Well, What Are You Going to do About Blogging?

That's the question that always gets asked. Okay, sure genocide is bad - but how would you solve it? Everybody knows that you're not permitted to complain unless you have an answer. Unless you have a comprehensive and complete solution to the problems in the Middle East, you cannot say shit about rounding people up into tents in a designated "humanitarian safe zone" and then dropping bombs on it.

The pathetic part of this ridiculous "gotcha" is that the anti-war folks do have a comprehensive and complete solution to it. It's actually one of the slogans. End The Occupation. FFS, it's even the fucking godamned official policy of just about everyone involved. The Two-State Solution is essentially ending the occupation! There's an answer - it's so obvious that everybody endorses it. Even Israel, in its genocidal mania, claims to endorse it.

So what gives? Why are we stuck? Well because despite claiming to back a Two State Solution, Israel has been approving more illegal settlements on occupied territory. Because the government of Israel is filled with eliminationist supremacists who dream of a Greater Israel that has been ethnically cleansed to their satisfaction. This is why they view "from the river to the sea" as a genocidal slogan - because that is how they use it and it is their own position.

That's not the only reason. If it were just that there was one nation with aggressive regional domination aspirations, fueled by murderously racist ideology - that would get shut down. The international "rules based order" would limit the harm such a regime could inflict - with sanctions and ostracism and denial of access to the global community. But in this case - it doesn't. And that is primarily because of the United States of America. The US veto on the Security Council is the most obvious sign of this, but those come only after a lot of concerted lobbying and behind the scenes work influencing other nations to turn a blind eye to genocide.

That's the real problem here. We have a set of rules in place, and sure - they are not perfect. But even imperfect rules are better than "might makes right".

We don't have control over US policy decisions. So, what can we do? Well - it is the exact same situation as Israel's constant violations of international law. Israel does this with impunity because they know the US administration will shield them from consequences. So there's the crime that needs to be addressed - the US administration providing comfort and shelter and material aid to war criminals. Which they do with the expectation of it costing them nothing, or at least not very much at all.

On the ground level - this means not supporting genocide enablers. Yes, I know "Orange Man Bad". And it is a very reasonable assumption to make that he will be even worse than Biden on Israel-Palestine. But it's genocide. Surely this is the red line that cannot be crossed.

It was way back in November that the 99% Hitler meme was born. The original tweet has been deleted, but it's a piece of internet canon lore now. And to be clear - what's happening in Gaza is truly horrific, but it is not anything like Nazi Germany. The Holocaust was far far worse. BUT - a couple months ago, I would have had a third or fourth "far" in that statement. In November, 99% Hitler was so hyperbolic and outrageous that people treated it like a joke. And even now, it is still hyperbolic and outrageous. But also, a lot less funny now.

Yes, Orange Man Bad. He really is. And Biden is far better. This is true. But if this is the choice - then shit is so fucked up and broken that real change is necessary. The best commentary I've seen on 99% Hitler is this. If you need to choose between Hitler and 1% less bad Hitler - you're morally obligated to choose "fuck this shit. Fold it until it is all sharp corners and shove it up your arse."

Everyone has their lines in different places. We all have our own priorities and perspectives. To use the shorthand of the meme, it's quite obvious that Biden is not 99% Hitler and Trump is not 100% Hitler. And if there were a magical Hitler-o-meter, it's also fucking plainly obvious that Trump would rate a much higher percentage Hitler than Joe. But when the system gives you the choice between "a bit Hitler-y" and "somewhat more than a bit Hitler-y" - you need to burn the system down.

I don't like slippery slope arguments - I think you need to address issues on their merits.  And I accept that the current state of affairs does not rise to demanding revolution. But it does warrant something - some response. Perhaps that response could just be "stop defending the genoicde enablers". Is that asking too much?