Regrettably, peace now appears lost in West Asia for years to come [Content Warning - links to articles on sadism and abuse, oppression/bigotry/hate, violence/abuse/war. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are (when I remember) shown in green.

 

I am now seeing confirmation in Western media of the sort of hardening of attitudes in Israel that has been showing in Israeli media (which has been available on line for decades - freely, in many cases, although I stopped following it as closely when Haaretz went behind a pay wall), and I now consider the cause of peace lost in that region for some years to come - possibly for decades or even generations. 

 

Of course, that makes the work of those trying to keep the light of hope and the hope of peace alive even more important. 

 

The war that started in Gaza, and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, have shown that the legacy of World War (part) Two is still poisoning the world’s institutions - which are also being crippled by the inability of progressives in today’s world to recognise that there are circumstances when decisiveness is required, especially when preventing evils such as authoritarianism and mass psychosis-sadism, and that character is something that needs to be actively improved to counter the active twisting of character to evil caused by people who, frankly, deserve the epithet evil.

Eventually, as I have often written on this blog, Israel will come to its senses and be horrified by what it has done, but that will be too late. 

Damage is also being done elsewhere, including in my nation (Australia) with some politicians from states that are notorious for racism (especially in their police) doing their best to appear racist, and our nation having committed itself to positions and inactions that will forever see us on the wrong side of history in this matter.

The articles of relevance to this post are: 

“Sadism as a Tool of War in Gaza”   https://www.juancole.com/2024/08/sadism-tool-gaza.html   It is the confirmation of widespread sadism in Israeli society that is of concern to me     

“Ultra-Orthodox Threaten to Bolt Netanyahu’s Government over Prayer at the Temple Mount”   https://www.juancole.com/2024/08/orthodox-netanyahus-government.html   “The provocation was denounced by United Torah Judaism, a small Ultra- Orthodox party that is in coalition with the current Likud government.    ...   The controversy between the Ultra-Orthodox and fascist wings of Judaism comes on top of a building crisis between the ultra-Orthodox community and the Netanyahu government over the conscription of the Ultra-Orthodox into the Israeli army.”   This shows that the far right elements in Israel’s government now no longer give any heed to even ultra-conservative versions of Judaism, revealing their motivations for what they are: addiction to power and a desire for a sense of personal superiority, devoid of even the pretence of religion or morality      

“Deterrence does not work when dealing with terrorists - editorial”   https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-814777   “Due to the collapse of the three key security assumptions – deterrence, a small, smart army, and the ability to stand alone – changes have begun to occur.”   This article advocates for self-reliance with regard to munitions and a larger army instead of tech, intended to reduce reliance on the USA and thus also reduce US influence, and “... there is now a much greater realization that deterrence does not work when dealing with a terrorist organization, and that dismantling their capabilities is necessary to prevent their attacks.”   Which is what has been done in Gaza ...     

Hope and work for peace is not without basis though. Consider this: 

“Israeli media must stop portraying criticism as antisemitism - opinion”   https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-814751   “I find it difficult to accept that many journalists in the mainstream media within Israel cannot distinguish between criticism of the government and criticism of the state.”     

In addition, throughout this conflict, there have been groups of Palestinian and Israeli women and youth actively promoting the cause of peace.

The other vitally important point here is that Palestinians have NOT been served well by their crippled, divided, and questionable leadership ...  

Israel’s destructive (and now self-destructive) actions have contributed to that, but there is also internal responsibility.

 

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

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Note that, as with my main blog [see here], I am cutting back on aspects of my posts.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/