Lives lost and shattered in both Israel and in the Gaza strip have created a deep sense of horror, and people worldwide are in deep shock and anger as pictures of grieving women, bloodied bodies being carried by stern-faced men make many people recoil in grief.
The repercussions have reverberated on both sides of the Atlantic, and the heated rhetoric has unleashed forces of prejudice, ignorance, and hate. THe first casualty has occurred in the stabbing death of a 6- year old boy in a quiet suburb of Chicago on Saturday, when he and his mother were confronted by their landlord whose anger was fueled, said his wife, by listening to conservative right wing media.
The tragic death of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the knifing of his mother Hanaan Shahin gave a face to the darker forces of war, long simmering resentment, a breakdown in central government of a sovereign nation creating an opportunity for an attack that led to shootings, hostage takings, and other assaults too numerous, and horrendous to name.
American liberal clergyman Harry Emerson Fosdick, once said, “The tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst,” and the events that have unfolded in nearly three weeks have caused great anguish, pain, and prayers for peace in what seems to be an unsolvable dilemma that will have repercussions on an unknown horizon, as the “best” is the willful creation and use of weapons of mass destructions.
The irony of the tragedy In Plainfield, Il, was that the boy’s mother when confronted by her hate fueled landlord, screaming about the attacks, and verbally assaulting her, because she was Muslim, simply responded, “Let’s pray for peace,” whereupon she was knifed.
Peace seems a long range hope, and the intersection of the twinned evils of hatred and ignorance, amply fueled by a distorted right wing media, has now taken the life of a little boy by a man who previously bought him toys and built him a treehouse culminated in a deep wail of horror.
Set against the background of violence, both in Illinois and in the Middle East is the political alliance between Israel and the United States, as well as Iran supporting Hamas, and in Lebanon, Hezbollah. These alliances with each taking sides will need much more than the proverbial cooler heads to prevail.
Fears of repercussions in the region are justified, and taking sides, for either side of the conflict,has created a firestorm in social media, and unfortunately misinformation and pictures of long ago conflicts, some as far back as 2013, have added to regional tensions.
Facing an uncertain future US President Joe Biden has assured Israel of its longtime commitment to an alliance, but as Air Force Once approached Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah II, and President Mohammed Abbas, a terrible attack took place Tuesday on a hospital sponsored by the Anglican (Episcopal) Church of Jerusalem. Hundreds were injured, and those being treated for inflicted wounds were accompanied by those seeking shelter creating a perfect storm of misery, and the meeting was canceled.
In an address on Wednesday, the president said that the hospital explosion was from a radicalized group within the Palestine region, but there are doubts as to the veracity of that assertion, since the analysis was done by Israel.
Biden has come into his fair share of criticism for standing by Israel, and perhaps that is why he emphasized in his speech that Hamas did not represent all Palestinians. Taking a careful path, he has to face a reelection and also those who simply do not like him, despite his record of achievement, and will look for any excuse to damage his presidency.
Straddling that divide has also created tension in the White House among the executive staff, as Huffington Post Politics recently pointed out:
“Several staffers across multiple agencies, most of whom work on national security issues, told HuffPost they and their colleagues worry about retaliation at work for questioning Israel’s conduct amid the U.S.-backed Israeli campaign to avenge an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, that killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
The fear is especially intense among staffers with Muslim backgrounds. On Sunday, presidential personnel office chief Gautam Raghavan organized a call with close to a dozen current and former high-level Muslim appointees to discuss their concerns. Some staffers said they felt unsafe voicing their opinions around colleagues, according to a person on the call, which has not been previously reported.”
In the local Palestinian community the anger is palpable, and in a statement released by the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN they said:
“We also want to make it clear - this attack on Hanaan and Wadea, leading to Wadea’s murder, was caused by anti-Palestinian sentiment in the U.S. and all over the media this past week. Politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, have helped to embolden racist beliefs against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims by passing anti-Palestinian resolutions, including our own city council members in Chicago, and uplifting law enforcement’s calls for “heightened awareness” of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in U.S. neighborhoods.”
Singling out major US media, in both print and online, it has become apparent to them that the air is burdened with the aforementioned hate and rhetoric, and the misinformation since the attacks on Israel have led to the death of an innocent little boy.
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