Am I supposed to feel lucky that it's not my problem?
April 2024
Kam Zarrabi

There was a lingering thought burning a hole through my skull that needed to burst out, which it finally has! What triggered this explosive event was a repetitious dog food TV commercial showing individually packaged portions, each with well-balanced nutritional ingredients, which actually looked appetizing enough for human consumption. "How fortunate our pet dogs!" I thought to myself!

That picture was contrasted against the scenes on TV of the wounded and emaciated children struggling to reach meager handouts of scraps, seemingly oblivious of the dangers of bullets and bombs. Those scenes are from Gaza; but there are other equally or even more disturbing pictures coming to us from the war and famine stricken areas of the world, pictures that most of us prefer to ignore. Thanks for the dog food commercials that distract us.

From the available data, there are over 125 million humans facing starvation today: in descending order; in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Sub Saharan Africa, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Haiti. The principle causes of this human suffering are wars, internal political conflicts, poor economic management, and natural disasters or climatic conditions.

All except one, not mentioned in the above list, comprise peoples and nations that are either of the wrong color, speak some weird language, dress peculiarly, worship the wrong god, or all of the above. For those who believe that all humans were created in the image of the one and only god, they should wonder how many different images that one god must have had! A good fundamentalist could argue that if god wanted all his creation to be worthy of his favor, he would have created all as white, English speaking Christians!

But the exception mentioned above is the ongoing devastation taking place in Gaza, and that does concern us. Our heavily favored side, the most capable military power in the Middle East, aided and abetted by the world's greatest superpower, has found an excuse to finish the job of eradicating the last obstacle in the way of establishing a centuries-long dream called Eretz Yisrael, which became the ruling Likud Party's motto of "From the River to the Sea!" Yes; that was originally a Zionist call, which has now been adopted by the Palestinians; and for which they are being condemned as promoting anti-Semitism! But wait: what is Semitism in the first place? Who are the Semites? Ethno-linguistically, Semitic people include today's Arabs and Hebrews, which include Moslems, Jews and some Christians of Near and Middle East origins. Unfortunately, however, the terms Semitism and Zionism have become intertwined irreparably so that any criticism of Zionism, which means the establishment of a purely Jewish state stretching from the river - originally the Euphrates, now the Jordan River – to the Mediterranean Sea, constitutes anti-Semitism! Therefore, the Palestinians who oppose Israeli regime's attempts to wipe them out in order to create the Zionist's original dream must be self-hating Semites!

In a way, they actually could be called self-hating Semites. Any true realist would tell you that resistance against an immoveable force is self-defeating. Banging your head against a concrete block creates more headaches for yourself. And hoping for realistic help and support, and not just lip-service, from global sympathizers is a futile wishful thinking. A perfect example at the moment is the Iranian regime's vocal and material support for the beleaguered and desperate Palestinian populations in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank. Iran's proxies, such as the "mighty" Hezbollah in Lebanon, are quite capable of inflicting heavy damage to Israel, but are wisely holding back. Iran itself can pose a realistic threat to Israel's existence, as it has long been preparing for, but is in negotiations behind the scenes with Israel's patron saint, the United States, to avoid a regional catastrophe, which would involve the US forces, as well.

The truth is that Iran's sympathy and support for the Palestinian cause has had nothing to do with the Palestinian cause! The Palestinian cause has been used as a pretext for Iran's support for its proxies who could help create lines of defense or buffers against an Israeli aggression against Iran away from Iran's immediate boundaries.

Israel's patron saint, the United States, will not, or better said, cannot, break away from full support of Israel, regardless of what Israel does, and no matter how much harm this passionate attachment has caused, and is costing us to this day.

The imagery that has been masterfully created for the American nation portrays us as the bright shining beacon on the hilltop, with its miniature replica, Israel, half-way around the globe, sharing in our civilizational values and ethics that bind us together "forever and ever." Our political leaders, regardless of Party affiliation, proclaim this line at every opportunity: Seemingly they all must do that in order to remain in the beacon's shining light and to secure their positions! If you wonder why that is so; you must have just arrived here on your spaceship from Alpha Centaury!

Some of our political leaders, including the President, as well as the highest ranking Jewish politician, the Senate majority leader, are pressing the Israeli leader to back off from what they euphemistically refer to as excessive use of military force. In the same breath, they make sure that everyone understands that the reason for this cautionary notice is for Israel's own good, preventing international condemnation and isolation for committing what might be regarded as genocide, which in truth it is.

Of course, if the cautioning of the Israeli leadership were to stop the ongoing wholesale extermination of the Gazans, we could stop the shipments of arms to Israel; but more money and arms continue to flow in that direction, nonstop. One Republican member of our Congress suggested the other day that Israel should bomb Gaza like we did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and finish the job!

There are many here, some kindheartedly naïve and some cunningly shrewd, who continue to press for a Two States solution, where a Palestinian state could exist side by side with Israel. The kindhearted and naïve do not understand that neither the Palestinians, nor the Israelis, would be able to tolerate such a solution. For the Palestinians, a chopped up strip of land, policed and controlled by Israel, and with no meaningful autonomy, would be no more than an open air concentration camp, as is the West Bank today. For the Israelis, a meaningfully independent, autonomous Palestinian state next door is an unacceptable source of instability and possible terrorism, and more than anything else, an obstacle to the Zionist dream of an Eretz Yisrael! As for the cunningly shrewd, pressing for an unworkable Two States solution absolves them from the blame or the feeling of guilt for ignoring the rightful aspirations of the Palestinian nation to live in peace in a land of their own. A win-win situation; right?

And, what about a One State solution for all the current Israeli and Palestinian populations? I don't think I need to elaborate on the ridiculousness of even dreaming of such a solution. With or without a Benjamin Netanyahu or the Likud, thinking about a state where the Jewish population would be outnumbered by the Arabs in any sort of democracy, even of the apartheid type, would be absurd.

So, what is to become of the Palestinian populations after their genocidal demise? Will what is left be absorbed within other Arab countries, or might they be resettled in some place such as Uganda or, heaven forbid, in North Dakota*, or will they be flushed down the destiny's sewer system of the unwanted, like so many other dispossessed people mentioned in the third paragraph above?

*We'd want to save the North Dakota possibility for a worthier purpose. In a wild dream scenario, imagine having Israel agree to be relocated here in its daddy's embrace in the United States, in a small portion of the uninhabited area in, for example, North Dakota. The Israelis have already proven to be a resourceful, resilient people. They could make that strip of land into another Las Vegas or Hollywood in no time. Their predecessors have already done that here. They'd be safe and secure with no worries of being harassed by uncivilized Bedouins or jealous neighbors. On top of all that, we won't have to subsidize the new enclave with billions annually, or to provide it with costly military protection and worry about their security. And instead of pouring America's taxpayers' dollars down a bottomless pit, the new "51st State" will be contributing its own share of taxes to our Treasury! The biggest advantage all-round would be that the misbehavior of the child would no longer drag the father into bloody entanglements in faraway lands or create enemies who'd want to do us harm.

But I don't really believe they'd go for that; unless they could be convinced that the Promised Land offered them by Yahweh meant that their Manifest Destiny was to live here rather than in the inhospitable deserts of the Middle East. There is some hope, however: the rate of exodus of Israelis in search of more security and better opportunity has been on the rise in recent years!

Take the section after the asterisk as my April Fool's joke.