Yesterday, the UN Security Council adopted a toothless resolution that calls for speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid to desperate civilians in Gaza, but stops short of calling for an actual ceasefire. These humanitarian groups can only hope that their shipments of precious supplies get across the border safely, but there’s no such hope for the people still living in the ruins of what used to be Gaza’s neighborhoods.
This near-useless UN resolution was adopted on the same day as more than 90 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes. Among those killed was Issam al-Mughrabi, a veteran employee of the UN’s Development Program, who was martyred along with his wife and their five kids. I’m quite certain the UN will eventually release some statement about how tragic this loss is, but how they’re actually powerless to have helped him or his family in any meaningful way.
It’s all part of the same genocidal playbook. What’s happening today is precisely what happened during the Nakba back in 1948. First the Israelis drove out the Palestinians with atrocities and mass murder. Then they demolished the Palestinian homes and villages, building settlements over their ruins. Then they denied that Palestinians had ever been there or that they ever existed.
This playbook also features an obvious pattern of Israel causally carrying out war crimes and ethnic cleansing while western leaders and outlets remove these crimes from any sort of historical context and debate whether or not it technically qualifies as an atrocity and questioning what is a genocide really. Every ludicrous claim spouted by the apartheid state is taken as gospel and broadcast in the west as if the governing regime has never been caught in a lie before. Only months later, after publications like the Washington Post and the New York Times provide detailed investigations and analysis refuting the so-called Israeli evidence, does the western world whisper a little “oopsies, guess we got that wrong”.
At this point, to believe any of the lies being broadcast by the apartheid regime is evidence of either extreme gullibility or outright stupidity. You be the judge. No politician who supports the ongoing genocide of Palestinians should enjoy even a moment's peace until they either reverse their unconscionable stance or die from the shame. Their public and private life should feel miserable every single day that they choose to maintain their backing for ethnic cleansing. There’s nothing respectable about their position, so our response need not be respectful in the slightest.
Side Items
Biden’s Futility: In a transparently desperate attempt to win back some approval, President Joey B announced that he's issuing a federal pardon to every American who has used marijuana in the past, including those who were never arrested or prosecuted. Context Alert: there is literally nobody in federal prison for simple possession. This is yet another symbolic gesture from the Biden administration to try and get folks to forget that he’s actively supporting a genocide
Swifties Ruthless Capitalism: This article articulates some of the issues with Taylor Swift’s specific brand of “poptimism”, the idea that hiding endless consumption behind a thin veneer of feminist empowerment makes her immune to critique. Admittedly she’s had a few bangers over the years, but nothing can excuse her undying commitment to playing the victim while raking in the spoils of grubby capitalism
Zuckerberg’s Kingdom: This article exposes Mark Zuckerberg as the feudal overlord he is. The former tech genius isn’t exploring new ways of living or trying to improve the lives of anyone but himself. He is nothing but a basic looter of society, a petty overlord hiding in his various castles, incapable and uninterested in imagining anything but an endless siege and perennial wealth hoarding