Blind Faith, Blind Rage and Genocide
Supplying the vast majority of Israel's weapons makes US complicity in Gaza undeniable
From a poem by Minister Howard Arnold Walter
I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.
Some years ago I had a partnership as a graphic designer with a small public relations firm. We worked together for a decade on hundreds of projects for a well-known Fortune 500 client. The owner and I came to have great trust in each other. I’ll call him Larry. He paid me well in appreciation of design work that helped him retain his most important client. In our long relationship we became friends, which led to socializing with Larry, his wife, my girlfriend and me. I'll always remember the first night we had them over for dinner. The subject of religion came up, a subject I avoid for the passion and misunderstandings that can result, jeopardizing relationships.
However, religion did come up that evening. I believe Larry and his wife were Lutheran, although I don’t recall for certain. What I do remember is the shock Larry had when I revealed I’m an atheist. He wondered how I could have become a “good” person, without having been grounded in religion. I answered by saying something to the effect of, “There are other ways to understand what is ethical and moral. My parents taught me ethics, tolerance and kindness by example and with their words. These are values which should be universal that transcend the details of faith.” Tragically, regardless of what should be common wisdom, as I write the slaughter in Gaza and additional violence on the West Bank continue, a subversion of morality no matter religious belief. The running count can be found here. As of today:
Gaza casualties
At least 28,775 people killed, including more than 12,300 children and 8,400 women
More than 68,552 injured, including at least 8,663 children and 6,327 women
More than 7,000 missing
Occupied West Bank casualties
At least 395 people killed, including more than 105 children,
More than 4,450 injured
The main subject of my writing is the climate crisis, a threat to humanity which I regard as equal to or perhaps now greater than the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Writing about war was not a goal when I started this endeavor, but I can’t turn my eyes away from the reduction of the Gaza Strip to dust, a tiny piece of land merely 25 miles long (41 kilometers) and varying width of 3.7 to 7.5 miles (6 to 12 kilometers). With 2.1 million people trapped in it and their backs to the Mediterranean Sea, it’s a shooting gallery.
The toothless International Court of Justice imposed “provisional” measures requesting Israel cease all activities that could constitute genocide after South Africa brought charges, but Israel has continued its attack. Now, more than half of Gaza's population, approximately 1.4 million people, half of them children are packed in Rafah at the Egyptian border, normally a community of 280,000, with nowhere left to run. Egypt has threatened to suspend the countries’ 40-year peace accord. Biden has said the US will not support a full-scale assault on Rafah unless Israel can carry out a “credible plan” to evacuate civilians in the line of fire. That sounds conveniently open to interpretation to me.
I certainly recognize the Hamas attack on Israeli citizens. After all, 1,139 people died and at least 8,730 were injured. I can understand the rage, but the response has been grotesque, and we must recognize that Gaza has been a blockaded open air prison since 2005, besieged by poverty, food insecurity, and high unemployment and suicide rates. If you kick your dog over and over again, it becomes vicious. There was reason for that violence.
Many Israeli citizens are sickened by this carnage and protesting, as are people all over the world, to the credit of humanity.
What’s the motivation for this wholesale slaughter? What’s the motivation for this ghastly abuse of human rights and international law? The usual, resources.
The Mediterranean Sea contains vast gas deposits. Egypt and Israel have been producing gas in the eastern Mediterranean for years. Located roughly 81 miles west of Haifa, (130 kilometers) in waters 4,900 feet deep (1,500 meters), according to the US Geological Survey’s estimates the Levant Basin Province holds an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Located just 20 miles (30 kilometers) off the coast of Gaza, the Gaza Marine field holds just over 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, tiny by comparison. However, its proximity to the shore and lesser depth make it easier and less costly to extract. The net value of the Gaza Marine natural gas is estimated at $4.59 billion — energy and financial resources that could significantly address the poverty of the Palestinians.
However, Israel has worked steadfastly to prevent Palestinians from developing and benefiting from this resource in violation of international law since the early 2000s.
So in addition to dehumanizing Palestinians with words like, “We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly... there will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. Everything is closed,” as spoken by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on October 9, this is a Middle East resource war as usual, motivated to keep Palestinians powerless. The Hamas attack gave Netanyahu the perfect excuse to launch this brutal scorched earth campaign.
Of course, the resource itself is a killer, destined to heat the planet further, another form of insanity. We could have started weaning off fossil fuels 50 years ago, when Exxon funded its own scientists to research the effects of expelling massive amounts of carbon and methane into the atmosphere. We could have avoided this human tragedy. Instead, we’re experiencing their predictions today, with the natural systems of the planet that sustain us collapsing.
Still, we drill. It’s evil, ignorant, sheer lust for wealth and power.
Something I have wondered for a long time is how can “Thou shalt not kill,” be sixth in the Ten Commandments? That seems like the foremost principle to me.
I also have a problem with:
“… let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Isn’t this the very thinking that is ruining our planet? How we have conveniently misinterpreted these words.
After creating a place of such beauty and wonder, after giving us everything we need for fruitful, meaningful lives, I doubt what God meant for us to do was to run rampant over his creation with the cruelty of industrialized agriculture, dredging the bottom of the ocean with nets as big as 747s, and unmanned drones and tank shells raining hell from the sky on the babies and children. I doubt he meant destroying habitat to the point of extinction, or for our children’s bodies to accumulate dozens of chemical compounds before they're even born in their mother’s wombs. Our behavior is simply indefensible.
Recently, I read a Robert Reich article titled, Children in Gaza: Why aren’t we stopping the deaths?
In the commentary section of the essay, a person said, “… Israel's military is not dependent on our assistance.” Unfortunately, this person was terribly misinformed. In fact, 92 percent of Israel’s weaponry comes from the United States. That’s from a major Israeli publication, The Times of Israel, in February 2022.
Furthermore, American political scientist, author and senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, where his work focuses on the arms industry and US military budget William Hartung wrote recently in The Nation, “Israel’s arsenal, and its arms industry, are by and large made in, and financed by, the USA.”
From Vox, a month after the war began:
Israel would not be able to conduct this war without the US, which over time has provided Israel with about 80 percent of the country’s weapons imports. Israel is using them as part of its large-scale military operation that has so far killed over 11,000 Palestinians and destroyed hospitals and civilian infrastructure. While it is the Israeli Defense Forces doing the killing, the extent of US aid has raised serious questions about American culpability. “Providing weapons that knowingly and significantly would contribute to unlawful attacks can make those providing them complicit in war crimes,” Human Rights Watch said.
Complicit indeed, but not in my name and not in yours either. Shame on our leaders for enabling this bloodbath. Be brave, for there is much to dare. Look at these people (short video), world over daring, risking, speaking out. They make me proud and give me hope. This difficult time is an opportunity to create change, but we must fight for it. Every human right we enjoy has been hard won for those of us fortunate enough to have them, and the forces to deprive us of them are eternal.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting my work.
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.
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.