Hey Peeps!
As I sit here and analyze the world, not just mine but obviously much bigger things, leaves me with a lot of questions, what is happening? How did we get here? How much damage is it causing? How can we fix it? What can we do better? among many other things. Right now we have multiple conflicts that have erupted around the world and extremely damaging to innocent people and of concern to humanity, or at least should be. First Russia VS Ukraine and now Israel VS Gaza or any other conflicted areas in the world. My first question led me to thinking, has the world ever been completely at peace at any given point in history? I can't say for sure but I'm going to guess, probably not.
Judging from Canada is hard with whatever whitewashed Government sponsored propaganda we are given, often only containing a few details to paint a certain narrative or public opinion. I try to see all sides of a story, all of the costs...the humanitarian cost. I don't necessarily understand the local politics or reasoning for beefs around the world, how they are resolved and the impact it has on it's local region so I try not to judge who is right and who is wrong as I think all war is wrong in the first place, the costs are too much...Sometimes the cost not to is also too high of a cost for the sake of peace keeping. Where do we strike a healthy balance?
Obviously, with terrorism on the rise we can't all sit around the campfire singing kumbaya and all get along unfortunately. As long as there is something to be gained from war and soldiers to fight in them and fire their weapons at another, they will keep happening. Unlike any other time in history, we now have social media and most people have access to filming/documenting and communicate such to wide audience, for those with the heart to watch, we can get a real glimpse of the human cost. Not what the news tell you from across the world in a 5 minute blurb but real life, real circumstances for the people affected, exactly how they are affected. If we can't do away with war, can we at least be more humane about it?
I'm not going to get into too much of the sequence of events or what led to this most recent war but it does get substantial coverage both whitewashed and real life, but lets go with a few basics. I'm a little confused as what Hamas is, a terrorist group? a political party? Both? If they are a political party, were they voted in or self appointed with corruption and manipulation? Obviously, regardless of who or what they are, launching several thousands of rockets in the middle of the night along with conducting raids in Israel taking hostages is a real douchy move indeed and a real bad idea along with probably on the psychotic side. I'm not sure what they would expect other than retaliation and how such would impact their own people and the risks and chaos they put 2 million potentially innocent people in by carrying out such a surprise offensive.
With that being said, where do you draw the line at what is acceptable in retaliation and what is too much? What is inhumane? for the protection of their own people...ir is it? The Israeli alleged reasoning, these highly populated neighborhoods are filled with underground tunnels used by terrorist groups and to carpet bomb these neighborhoods is to clear access to them. Sounds legit enough, using tunnels in war isn't a new strategy by any means and I see many youtube videos of masked criminals bragging on video about using them to smuggle anything at all. I don't agree carpet bombing of family occupied high density neighborhoods with the people still in them with an hour's notice to evacuate.
I don't agree with giving instructions and directions to safe passage for innocents to flee to safety, then bombing it hours later with the people on it. I don't agree with over a million people forced to flee on short notice to the south, walk 2 days on foot to just get there to get bombed too. What happened to that being a safe zone? What is a safe zone again? Did the definition suddenly change and I'm late to the party...these times we live in move fast, hard to keep up some days.
I don't agree with people being sent to live in a barren deserted land in tents made out of blankets, tarps or whatever they could garb and carry on foot as now their most prized family belonging as little as it may be. A land with no access to food, water, medicine, aid, healthcare, sanitation...I'm not sure how that is labeled a safe zone...Safe because there isn't any bombs there? No doubt there isn't anything there worth bombing but I would hardly call that a safe place or acceptable humanitarian response to a crisis of this magnitude.
Without sanitation and all other basic necessities, now these people face a second war of their own. One against time, disease, dehydration and starvation. The aid that is able to come thru the Gaza strip from what I understand doesn't even come close to being sufficient and limited. Now I agree different world organization specialized in providing such aid is sitting by for whatever safety related reasons, their staff can't help if they are dead from being bombed in the crossfire . But here is the bigger question. What are their own leaders doing for them? Why aren't they providing aid and actual safe spaces for their own people? Do they even care? Then why are they in charge when clearly shouldn't be, yet the people support that from their leaders? It's easy to point the finger and blame but there is some obvious in house deep rooted issues to be analyzed as well.
I wish I saw dead or captured militant bad guys being pulled out of tunnels but instead I see thousands of dead innocent civilians. Mothers, fathers, children, grand-parents. What have they done to deserve such misery? Bombing schools, hospitals...Is there no morals anymore? I thought there were war codes and such things as crimes against humanity. The reality of this war, the majority of dead and injured are women and children, aid workers, journalists? How is that helpful in capturing terrorists again? Sooo many tiny bodies...Heartbreaking. May their souls rest in peace, then again, how could they ever after this. Unfortunately, many more will die without some sort of ceasefire and various aid organizations can safely move in to the no-man land of despair the locals were sent to.
We as watchers, as by-standers, how can we be ok with what is being done to the innocent families? Why do we accept that for another. What if it was being done to you, never know it could be one day. It must be terrifying to have to live thru something like that. Who else is looking at the humanitarian cost of war? Is it just a handful of the world? Has society become that cold and numb? How can we lack this much empathy?
What will it take to inspire peace in that area of the world along with many other conflicts everywhere else that may not be as televised, I don't know, I'm no expert but as a global society, we need to observe what we allow to be done to another. To view/relate the situation as if this was happening to a relative of ours, a loved one rather than the sensational news story of the day. Never know when it's our turn. To find a better way to do war if it is necessary. One that has boundaries on how they can justify actions in the name of national security. Prhaps more adequate warning period to evacuate. Is carpet bombing residential neighborhood even acceptable in the first place? No war at all would be better but that sounds like wishful thinking at the moment.
Having to displace people in times of war, I suppose it isn't anything new but perhaps safe routes offered could actually be protected and safe for passage. If you are going to send people to live in no-man's land while carrying out operations, have appropriate facilities and aid intervention available to access to these barren locations. Leaving a large population stranded in the middle of the desert with nothing is cruel and should be unacceptable.
I don't know how to take sides in wars where I don't understand the politics but I can understand the human toll, not just the dead and injured but all others in unfair constant state of distress. Not just the current consequences of it but the future ones it will leave behind with most likely little to no help to ever recover creating a potential lost generation. Has anyone ever stop to think, those who participate in extremists values, most likely had lived thru something extremely painful happen to them and it festered into toxic belief system filled with revenge. Where do we break the cycle? It's too late to chose who is right who is wrong. What is too much or what is too little. We need to figure out how to break the cycle of terrorism.
Israel government claims to be fighting terrorism by acting like terrorist themselves. Is it really going to solve anything? Or would that just secure more terrorism to come in the future as the resentment grow up with the children affected. Generation after generation. Just like we see now. History repeats itself, why aren't we learning? If we can't prevent war, can we be more humane about it, create less innocent victims in the process?
what if everyone refused to fight simultaneously, from all sides, could we still have war? Innocent soldiers fight for the beefs or the rich and crazy, why? Because it's a paycheck? A sense of National Pride? A life purpose? No beef with any servicemen either as I'm sure most of them do it out of an honorable intent but where does one draw the line between necessary force to catch bad guys and cruelty to innocent people? Is it all about just carrying out orders without ever questioning the intent or morality of it?
As for the ownership of the people trapped in all of this, why do you tolerate leaders that do not have your best interest at heart, one that made you vulnerable and left you in despair with no help or defense after a serious moment of aggression towards another state/land for you to take the fallout? You are the many, they are the few? This is a serious problem in itself. To be real honest, I think most of us in many countries are in a similar boat. Being led by buffoons that doesn't have the public they serve's best interest in mind. We are just playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun as to whom/which country will experience it next unless we start having these serious conversations as the people of this world and stop looking away because it's ugly. Yes it is ugly but it wont go away until we do look at it.
Have any thoughts on how to solve the blurred lines between what is acceptable or not in times of war when it comes to innocent civilian casualties? How far should a country be allowed to go in the name of "fighting terrorism"? The humanitarian cost of war is real. At first glance the current fight on terror looks like terrorism in itself...am I wrong for viewing it this way?
My heart goes out to every innocent lives affected by these circumstances no matter where they are in the world or what conflict they might be caught in the middle of. I'm sorry you have to go thru something like this.
