No one really cared while Gaza’s Palestinans were subjected to a blockade imposed by Israel that denied them the essentials of life. The few dozen Israelis being held hostage by Hamas fighters pale in comparison with the two million Palestinians held hostage by Israel in an open-air prison for nearly two decades.
No one really cared when it emerged that Gaza’s Palestinians had been put on a “starvation diet” by Israel – only limited food was allowed in, calculated to keep the population barely fed.
No one really cared when Israel bombed the coastal enclave every few years, killing many hundreds of Palestinian civilians each time. Israel simply called it “mowing the lawn”. The destruction of vast areas of Gaza, what Israeli generals boasted of as returning the enclave to the Stone Age, was formalised as a military strategy known as the “Dahiya doctrine“.
No one really cared when Israeli snipers targeted nurses, youngsters and people in wheelchairs who came out to protest against their imprisonment by Israel. Many thousands were left as amputees after those snipers receivedorders to shoot the protesters indiscriminately in the legs or ankles.
Western concern at the deaths of Israeli civilians at the hands of Palestinian fighters is hard to stomach. Have not many hundreds of Palestinian children died over the past 15 years in Israel’s repeated bombing campaigns on Gaza? Did their lives not count as much as Israeli lives – and if not, why not?
My latest: https://t.co/5yunsiDOyt
Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture.
The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
But no.
Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die.
You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery.
Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said."
We are at our best when we serve others.
Be civilized.
Credit: Ira Byock.
What would you do if a foreign military knocked down your door, beat up your mother, imprisoned your father, & stole your house?
What would you do if you were told for the rest of your life you would have to live in a cage, besieged?
@m7mdkurd on 75yrs of violence & oppression:
UK Wholesale Gas is 38 pence a therm (year ahead).
This is down from 550 pence in February.
While your energy bills have gone up by 54%, the price of wholesale has fallen by 93%.
Daylight robbery.
Yes Mr Gove, you may not be aware, but the focus should be on the #CostOfLivingCrisis, not your audition for Little Britain, you rancid little turd. Has he dropped an E this morning?
I love that technically we should be 'fneezing' not 'sneezing'. The 'f' was misread as a long medieval 's'. A 'fneeze' has just the right sound of a blocked nose and a snort.
Priti Patel(Jan 2021): "There's a small minority who refuse to do the right thing,.,, No.10 for example.... so we'll be introducing an £800 fine for those attending house parties.. & this applies to illegal gatherings of more than 15 people"
How did Johnson only got £50 fine?
BREAKING: Priti Patel plans to evict orphans of the Rwandan genocide from their shelter in order to make room for refugees, just in case you were in any doubt she is the embodiment of all evil x
I’ve written to the Speaker to ask that he facilitate a process whereby MPs can hold PM & Chancellor to account for misleading parliament over #partygate. Knowingly to lie to parliament & public & to do so with impunity undermines our democracy - there must be consequences