The immediate deaths, the slow deaths, the destruction of any sort of tolerable existence, the sheer human misery Israel is inflicting upon Palestinians is on such a scale as to be beyond comment.
The general indifference of the world is not surprising. If something doesn’t directly affect us, it’s easy to let it be.
The Western governments enable Israel’s crimes. They arm Israel, they financially support Israel. The Western governments have a significant share of the responsibility. Citizens of those countries are covered, in varying degrees, with shame.
Despite what religious and humanitarian groups proclaim about their regard for human life, human misery is accepted. A justification will always be found to excuse violence. Human beings have been slaughtered or exploited to a slow death throughout all of human history.
The acquisition of treasure is the motivating factor of human history, on the individual and collective level. For the love of money is the root of all evil. The selfish desire for an easier life than our neighbor is the origin of violence. The only way to break the cycle of violence is for people to adapt a system of belief that demands the rejection of the current world order, and the establishment of a new kingdom based upon a code with a central tenet of treating others as we would be treated.
Since there’s no such kingdom in this world, the only thing that will end the misery of the Palestinians is a supernatural act of violence which would require the Israelis to bandage themselves. An earthquake, an asteroid, etc.
Anyway, I wanted to make those comments acknowledging the human suffering of the Palestinians before moving on to something that otherwise might have seemed a little bit tone deaf or odd, or both.
I see pictures and videos on social media of the victims in Gaza, and one thing I have noticed over the years is the clothing of the children.
How would I describe the clothing?
Imagine the great cinema taskmaster Stanley Kubrick demanding his costume designer produce a wardrobe suitable for characters in a movie depicting children of extreme poverty and deprivation, and yet the apparel must also somehow dimly, bizarrely reflect their oppressors.
In picture after picture and video after video, we see the lamentable children of Palestine clad in dirty, cheap clothing adorned with fake Western athletics logos and designs, and English lettering. These are not Arabic soccer jerseys, but bizarre imitations of Western sports jerseys.
Yes, in the midst of all the suffering, I wonder about these shirts. Where are they manufactured? Do Palestinians make them? If so, do Palestinians have some fondness for Western sports they only have a vague knowledge of? Or does the clothing come from some Western relief agency? But who in the West would design a shirt that is both surreal and generic? I mean, look at this:
Baseball Player. College League. Strike. 1982.
Huh?
It would represent nothing in the West, so what could it possibly mean in Gaza?
A small, strange (to me, at least) detail in the midst of overwhelming human suffering.
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