And another weekend has come and gone. One more to go before the end of Ramadan, shocking! And what’s more shocking then that? That I was actually able to keep up this blog through it all. I’m going to take a moment to compliment myself here and say ‘yay me’. Okay, done.
Well, Friends, this weekend has
been good and bad. I’ve been able to
reconnect with two people (something long overdue), I’ve been sick and the
dizzy spells have yet to abate (yes, I’ll go to a doctor soon, promise promise)
and I’ve been able to complete (for the most part) Eid shopping. And above all that, I’ve been reading nonstop
regarding the conflict happening over there in Gaza.
I think the most horrific aspect
of this shitshow is the fact that little kids are the primary casualties. The pictures now surfacing from the genocide
is that of broken bodies of children, and as recently as yesterday, the charred
remains of kids. My head spins every
single time I see a new imagine and the fact that no one, not one single
government entity, has really condemned these actions makes me ill. The other day I got into a pretty heated
debate with P who said, why did Hamas have to start lobbing missiles over the
fence in the first place? Not an invalid
question. But then why are terrorists,
terrorists? Why do dumbass people do
what dumbass people do? This comes back
to the old saying, “if a dog bites you, would you bite it?” no you’d whack it
with a newspaper or worst case scenario put it the hell down, not blast the
whole goddamn kennel into kingdom come.
P he went on to point out that
since the citizens of Gaza elected Hamas into office, weren’t they ultimately
to blame then? (Side note: Now don’t
misunderstand P, he likes to play devil’s advocate, and that’s precisely what
he was doing here. He’s actually quite
fair and balanced (unlike FauxNews) so don’t go being outraged. He asks the questions that most wouldn’t ask
and is rather too PC to throw out there.
For this I appreciate him, although at times I want to straight up haul
off and punch him.)
But back to the question at hand…Let
me get political for a minute here. This
was my response: Yes, so when we elected
little Bush into office and he ended up thumbing his nose at the whole wide
world including the UN and sending troops into Iraq thus turning the wheels of
our financial and economic decline not to mention sending our boys and girls in
blue over there to fight a war that wasn’t even valid, I guess we’re all to
blame because 51% of the citizens of this country elected him, right?
He could say nothing.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it
again: this isn’t religious war. If
someone tells me that, I’d laugh in their face.
This is a pissing contest that has no end in sight, a grudge match for
greedy leaders (oh both sides) and the civilians are truly the sufferers. Yet, Folks, let’s call a spade a spade. This situation is so lopsided that it’s
shocking. One side has suffered so many
casualties that its mindboggling while the other? Well…I’m not trying to say that there should
be anyone suffering period or dying for that matter but COME ON!
Let’s just reduce this to the
most one-dimensional view point? In
essence this is basically a gang, a bunch of thugs (who can’t shut up to save
their lives and goes around puffing out their blasted chests and throwing out
stupid threats of destruction and damnation…Hi Hamas, I’m talking to you), who
is going up against a well-stocked sophisticated military force (hellooooooo
Israel, this one is for you), literally.
One has missiles that are being punted into the desert while the other
has erudite weapons of destruction. Don’t
think this is a bit…cock-eyed?
P also asked me, well if someone
is attacking your house, will you simply sit by and let it happen? Another totally valid question and one I did
not have to pause to answer. I responded,
no, I would defend myself against my attackers, not his neighbor’s child’s uncle’s
postman and then everyone else who is within the vicinity. So yea, there’s the answer to that question.
But here’s an observation, which
begs the question, why these crazy air raids and now ground invasion at all
when there can be alternative methods. We
all are fully aware that the USA is nestled cozily in bed with Israel and to
the extent that we can do nothing but say ‘well they have the right to defend
themselves’ over all these atrocities and in defense or our allies. So in such a copacetic relationship, there
are definite advantages other than sharing ones favorite macaroni and cheese
recipe. I think it’s a fair assumption
that in regards to security, the bigwigs probably whisper back and forth about technology
and the like. You’re telling me that the
USA, the superpower that it is, cannot assist Israel to flush out specific
locations of the offenders and go after them?
We’ve done it before, and many, many times and we haven’t had to resort
to boots on the ground either. You’re telling
me that instead of sharing intelligence and tactics (giving suggestions basically),
the better course of action is to go bombing everyone and their grandmothers
because ‘they have the right to defend ourselves’? WHAT????
Pardon me for saying this
but: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS
PICTURE??????
When was it ever okay to do
this? When did this become the accepted
norm? What the fudgenuts is happening to
this world that our politicians and government isn’t sitting back and saying, ‘oh
wow this is f’ed up’?? My God in
heaven. You do not have to have a
political nor religious affiliation in order to say that this just is not right
and barbaric to the enth degree.
Furthermore, I was perplexed when
I found out that the residents of Gaza have 3 minutes before shelling
begins. Did you know that? 3 minutes.
That’s how long the Israeli army gives them. To take your whole life and reduce it down to
3 minutes. Think about this. Just stop and take a second. REALLY mull this over. Um…so let me ask you, if you have 3 minutes
before a bomb is dropped on your home, what would you do? What would you grab? What would you take with you? Look at where you’re sitting and try to
figure that out. Can you take your
existence and boil it down to whatever you can grab and then get far enough
away so that you’re not blow to nothing more than unrecognizable pieces of
limbs and flesh? Because 3 minutes doesn’t
take into account the lead-up to the bombing, it is 3 minutes total. So do you look at your watch, run around like
a maniac picking up what you can for 1.5 minutes and then run for your life for
1.5 minutes?
These kinds of questions keep me
awake at night. I look around my own home,
think of all the things that I cherish: a sari that was given to me when my
grandmother passed, the scads of albums representing a cherished childhood and
past, important documentation that I probably couldn’t move forward without,
this trinket I picked up here, that letter that was given to me on my birthday by
my poet uncle who is now gone, that dress that was given to me there…what would
I grab? Can a person’s life be reduced
to a couple of minutes and if you think ‘sure’ then you are far more
understanding then I. To me, it’s not
fathomable.
Then there’s dealing with the
aftermath. Returning ‘home’ only to find
it now rubble in which one needs to weed through finding bits and pieces of
your life. For those who can’t see the
big deal because either you never gave it any thought or this just doesn’t affect
you, again I ask you to look around yourself.
If you’re not home presently when you do get back, then stop and glance
about and try to imagine your sanctuary reduced to nothing but debris. Charred and unrecognizable, undistinguishable
from what you once considered home. Do
you flinch? Do you turn your mind to
more pleasant things because you frankly can’t comprehend this? But that’s what those Palestinian’s are doing,
isn’t it?
But it doesn’t end there, because
after all home is where the heart is, correct?
So what happens when your very soul is ripped from your chest? When your baby, your 2, 3, 4, etc…year old
child has been killed? How do you bury
that child? How do you wrap that little
body that you’ve cared and loved for in white cloth and cover it with
dirt? HOW? And who do you blame for this? Do you blame: yourself because you elected a
terrorist organization into power? (But
then I could argue that we, the citizens of the USA did the same thing as well
although maybe that’s not how we look at it but hey, ask the Iraqi’s.) Or do you blame your neighbor who may be the
one who is in fact launching those missiles?
Or do you blame that child for even having the nerves of playing
outside, going to school, riding his/her bike?
Who do we blame for this? And how, in the name of all that’s holy, do
we not speak up? I don’t want to sound
redundant, to speak the words I spoke just a few days ago yet I feel as if I
need to reiterate, I don’t care if you’re a Jew or a Muslim. I don’t give a damn which political party you’re
associated with or which landmass you occupy, none of these things matter an
ounce to me. You want to tell me that in
19blahblahblah this happened and then in 2009 blahblahblah happened then go
ahead, I’m not listening. All I can see
anymore is the bodies of bleeding dead children littered all over media,
unfortunately not the mainstream one either.
Shame on you CNN, BBC and every other organization out there. Shame on every single reporter on television
who downplays how bad this all is and most of all shame on each and every
government which sits by repeating like parrots, ‘they have the right to defend
themselves’.
While I agree that anyone has the
right to defend their lives, I do not agree with genocide, PERIOD, regardless
of the geographic location or people. I
think about my little nephews and nieces strewn around the globe and
horrifically enough I see their faces in the children that are lifeless on the
streets of Gaza. I can’t help it. In every single picture that I have looked
upon thus far, I’ve seen the images of my friends kids, the neighbors cherubs,
the one that toddles by on the street…these are the faces which I see in those
dead lifeless eyes and a rage sweeps through me. How can this be happening? Children are children damnit, wake up!
Close your eyes and ignore it if
you wish, take sides if you like, I cannot and one day my God will ask me, why
didn’t you speak up? Why didn’t you
demand some sort of relief? Why didn’t
you cry out against your fellow human beings suffering? At least I can say I did something, even if
it’s in the form of a stupid blog. I
spoke up and said something. But can
you?
You want to make it about
politics or religion? Well, Buttercup, you
do you. Go ahead. If you think that the 3 year old who was
blown to smithereens outside while simply deserved what he or she got, then I
don’t know what to say to you. You’ll
have to answer to whatever it is that you answer to, if you do at all. I, on the other hand, cannot sleep at night.
This blog wasn’t supposed to be
another rant. It was supposed to be a
simple telling of what’s happened in the last 3 days in my life. Well you know what? I’ve done a lot of normal everyday things
that most of you have done, I imagine. I’ve
spent time with friends/family, I’ve gone out shopping, I’ve lazed around at
house watching TV, I’ve enjoyed this weather, I’ve talked on the phone, I’ve
texted with buddies, I’ve listened to the rain, I’ve contemplated what I will
eat for dinner but I have also breathed in air that isn’t flavored with the
smells of mortar shells, I haven’t cringed in fear for my life, I haven’t
stepped over corpses of neighbors and loved ones, nor have I had to grab my
shit in 3 minutes and run for it. Lucky
me.
So yea, my weekend was terrific,
how was yours?
I’m going to say this although it
doesn’t seem to be sticking with the theme of the blog above, still it is
Ramadan…so…Happy Ramadan-ing (and God save us from ourselves…please).
(Another side note: I’m posting a picture here that pains
me. I have been a staunch supporter of
my president but of late he has managed to disappoint me over and over
again. I saw this and thought, ‘hmmm…yea’
and am sharing. Believe me, this is the
greatest disillusionment I’ve faced, that the president I loved, has so gone
astray that I can no longer defend his actions or words. I can only hope that he will renew my belief
in him by saying/doing the right thing, to raise his voice and condemn these
violent attacks and the genocide. I pray
that God will guide him so that I once more feel like I did the right thing
when I cast my ballot for him. I love my country but I can't say that I always love my president nor those that run the government. Such a shame. If you think this is anti-American propaganda, then you're a moron...sorry to be so blunt. I am an American and damn proud to be one and as I've said before, if I can love my country, I can criticize it as well.)
No comments:
Post a Comment