A lot has occurred in the past three weeks globally, much
less so locally, and one personal achievement that I cannot address in this
iteration. One the one hand you could say that there has been a complete
direction change of a nation posed on the brink of war, to one that has
returned to a state of normalcy; however, to assume that is completely
inaccurate.
While it is true that the reservists that were called up
came from all over the country, and for the first time in quite a while sirens
blared in in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, sending people running in confusion,
moments after normalcy had already returned. Despite a bus being bombed on the
final day of the escalation, major operations did not change. Busses continued
to run, trains still bolted about. There are three groups who were truly
affected by the shelling and rocket fire:
- The Israel’s who live in the south (Jewish, Muslim, and
others), who were forced to live essentially the duration of the operation out
of a bomb shelter. The same people who the world acknowledges in passing everyone
in a while over the past decade.
- No attempt can be made to be fair without addressing the
population of the Gaza Strip, who suffered from Israeli Air Strikes, and a
power outage caused by fire from Gaza.
- The last party that was significantly affected was Hamas,
but unlike the other two, they did not suffer. Rather, if anything they have
been emboldened by the compromise. Claiming victory, with celebratory gunfire,
and a rocket or two sent across the border, their grip of power has likely been
strengthened, and the lack of a significant Israeli response has perhaps given
them an air of deterrence.
But for all intents and purposes, a semblance of tense peace
has returned to Israel while many thousands of people are killed unrecognized
in Syria, continuing hostilities in the Congo, hundreds of thousands of
displaced peoples in Mali, a suicide bomber attacking a church in Nigeria, and
the Jobbik Party of Hungary calling for lists to be made up of its Jews. So while
the world focuses on individual topics of interest (and not necessarily by
importance), the rest of the world burns.
I do not mean to say that tragedies are unimportant, but
rather I critique the international news networks, and its viewer base. I
suppose some people may be a bit surprised that I have not addressed the recent
tragedy in the United States specifically; however, this is specifically what I
mean to critique. There have been enough pictures and rants, interviews with
children and quotes relating to the shooting flooding every open space of the ignoble
and contemptible sensationalist media, and twisted and purveyed at times with
hidden agendas across the social networking sites. All I have to add to the overfilled
pool is that may peace find all in need of solace, and a comforting hand to all
those who tremble.
I fear that I had not intended to write all of that. But in
the words of the Doctor, it got away from me, yeah. Next time a more selfish
post with news about my first conference.
Until then,
Your Traveler
