A while back, I was talking with my neighbor. She always seemed like a reasonable person and fell on the Conservative side of most issues. Sometime during the conversation, I forgot what we were talking about, she stated her complete and utter hatred for Israel.
I found out that her family had lost their land and that really pissed her off.
She kept talking smack about Israel for a while when I finally spoke up and told her that maybe it was time for her to get over it. She gave me a look, and I told her that, sure, her family lost some land. But she’s living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood in Southern California. There are worse ways to be persecuted.
I went on to tell her that she was obviously taught to hate. And she taught her kids and her grandchildren to hate. And that’s a hell of a legacy.
I’m certain she didn’t understand what I was trying to tell her. But I stopped talking anyway. She wears a headcover so I’m going to take a wild guess and say she’s Muslim. I’d say that’s probably a certainty. And the last thing I need is for her to put a fatwa on my ass.
Dancing in the Streets
Now, I’m not saying that Palestinian people don’t have a legitimate beef. Many of them did have their land taken away. And if Hamas was all about trying to get their land back, I might be convinced to feel sorry for them. But, when their publicly-stated goal is to wipe all Jews off the face of the earth, well, then I think they’ve clearly stepped over the line.
I fully realize that there’s a difference between being a member of Hamas and simply being Palestinian. Just like there’s a difference between being a white supremacist and simply being white.
But there is also a large number of Palestinians who are technically not members of Hamas, yet still agree with what they stand for and support their cause. You don’t grow a terror organization the size and strength of Hamas without at least some support from the general population.
Sure, there are likely some Palestinians who don’t agree with Hamas and its tactics. So, where are they? Why aren’t I seeing massive protests in the streets of Gaza against the senseless slaughter of thousands of people.
And yes, I’m blaming Hamas for all the deaths of the past couple weeks. Including those killed in Israel’s retaliation for the unprovoked attack on their country. As far as I’m concerned, every single death falls squarely on the back of Hamas, and the people who support them.
No one, and I mean no one, should support a country or group whose mission statement is to commit genocide. And yet we’re seeing protests around the world against how Israel is responding to an attack on their soil. As I see it, Israel has been showing a remarkable amount of restraint. After all, they weren’t the ones who launched an unprovoked attack on civilians and noncombatants.
When Hamas attacked and killed hundreds of Israeli citizens, there was literally dancing in the streets. But when Israel fought back, they were criticized for not fighting fairly.
The Geneva Conventions
And that brings us to the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Conventions are a list of rules that most countries agree will come into play during times of “hostilities”. The rules attempt to limit the effects of the “hostilities” on noncombatants. That is, people who are not or who are no longer participating in the conflict.
There are actually four “Conventions”. The First Convention covers sick and wounded soldiers. The Second Convention covers, sick, wounded and shipwrecked sailors. The Third Convention covers the care of prisoners of war. The Fourth Convention covers the protection of civilians in combat zones.
In theory, I agree something like that is necessary. Humankind is a nasty bunch and, left to our own devices, we will do unspeakable things to each other. Without a set of rules, things tend to go south very quickly.
The key here, however, is that BOTH sides need to agree to play by the same set of rules. But here’s the thing: Israel ratified the Conventions in 1951. Hamas isn’t a country or state and hasn’t agreed to play by the same rules. They’re not even trying. We can clearly see that demonstrated by the fact that they fired 6 THOUSAND missiles at Israel in their spray-and-pray initial attack.
Now, combine that with the fact that they slaughtered hundreds of Israeli civilians, beheaded babies and, in some cases, wiped out entire families. I think even a blind person can see that they have no regard for human life. Well, at least not Jewish human life. Which technically, to them, is an oxymoron because the members of Hamas perceive Jews as subhuman.
Like I said, both sides need to be following the same set of rules. So, the Geneva Conventions should only come into play until one side breaks the rules. At that point, the gloves come off.
It’s unreasonable to expect Israel to abide by the “civilized” rules of war when Hamas clearly doesn’t.
If a conflict breaks out, the very moment that one side chooses to ignore the rules, the other side should no longer be bound by those rules either. Hamas thumbed their noses at the Geneva Conventions with their very first volley. What happened next is entirely on them.
What’s Up With Ukraine?
Now, let’s talk about Ukraine.
As near as I can tell, the United States has given Ukraine more than $75 billion dollars since the war began. That number may even be a little low. Biden recently announced his intent to send them another $62 billion.
Can anyone tell me why we’re sending them so much money? How is the United States going to benefit from this? Seriously. The Biden Bunch tells us what they’re going to send, but we never hear why. I want to know, in plain English, why I should care. Or at least why Joe Biden seems to care so much.
And I want to know exactly what that money is being spent on. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for a spreadsheet detailing where all that money is going. We should be sending a team of accountants to track the money and write the checks to pay the bills.
We SHOULD NOT just wire over tens of billions of dollars without at least some strings attached. If I go into my bank and transfer $10,000, that transaction gets reported to the U.S. Government. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect at least that level of accountability from Ukraine when they’re spending OUR money.
We saw what happened in Iraq when pallets of $100 bills were shipped to that country, supposedly to be used to provide humanitarian aid. A lot of people got extremely wealthy. Only a fool would believe that’s not happening again this time.
Not Fooling Anybody
I realize that not all the support given to Ukraine was in the form of cold, hard cash. Some of it was in weapons and military support. I want you to consider this:
Let’s say I give a gun to a friend, and he uses it to kill someone. Even though I had no idea what my friend was going to do with the gun when I gave it to him, I can be held liable for the death of the person he killed.
The U.S. Government is giving weapons to Ukraine, knowing full well that those weapons will be used to kill Russian soldiers. And they don’t expect Russia to connect the dots? Doesn’t anyone else see how ridiculous this is?
Which brings us back to Israel. Israel and the United States have an agreement where the U.S. can store ammunition in Israel. With approval by the U.S., Israel can use that ammunition if they find themselves at war. It turns out that hundreds of thousands of 155mm artillery shells previously stored in Israel were sent to the Ukraine. To be used to kill Russian soldiers.
So, if Israel decided they need to access that ammo, because…say…they were savagely attacked by Hamas, there might not be any ammo left to give them.
Which might end up being a good thing for Israel. Because, apparently, the Ukrainians killing Russian Orthodox Christian soldiers is OK. But, at least in the eyes of some, the Israelis killing Muslim terrorists is not.
