess what is really going on right now, in context. You wrote, "There is no sense of history..." and this is at the crux of the matter.
I have studied history for most of my life, and this includes the history of Israel. When I was born, Israel was only 8 years old, so I have seen the nation and the region change in so many ways. I have also seen how the outside world has placed a burden on Israel's shoulders that they do not place on any other nation, including their own. For example, American liberals cry out about Israel's colonization of its Muslim outliers, yet they ignore that America has long been guilty of invading other nations, controlling them by proxy, waging war against nations without just cause (including Muslim nations), and oppressing (to this very day) the rightful indigenous First Peoples in what they now call the United States of America. I think it was Jesus who said something about casting the first stone, didn't he?
There is much to say here, but instead of delving into all the points and counterpoints I would rather make one or two pertinent notes...
If you have a moral bone in your body — a sense of rightness and fairness — then you must see that the massacre of tourists, children, and noncombatants at a festival is not self defense or act of nobility. It is as barbaric an act as can be committed. No excuse of oppression makes it right or just. Rape, butchery, murder, degradation, torture, and kidnapping are not noble or right. There is no argument that can justly be made to the contrary. Hamas started a war, plain and simple, and Israel has reacted. The extent of this reaction, as well as the targets, are something else altogether and can easily be seen as pointless killing and destruction if it has nothing to do with finding the perpetrators and the hostages and quelling the attack.
None of what I wrote obviates the predicament of the so-called Palestinians (a recent term that was once applied to everyone in that land, both Muslims and Jews until the Muslim people in Israel became politicized). The predicament is complex and not as easy as protesters believe it is. There is history that needs to be known, because this history shows the thread of Muslim hate for Jews, not only in Israel but in the entire Middle East and throughout the world, from Pakistan to Indonesia to America and Canada to Saudi Arabia. And history shows that the Arab nations surrounding Israel are constantly fighting a war against the West by proxy, using the Palestinians as their shields and tools for manipulation, warfare, terrorism, and the fomentation of hate and strife. History shows us that billions of dollars from Muslim nations around the world are used to arm Palestinians with weapons and training. What would happen if instead of waging war the Palestinians took this same money to build an infrastructure, commerce, and all the rest of what is needed to step into the 21st Century?
History also shows us the intent of Israel's Muslim neighbors, which includes a philosophy that exists as strong today as in the days of Israel's fight for independence: Drive all the Jews into the sea and wipe them off the face of the earth. History also shows that this is not an idle threat. Look around and you will find that nearly every Jew, Christian, and Buddhist have been driven out of ALL Muslim nations. If you want to speak of genocide, then see what the Muslims have done and intend to do, by their own persistent admission, to the Jewish people. Is it at all possible to join hands and hammer out a peace treaty when one party is swearing to murder the other should any territory be ceded to them? Logic, intelligence, and history provides a clear answer.
And now we find ourselves right back where we started, without very much in the way of a resolution since the early days that go back to the end of the 1800s in the Middle East. Something must be done to help the people living in so-called occupied territories, something permanent and uplifting, but this cannot ever happen as long as the Arab world is bent on waging a war by proxy. And it cannot happen as long as Israel is in the grips of religious zealots and right wing government officials who have no moral compass.
The bleeding heart liberals are bleeding for the wrong reasons, for ignorant and biased reasons. And the right wing is insane. Neither side understands the complexities of the issues at hand and neither wants to be compassionate.
