OK, I'm angry now. How have we managed to create a situation where the Israel-Palestine conflict is so 'sensitive' that, no matter how many people get killed, you get villified if you don't remain neutral??? Why is condemnation of the actions of the Israeli government seen as implicit support for Hamas? Hamas is unfairly and disgracefully firing rockets at innocent people, so Israel decides to unfairly and disgracefully bomb the group of people they've trapped inside the most densely populated scrap of land in the world, and it's all Hamas' fault? It's anti-semitic to expect Israel to take responsibility for her actions, and not just point the finger at the nasty terrorists? What's the big distinction between Jews and Palestinians in the first place? Am I meant to care more when Israelis die than I do when Palestinians die? Dead Palestinians are collateral damage, dead Israelis are unforgivable crimes that justify lots of dead Palestinians, is that the idea? I'm a bad Jew because I think this whole thing is intolerable? Oh, wait, I'm not quite Jewish, am I? Not practising, not quite pureblood, so who am I to say that, as a Jew, I don't want this to be happening in my name? Am I allowed to say that, as a student, I don't want my unions and my university acting as if everything's fine, and it's just bad luck that the violence keeps escalating, and escalating, and escalating, but just mentioning the word Hamas makes everything Israel does OK???
Or should I just put my head down, get on with my studies, and ignore the fact that if I was in Gaza my university would have just been bombed and attempts to send aid being blocked by the claim that it would just fuel Hamas' terrorism??? Should I pretend that a 'Jewish state' is a perfectly reasonable thing for a persecuted people to want, and not racist? Am I not allowed to criticise my own government and other governments and expect the world to do better than a murderous, bloody apartheid situation?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Woah, the anger just fizzles off of the screen. Surprised my laptop hasn't short circuited. But you hit some things on the nail (though you did pass by some very complicated issues).
ReplyDeleteBut, sweet, how can you talk about nationalism and ignore the strikes up North? Doesn't it unsettle you? OK, we're hardly likely to embark on a polarisation in politics that leads to some kind of nightmarish back-in-time situation, but it's a big step in a trend that's been going on in the last few years, and they way the economy is heading it's probably not going to fade away.
Right here on our doorstep, Dreamer, right here. Doesn't it make you a similar kind of sick that the situation in Gaza does? (note similar, not same)
True, true. I'd been aware of the fight against facism in Britain as not such a pressing problem as the situation in Israel-Palestine right now, but these strikes are pretty worrying. *Sigh*. Lots of badness to overcome, lots of badness. War, of the non-violent peaceful protest variety/dialogue/engagement/etc, on all fronts!
ReplyDeleteAh, strikes. Weapon of the Left! the sweet sweet irony...
ReplyDelete'How have we managed to create a situation where the Israel-Palestine conflict is so 'sensitive' that, no matter how many people get killed, you get villified if you don't remain neutral???'
Well, you explain that yourself - everyone's killing everyone else, they're all as bad as each other, therefore each position is equally (non)valid, Q.E.D neutrality is the only sane way forward.
'What's the big distinction between Jews and Palestinians in the first place?'
Well, Jews have a distinct ethnic identity and history which they believe entitles them to a piece of land, and Palestinians - oh, wait no, they are the same... Again, everyone is just as much an arsehole/innocent civilian as each other.
'Am I allowed to say that, as a student, I don't want my unions and my university acting as if everything's fine?'
Unions are to represent the interests of students *as students.* Top-up fees, yes. Equal opportunities for minorities, yes. Global conflicts?? This concerns us as *citizens,* and the body to complain to as a citizen is our government. As for the university, however involved in politics it may be, it should not increase how involved it is, but decrease it. The university should only concern itself with our education, nothing more. Anything else is just a distraction and is to be dealt with by a completely different official body, such as oh, I dunno, the government.
'Should I just put my head down, get on with my studies, and ignore the fact that if I was in Gaza my university would have just been bombed and attempts to send aid being blocked by the claim that it would just fuel Hamas' terrorism???'
Two issues here. How much work you do is your problem. On the other hand, given that your uni has *not* been bombed, the best thing to do might be to make the best of that situation and appreciate what you have. As for sending aid - given that aid to Africa has OFTEN OFTEN OFTEN been intercepted by corrupt governments and used to buy guns, this is a real problem, and considering the issue should not be seen as neglecting the Palestinian people. Putting money into solving the original cause of the problem might be more effective than on-the-ground aid. Not that I'm suggesting how that might be achieved, as I firmly believe that the whole lot of them are eternally fucked, til death do they part.
The CUSU consitution mandates it to represent the social rights of students *in any country*.
ReplyDeleteThere's going to be some talks this Thursday on the point of education and the responsibility of the academic community to speak out. You might like to attend. Will put an advertisement up.
What's to stop CUSU and the university representing us as students, i.e. people with flexible timetables and whose role is pretty much to think and form opinions, to our government???
You have to look back at the history of the situation and how we've got to where we are today and make an effort to understand the mentalities of both sides before you can decide what to do. 'Nothing at all based on a simplified understanding of the situation' is not the most productive idea... A debate on Tuesday, *in Queens* hopefully, might also be of interest...