Perhaps he was curious as to the reception of charged images as part of the propaganda that is so clearly linked with both sides of such conflicts, regardless of morality - clearly he has stirred some polarised views in this thread, directed at him, where, other than posting some pictures with a 'what do you think' feel to them, he has not supported or decried either camp.
Clearly some opinions see it otherwise.
There are plenty of links posted in this forum with no view or opinion attached, and no-one really complains about that, or the context of the links/articles, so why is it that all the toys are grasped, ready to throw out of the pram, when anything to do with the state of Israel is involved?
Some of you guys are far to ready to shoot first and ask question later.
For the record, the killing of unarmed men, women and children is an offence to humanity, irrespective of who is behind the trigger. Justifying such deaths as some how
necessary or acceptable as part of some larger event is just cold.
Who's to say what the circumstances really are? A picture paints a thousand words, as they say, and comparing two images from either end of an ideological perspective is at best emotive, and at worst divisive (as some of this topic clearly shows).
However, context or not, there are some people in the world who see some quite stark similarities with both sets of images. If we ignore the ideology of the nazis or the state of israel (notice I do not use 'jews' in this context as we are dealing with a government and not a people or creed here) there are some equally shocking events that have more than a passing similarity as they were captured on film as a still image.
To suggest that these images have no relevance to the current ME situation or that it is somehow an attack on the jewish nation is disingenuous at best.
All too often the cry of intolerance or anti-semitism is trundled out and ends up completely overtaking the original point; which is the same for governments all over the world. Refuting a political and ideological government policy is not racist or anti semitic, nor is it anti palestinian or anti islamic, just as the oposite of these is not pro-israeli, or pro-palestinian, or pro-islamic, despite what agitators would try and convince otherwise.
It is true to say that the nazi state murdered many many jews as part of some gross ideology.
It is true to say that the state of israel has murdered many civilian palestinians, both by military means and economic sanctions to create a state separate and of its own, inviolate.
It is true to say that many palestinian and islamic extremists have murdered many israelis for reasons just as obscene as any nazi belief.
So who is 'right' and 'just' in their actions and who is wrong and evil?
They all are. And it always depends on who you ask about whom.
There is no right or wrong in my opinion, there's just disparate groups of people killing each other for some goal that is as insane as any other since time began.
There's certainly no denying the fear and bloodshed of both sets of images - comparing them as a means to support an ideology is subtle and invidious, however. Something which all parties are guilty of. That they both show pain and suffering seems almost beside the point, is lost in the melee that inevitably follows...
Blood feuds, matters of right and wrong and just cause have ceased to have any meaning in real terms. To those caught up in the turmoil an image of a child's severed head is just more fuel for the fires of their cause. The means have become the end, as it were. Endless, perpetual and truly a disgusting account of what we are capable of and willing to wholeheartedly embrace for so long that no-one knows or cares 'who started it' or understands why. In this case, all for some sun baked dirt steeped in religious ideology.
What a waste of time and hope, all of the lives spent for so little cost.
As you might see, I truly do not understand why this continues in the way it does. The only explanation is that humans are insane and the price of our insanity is blood, flowing in rivers out of the past and into our future with no end in sight.
Perhaps I only think this way because I don't live in such a place. But that means I am just as insane given the right circumstances, as anyone forced to live under fear and tyranny.
Sorry chaps, that got very bleak all of a sudden
One thing is sure, our reactions to such horrors often say a great deal more about each of us than we successfully articulate ourselves. Maybe that's where we fail so badly at understanding each other?
05-25-11, 01:58 PM
Threaded Mode