Of course the United States abstained from voting on the UN Security Council Resolution to halt the fighting in Gaza. Of course. What was their excuse?
"Well...we...have Jews here...that...are...powerful, I guess. And we're afraid to ever cross Israel, because we know our Jews will bring up the Holocaust again and say everybody hates them and that will put us in an awkward spot. We're not really sure why they need to have a homeland, since Judaism is a religion, and religion knows no national borders...and furthermore, we're not sure why they had to pick the place where a bunch of other people were living and already worshipping...but we support them anyway and give them money and weapons and have their back no matter how many other countries go against them for justified reasons, and no matter how many lives this alliance costs the United States."
I think the REAL reason, however, is that they have total props for the Israeli army's style.
It reminds them of some of their own best efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and...just about every country in South/Central America.
Here are some sample facts and figures:
- Women and children make up 40% of the 750 dead so far; 257 of them being children
- Over 1500 women and children are injured; 1080 of them being children
- The other day, 41 civilians were killed when a UN school was targeted
- Civilians are trapped and deprived of food and water for days
- Red Cross aid workers keep being accidentally killed by Israeli troops, so they are temporarily abandoning their efforts to help the 20,000 displaced Palestinians
Here is my favorite slice of the New York Times article on this:
“Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp,” Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said in an interview published Wednesday in Il Sussidiaro.
He defended his comments in the center-left Italian daily La Repubblica on Thursday. While noting that Hamas rockets into Israel were “certainly not sugared almonds,” he called the situation in Gaza “horrific.” Israel sharply condemned the cardinal’s use of World War II imagery. “We are astounded that a spiritual dignitary would have such words that are so far removed from truth and dignity,” said Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
The Vatican sought to play down the remarks, calling them inopportune.
Two thoughts:
1. "Inopportune?" That is a great response. You would have to be the Vatican to get away with that one. So...they're not saying it was not a good comparison, it was just delivered at the wrong time (when reporters were around?). That is their way of 'apologizing.' The Catholics vs. the Jews! It's on! Finally!
2. It might not be like a concentration camp, but it does seem comparable to a ghetto. So...the WWII imagery is not that far off. Palestinians were trapped behind military barricades, foreigners were allowed to leave, and then the Israeli troops started killing off the troublesome ones that fight back, as well as anybody else they feel like; aid workers cannot get in to help, people are starving to death in the streets, children are wasting away alongside their mother's corpses. The only thing that makes it not like WWII is that the persecuted are not Jews, gays, or gypsies. Does that mean it doesn't count?
Well, I think the soap box just caved in, so I'd better find something else to do with myself...
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