Demonstrations In New York Make Several Things Clear

[thucythucy]

225. All your arguments about the Nova memorial

could just as easily be applied to the video you mention in your post.

Sure, the video of that poor boy's body being unearthed by a bulldozer is horrible, but "look closely and you will see the elements of propaganda." Broadcasting that video "recreates the horrifying scene to instill...loathing and outrage.... And what better way to elicit support" for terrorists determined to murder Jews "than to invoke the primitive irrational parts of our brain?" Not that I would argue against broadcasting that video, just as I don't believe bringing up the atrocities of October 7 needs to conform to some sort of statute of limitation, or to wait for some "better time." The reality of those crimes, the total reality of this war needs to be shown, recorded, remembered, just as we need to continue to remember and commemorate the Holocaust and the Holodomor, the Nakba, and the current atrocities of Putin's war in Ukraine.

You ask how can a person "even try to process something like" the scene of that child. I don't know, except to see it as a horror that shouldn't happen to any child, any family, anywhere. Just as gang rapes, sexual mutilation, kidnapping and torture and the keeping hostages should also never happen, not to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

I agree with George Orwell when he says that sloppy writing often indicates sloppy thinking, or words to that effect, which is why I tried to unpack your rather bizarre analogy. It seemed off kilter, to say the least, and so I commented on that aspect of your post.

There is however a way in which your analogy does to some extent work. The Japanese government, made up of a small clique of militarists, could have prevented Hiroshima had they ended their war, a war that was entirely unnecessary and obscenely wasteful of innocent life. The members of that clique could have thus saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Every military expert in Japan knew by the summer of 1942 that the war was lost, and yet they continued for three more years because they put their own "honor" and personal well-being over that of the millions of people who suffered and died during that period. Similarly, the leadership of Hamas could end the war today, and could have ended it months ago, had it been willing to release the hostages and surrender power in Gaza. If this were to happen "this abominable war" would end, and the killing would presumably stop, and yes, that's what most of us want. I say "most of us" because it seems this isn't what the leadership of Hamas wants, according to reports I've read, some of them here on DU.

You seem always to impugn the morality of those with whom you disagree, stating for instance that I "don't want to see." I'm not sure how you can know this, but just to be clear: I despair at the loss of innocent life on both sides. I fervently wish Israel's response was less costly in lives, less destructive, less extreme. Just as I question the need, for instance, for the firebombing of Hamburg in 1943, the firebombing of Dresden in 1944, the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The problem we see throughout history when we "unslip the dogs of war," is once that happens it becomes well nigh impossible to limit or mitigate the violence. This is especially true when one side at least has the explicit goal of exterminating the other.

I honestly believe therefore that commemorating those innocents who suffer is never inappropriate. And that to stand outside such a commemoration to shout slogans of hate is likewise never appropriate. I have no problem with people demonstrating for whatever cause--that's their right. But I would think those who claim to have a corner on empathy and compassion would think twice before using a memorial exhibit as the arena for venting their rage at the friends and relatives of those who have endured their own horrific trauma, or defending those who would do so.

But maybe that's just me.

Here's hoping the war ends soon, that whatever damage that can be repaired will be repaired, and that the survivors on both sides will have the support they need to heal from their grievous wounds.