#884 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday March 22)
Good morning,
Another potpourri…
BOOKS I MISSED
I’ve been sending around my compilations of best books of the decades. Sometimes I miss one. Here is Rick Rothman’s note on a glaring omission of a seminal book (despite some of the science not quite measuring up):
“I think your sixties book list below missed an important one: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. It’s impact on the environmental movement was significant and it is just as relevant today as it was 60 years ago.”
ANOTHER VIEW OF HAMAS AND OCTOBER 7TH
Providing a platform for a friend, who questions reliance of Hamas reports of civilian deaths and who is concerned with a double standard wielded against Israel:
“Please do not reveal my name so I don't get canceled or beheaded…
Hamas civilian casualty numbers have not been trustworthy in past conflicts. In previous skirmishes in Gaza, most of the people killed were Hamas operatives. Hamas does not differentiate between its soldiers and civilians when reporting the numbers of dead. This is intentional, designed to manipulate outsiders into believing a greater number of civilians have been killed.
Whatever the number of civilian casualties, it is tragic. However, much of the blame should be cast upon Hamas rather than Israel. Hamas did everything it could to stop their human shield citizens from evacuating the fighting zone, including shooting at them. Israel had to use its own soldiers to open a corridor so that civilians could leave the area. Hamas attempted to close this corridor but were thwarted.
…One of the definitions of antisemitism is applying a double standard to vilify Israel, one which isn't applied to other countries. During the civil war in Yemen, Wikipedia cites an article stating that 150,000 Yemenites have been killed. Many of these people were killed directly by American weapons in the hands of the Saudis. The US killed 20,000 in Iraq in the first 3 weeks of that war. Britain and the US killed at least 600,000 German civilians in WWII.
There are no protests in Europe, the US or Australia about the Saudi atrocities in Yemen, which are an order of magnitude higher than what is being seen in Gaza. The vitriolic protests against Israel's actions in this war meet the double standard definition of antisemitism– especially given the obvious Israeli attempts to minimize civilian casualties while Hamas intentionally puts its citizens in harm’s way. Besides preventing its citizens from leaving fighting areas, Hamas operates from hospitals, ambulances, mosques and schools. Hamas hopes for civilian "martyrs" to cause the world to react negatively toward Israel.
…We see large numbers of young people pushing the Hamas narrative and attending marches. They fail to condemn the racist vitriol in many of these marches. Moreover, do these young people ever protest against Hamas, which has tortured children and used rape as an instrument of war? Do they consider the hypocrisy of calling Israel genocidal while ignoring that Hamas states it is genocidal?
Leaders of Hamas have publicly stated that they will commit October 7 types of atrocities again in the future. They have called for annihilation of Israel on multiple occasions. This intense hatred of Jews has now infected the Palestinian populations for both the West Bank and Gaza…”
MULTIPLE IDEAS HELD SIMULTANEOUSLY
The only thing I will say to the above is that it is possible to believe the following at the same time:
The Hamas attacks were vile and cannot be defended.
Israel had to respond to obtain release of hostages and to neutralize Hamas
Israel’s response has been excessive.
Gazan civilians have suffered.
Hamas is largely responsible for the magnitude of civilian casualties. And some civilians were supportive of Hamas.
No country can occupy land indefinitely and without civil rights granted to the occupants
WHAT WILL NOT SET US FREE
I believe our political system doesn’t have the will or the structural integrity to solve our problems. I don’t believe further advances in technology, particularly information technology, will solve our problems. To the contrary, technology will increase and exacerbate our problems. The technology behemoths are motivated by profits, which are achieved through ad sales, which itself is achieved by keeping people scrolling and triggered by provocative commentary.
It is, instead, the responsibility of legislators, regulators, ethicists, social scientists, and lawyers to help map out how we want to respond to the challenges of technology.
Have a great day,
Glenn