The above image was made with stable diffusion using the prompt 'rockets in a desert.'
The latest developments in Israel are troubling. Egypt has refused to provide a safe corridor for refugees trying to escape Gaza. Israel has destroyed airports in Allepo and Damascus, mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops, and started systematically grinding Gaza and its inhabitants into dust. It has also come to light that Egypt warned Israel about an impending attack three days before Hamas started slaughtering people.
Hamas once supported the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but recently Hamas and the Syrian regime reconciled and became friends. Israel took out the Syrian airports after mortars and artillery bombarded Israel from Syria with Iranian support.
From what I gather, Hamas is supported by $360 million/year from Qatar, $100 million/year from Iran, and a tax on imports to Gaza worth 12 million a month. It seems likely that war will disrupt tax collection. Meanwhile, Qatar is working with the US to prevent Iran from accessing billions in conditional aid money. This is mostly symbolic as it in no way impacts Iran's current finances.
Hezbollah in Lebanon on Israel's northern border has been launching rocket attacks, but so far they haven't mounted any kind of broad offensive, though they could field a massive army of fighters at any point. So Israel is fighting on three fronts simultaneously, against enemies that are financially backed by nation states.
For Palestinians in Gaza, the situation is apocalyptic. They're cut off from the rest of the world by Israel and Egypt, overrun with Hamas militants, and under constant bombardment. Over two million people, trapped, terrorized, and running out of food. There are international aid packages being worked out, but they'll fall short, because the need is so great.
The US government is supporting Israel militarily and financially. The US population is split on whether to support Hamas or Israel. The enmity between the two camps quickly reached a flash point at Harvard. From a Harvard Crimson article about it:
A billboard truck drove through the streets surrounding Harvard's campus Wednesday, digitally displaying the names and faces of students allegedly affiliated with student groups that signed onto a controversial statement on Hamas' attack on Israel. Amid continued national backlash and doxxing attacks, at least eight of the original 34 co-signing Harvard student groups as of Wednesday afternoon withdrew their signatures from the statement — originally penned by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee — that called Israel "entirely responsible" for the violence.
The next few weeks are guaranteed to be both eventful and tragic. Israel might exterminate the Palestinians or go to war with Iran. Hamas and its affiliates might launch new terror attacks. Students at elite universities might take their disputes further than doxxing. Our general population might become even more polarized.
Whatever happens, we're in a moment of geopolitical turmoil amid profound societal decay. Our government is shoveling money into the war machine while our communities fall apart. This is basically what Hamas does, spending lavishly on militarism while Palestinians in general suffer. It's a path that never leads anywhere good.
Read my novels:
See my NFTs:
