POSTNOTE 6 FEBRUARY 6, 2024: Followup posts: Nov 4, Nov 8, Nov 18, Dec 10, Dec 25,  2023, Feb 5 2024

POSTNOTE 5 October 24, 2023: I continue to seek some kind of reasonably reliable information about what, exactly, Gaza is.  Here’s something from NBC News which seems reasonably reliable and helpful.

POSTNOTE 4 October 13, 2023:  Today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune headlines “Gaza evacuation ordered”.  The subhead says “Israeli military tells 1.1 million Palestinians to move south within 24 hours”.   Gaza’s size is equivalent to a square 12 miles on a side, including over 2 million people.  It is, literally, a prison.  Gazan’s cannot move in or out as Ukrainians still can.  Try to imagine….

There are many points of view.  Today, Joyce passed along a very meaning filled post from Rabbi Daniya Ruttenberg.  You can read it here.  

October 10, a years long friend on one side of the issue sent a copy of his letter which asked a former U.S. president for “courage” to take a stand.  (I have friends on both ‘sides’ – I will not identify the ‘side’ of this friend, here).  My personal stand: I empathize with the vast majority on both ‘sides’ who have no interest in anything but peace, and no interest whatsoever in what amounts to a religious war.  I don’t accept violence as a solution from either perpetrator or in retribution.  But I am not naive about human history.  Zealots who achieve power, regardless of means, or ‘brand’, are a huge problem, and have always been.   This includes supposed religious leaders.  I speak as someone who considers himself ‘religious’, and things like the Inquisition, and the Crusades and Slavery itself were important and reprehensible components within my own religious tradition in the not too distant past.

There is and has always been and will always be evil, and it resides among us, and it will never be eradicated.  It manifest in many ways.   It needs fuel to grow, and that is where we, in a democratic society, come in, for good or ill.  We can choose our fate by how we vote.

Going forward: Saturday is one week since the current crisis, which is compared with 9-11-01, began.  I will next post on this issue at this space on the one month anniversary of October 7, about Nov. 4.  This is about the time lapse between 9-11-01 and the bombing of Afghanistan in October, 2001….  I’m watching, and I’ll continue to watch, not only the actions, but the conversations about this terrible crisis.

POSTNOTE 3 Oct. 11, 2023 Minneapolis Star Tribune commentary by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer: Nelson-Pallmeyer Oct 10 23 STrib.  Disclosure: I have known and respected Jack and his work for many years.  Sue commented: “Thank you, Dick, for referring us to the Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer piece – very solid. Based on what used to be called “critical thinking,” which has gone out of style in this era.”

Also relevant, my good friend, of Syrian ancestry, commented on this link I’d asked him to comment on, about the Balfour Declaration, which he feels is the root of the problem.  Here was his comment on the link:  “It is relatively accurate, but the most important thing written is the statement that I extracted and pasted below.  The protection of the Palestinian Arabs’ political rights has been completely ignored, as well as the rights of the Jordanians and parts of Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt.  The British are and have been very evil people.  They are the people that we fought our Revolutionary War against.

“The British government acknowledged in 1939 that the local population’s views should have been taken into account, and recognized in 2017 that the declaration should have called for the protection of the Palestinian Arabs’ political rights.”

A 2014 release from Pax Christi was forwarded by one of you, and seems worthy of attention at this time.

POSTNOTE 2:  As noted yesterday, the internet is awash with disinformation about circumstances surrounding this tragic situation.  It is difficult to separate truth from fiction….  As noted at this space yesterday: “In the near future I want to take a stab at communication insecurity in this age of AI, etc.  Skepticism about anything visual or verbal is warranted, especially if you don’t know well, the exact source.  More later.”

POSTNOTE Oct. 9, 2023: I have a lot to say, but my opinions are like any other opinions from anyone, whether expert or not.  At the end of this post, I share my limited direct experience with the country and the people of Israel, and that’s about all.

Here is a little geographic perspective: I am always interested in geographic context.  Gaza is almost exactly the same size as Ramsey County (St. Paul and environs), with four times as many people in its bounds.  Ramsey is one of Minnesota’s smallest counties.  Israel is about a tenth the size of Minnesota, about the same size as New Jersey.   It has about twice the population of Minnesota; about the same population as New Jersey.  More or less three-quarters of Israels population is Jewish.

Gaza is about 141 sq. miles; Ramsey Co, 152 sq. miles; populations about 2, 250,000; Ramsey Co 550,000.  Israel 8,550 sq miles, 9 million people; Minnesota 87,000 sq miles, about 5.7 million people.

It is less than 50 miles from Gaza to either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

*

Originating post: The news is that yesterday in Israel was its 9-11-01.  The attack began about 6:30 a.m. local time in Israel.   That was 2:30 local time here in Minnesota; 24 hours ago as I write.

I am not numb to this carnage; neither, unfortunately, is this unusual in our world.  Nonetheless, the narrative for what is, now, is being set by every picture, every interview, everywhere.  This will be a test for discernment of ‘information’, much of which will likely be disinformation.

Back in the awful days after 9-11-01 I pleaded for some perspective in the U.S. response to the heinous actions of 19 people who killed themselves so that many more would die..  The tone of our country rapidly became retribution.

Quite often I’ve used a short article from early October, 2001, which deserves rereading.   Simply substitute Israel for the U.S.; Hamas for the 19 who flew the planes into the Twin Towers.  Here’s pdf of the below photo: Afghanistan Bombing Oct 10 2001

The long war predicted in the above article came through: Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Afghanistan again…20 years, four presidents.

Still, the tendency is revenge against a word which most of us know little about: Hamas.  Everything else regardless of expertise of the narrator is sheer opinion.

War (retribution) always seems like the first option; it is also the worst option, in my opinion.  But if only one side. is for peace, a negotiation is fruitless.

Take some time to learn more than the headlines or early visuals.

If you wish: three articles about Gaza; Hamas; Hezbollah.  I hesitate to define exactly how Gaza fits into Israel, politically.  The State Department article linked above might help a little.  Gaza isn’t an independent country.

Personal Experience:

COMMENTS:

from Carol: extract from Tom Friedman, NYTimes, Oct 7 2023:  “Hamas was conducting what appeared to be practice maneuvers for just this kind of attack all along the Gaza border — right before the eyes of the Israeli military.

from Fred: Thanks for the “comparative geography” lesson! I’ve read several histories regarding Israel’s wars and studied the maps, as always. The map scale of the area never really sunk in. This will help me remember.

It was wise to include a 9-11 newspaper clipping, especially one with a poll of Americans. As you indicate, the “thing” about wars is no one can ever be certain exactly how they will play out.

from Harry: a commentary from a group called “Friends of Sabeel”

Heather Cox Richardson “Letters from an American” October 9, 2023.  (Here is the October 7 post to which Dr. Richardson refers.)

from Dick: Some snippets of history:

from New York Times Digest, aboard a cruise ship in the Baltic June 7, 2003.  Note right hand column: New York Times Digest Jun 7 2003

 

From National Geographic “Lands of the Bible Today”, December, 1967