There is so much to lose sleep over these days. I truly intended to stick to climate change as my subject, but the horror of Palestine just can't be ignored. It's terrifying and ultimately can happen to any one of us, a failure of conscience, and probably a pathology of a great many who desire and ascend to power. Your comment is appreciated, thank you, I expect to lose some subscribers over this one, but maybe I'll gain a few, too. We must stand together.
Hi Geoffrey (and Lynn D). Sorry to barge in on this comment, but after just becoming a paid subscriber to your Substack (so that I can comment), I'm having the same problem with leaving a comment that I did with Jessica Wildfire. There is no space at the top or bottom of "Comments" for me to begin a new one. It's all "crushed together." Can you help?
Robin, thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber, deeply appreciated. Your comment in this thread appears on my end uncrushed, no problems. There are so many things that could cause your issue, I couldn't begin to guess. Maybe clear your browser cache, or quit and restart it?
What I wanted to say is something that's been on my mind since the war started. I'm Jewish. Lost both sides of my family (great-grandparents) in the Holocaust. I've been sickened and sleepless, too. But today I heard an ex-IDF person talking about how there was no way those Hamas terrorist could have gotten through the fence without IDF knowing it (and how they should have been able to stop it almost instantly if they did). I've also heard that Netanyahu had intelligence that such an attack was coming for months. Knowing what we know about him (and what his goals are), it's hard to imagine this, but I don't put it past him to sacrifice 1,300 innocent Israelis, in order to have an excuse to start this war and decimate Gaza (once and for all) and kill most of the population. And I can't stop thinking about all that natural gas off the Gaza coast.$$$$.
I am sorry to hear about your great-grandparents. WWII and the Holocaust had an impact on my life. My first awareness came as a child playing on the floor. My parents were watching a documentary. I don't know if the images were Berlin, Dresden, or what, but they were terrible, ruins from bombing. A man crutching across the screen missing a leg made me burst into tears. I ended up reading a lot about WWII as a teen, and the images of the concentration camps and bulldozers are indelibly burned into my mind. To think that Israel has been repeating some of the crimes that were perpetrated on Jews just a handful of generations ago is heartbreaking. It only takes one sociopath whether it's, Mussolini, Stalin, Netanyahu, Hitler, or Trump to lead an entire country off the cliff with the right circumstances, some voluntarily, the rest by the coercion of fear. History shows a willingness for such people to sacrifice others for their goals. Along with hatred, those natural gas fields look a powerful motive. The carving up of the Middle East by colonial powers has been a corporate victory built on human sacrifice.
I also find it unfathomable that as nasty as I think Netanyahu is, that our sense of “ world order” and commitment to the world versus our own personal interests - that our sense of civilization is so distorted. But I too thought ahh, that it explains it when I heard about the oil and gas fields.
Take good care of your hearts everyone, this is going to be a difficult time. And thank you, Geoffrey Deihl,for putting out this Substack
Geoff: Thank you for your thoughts and writing. Always informative and scary- Life is scary!
What about the wider regional motives for a war in Gaza that includes Houthi supporters and is driven by greed at the expense of the climate? I recently read; the so called religious motivation of the Houthi; is debunked by the following: Houthis have cemented their control over much of northern Yemen.. they seek to formalize that role and gain access to Yemen’s oil and gas resources.
Is this an extension of the Houthi's real motivation? Why is religion and it's control over human behavior so destructive and often devoid of reality for the good of humanity?
I see the inextricable links to why we face the climate crisis, as do you.
Beautiful article. Obviously the USA and Israel planned this Gaza genocide in order to acquire Gaza's resources, such as fossil fuels. Gaza's attack on Israel gave them just the excuse they needed. I wonder how Israel and the USA were able to provoke Gaza into attacking Israel.
Thanks, I appreciate that, it was delicate to write. Hard to say what provoked Hamas to attack Israel. Their founding charter was dedicated to extinguish the existence of the state of Israel from the start, and conditions in Gaza have been truly deplorable for decades. Pretty much a powder keg. Continuous illegal settlement of the West Bank hasn't helped. While the plight of the Jews after WWII was deeply compelling and needed to be addressed, the creation of Israel has been volatile from day one. It makes me miss Carter, Begin, and Sadat, things looked hopeful then.
I don't sleep well. I'm sickened and distraught by this. Thank you for writing openly about the horrific, ongoing tragedy...that America is financing.
There is so much to lose sleep over these days. I truly intended to stick to climate change as my subject, but the horror of Palestine just can't be ignored. It's terrifying and ultimately can happen to any one of us, a failure of conscience, and probably a pathology of a great many who desire and ascend to power. Your comment is appreciated, thank you, I expect to lose some subscribers over this one, but maybe I'll gain a few, too. We must stand together.
Hi Geoffrey (and Lynn D). Sorry to barge in on this comment, but after just becoming a paid subscriber to your Substack (so that I can comment), I'm having the same problem with leaving a comment that I did with Jessica Wildfire. There is no space at the top or bottom of "Comments" for me to begin a new one. It's all "crushed together." Can you help?
Robin, thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber, deeply appreciated. Your comment in this thread appears on my end uncrushed, no problems. There are so many things that could cause your issue, I couldn't begin to guess. Maybe clear your browser cache, or quit and restart it?
What I wanted to say is something that's been on my mind since the war started. I'm Jewish. Lost both sides of my family (great-grandparents) in the Holocaust. I've been sickened and sleepless, too. But today I heard an ex-IDF person talking about how there was no way those Hamas terrorist could have gotten through the fence without IDF knowing it (and how they should have been able to stop it almost instantly if they did). I've also heard that Netanyahu had intelligence that such an attack was coming for months. Knowing what we know about him (and what his goals are), it's hard to imagine this, but I don't put it past him to sacrifice 1,300 innocent Israelis, in order to have an excuse to start this war and decimate Gaza (once and for all) and kill most of the population. And I can't stop thinking about all that natural gas off the Gaza coast.$$$$.
I am sorry to hear about your great-grandparents. WWII and the Holocaust had an impact on my life. My first awareness came as a child playing on the floor. My parents were watching a documentary. I don't know if the images were Berlin, Dresden, or what, but they were terrible, ruins from bombing. A man crutching across the screen missing a leg made me burst into tears. I ended up reading a lot about WWII as a teen, and the images of the concentration camps and bulldozers are indelibly burned into my mind. To think that Israel has been repeating some of the crimes that were perpetrated on Jews just a handful of generations ago is heartbreaking. It only takes one sociopath whether it's, Mussolini, Stalin, Netanyahu, Hitler, or Trump to lead an entire country off the cliff with the right circumstances, some voluntarily, the rest by the coercion of fear. History shows a willingness for such people to sacrifice others for their goals. Along with hatred, those natural gas fields look a powerful motive. The carving up of the Middle East by colonial powers has been a corporate victory built on human sacrifice.
I also find it unfathomable that as nasty as I think Netanyahu is, that our sense of “ world order” and commitment to the world versus our own personal interests - that our sense of civilization is so distorted. But I too thought ahh, that it explains it when I heard about the oil and gas fields.
Take good care of your hearts everyone, this is going to be a difficult time. And thank you, Geoffrey Deihl,for putting out this Substack
Geoff: Thank you for your thoughts and writing. Always informative and scary- Life is scary!
What about the wider regional motives for a war in Gaza that includes Houthi supporters and is driven by greed at the expense of the climate? I recently read; the so called religious motivation of the Houthi; is debunked by the following: Houthis have cemented their control over much of northern Yemen.. they seek to formalize that role and gain access to Yemen’s oil and gas resources.
Is this an extension of the Houthi's real motivation? Why is religion and it's control over human behavior so destructive and often devoid of reality for the good of humanity?
I see the inextricable links to why we face the climate crisis, as do you.
Beautiful article. Obviously the USA and Israel planned this Gaza genocide in order to acquire Gaza's resources, such as fossil fuels. Gaza's attack on Israel gave them just the excuse they needed. I wonder how Israel and the USA were able to provoke Gaza into attacking Israel.
Thanks, I appreciate that, it was delicate to write. Hard to say what provoked Hamas to attack Israel. Their founding charter was dedicated to extinguish the existence of the state of Israel from the start, and conditions in Gaza have been truly deplorable for decades. Pretty much a powder keg. Continuous illegal settlement of the West Bank hasn't helped. While the plight of the Jews after WWII was deeply compelling and needed to be addressed, the creation of Israel has been volatile from day one. It makes me miss Carter, Begin, and Sadat, things looked hopeful then.