Wednesday, March 23, 2011

do the palestinians still matter:

from the BBC: Jerusalem: Middle East's oldest unresolved conflict: "If there was a moment when the world did not want to be reminded of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in such violent terms, then it is now."

if this is how the world feels, then FUCK the world.

are we too overwhelmed with our more immediate, selfish concerns -- like how much gasoline will cost at the pump, or how expensive dog food will become -- to tune in to the quotidian struggles of palestinians under brutal israeli occupation? too bad.

all the rotten, self-referential, jack-off preoccupations with which the world busies itself are really just the crust on a dog's butt compared with the wreckage modern industrial societies leave in their wake. when it's industrial waste, we refer to it as externalizing costs. when it comes to empire, it's the same idea, but we decline to face up to the twisted mess that's been made to far-off people and places -- those people and countries that had resources we covet, yet refuse to pay for at market prices.

instead we march in with our high-minded ideologies, bringing civilization with all its rapacity and wantonness to overwhelmed and defenseless people. we exploit before we destroy -- and expect the survivors to pick up the pieces.

the brits with the mandates in palestine are a fine bunch. they strutted around with their fat-ass empire until it collapsed, and in their hasty retreat left behind a history of injustice to be sorted out by those unfortunates who happened to be caught up in the great game. the palestinians, for one, found themselves a people without a homeland.

while the world may not wish to be reminded of the great injustice done to the palestinians -- since the libya conflict and the japan catastrophe, to say nothing of the death of elizabeth taylor are current topics of "concern" -- it's a fact of life that until the palestinians are dealt with justly, there will be no respite.

ugly reminders like today's jerusalem bombing will continue to occur, as well the israeli military incursions into gaza and the destruction and misery that entails, in unrelenting fashion until justice can no longer be denied.

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