Like Patron, Like Plebe

The New York Times reports that an Israeli armored personnel carrier was destroyed in Gaza by either a mine or bomb. Hamas claims it was a missile that hit the vehicle, killing six soldiers. Seems like they learned a thing or two from the Iraqi resistance.

The response from the Israeli Occupation Force was to blast away with a helicopter gunship, killing at least six, including three small children.

If a house in on fire, the last thing you want to do is throw gasoline on it--but tell that to Ariel Sharon. The cycle of violence is now as much a part of the landscape as the scrub vegetation and olive trees. Killing children affects the mind in a way that few of us can genuinely relate to. As the brain becomes inured to horrific scenes, I don't doubt that tactics like suicide bombings begin to seem justified.

Sadder still is the mindset that thinks either "they deserve it," or "they've been fighting each other for generations." Slightly off topic, I recall an antiwar march I went to in New Orleans last year. Ending up in Jackson Square, an individual asked if he could look at my sign, which was a photograph of a twelve year old Iraqi girl, with the caption, "Is this the enemy?" This person looked at it and told me, yes, he thought she was--because she would grow up to hate the United States.

Well, considering what we've done in Iraq, why shouldn't she? Likewise, twelve year old Palestinian boys and girls see the damage brought about by the Israeli army, and no doubt develop a burning anger. The cycle of violence continues. Human life becomes cheap.

And we all lose as a result.