War in the Middle East

     Talk about foreshadowing. 
     Friday, I was digging through a box in the basement when I came across this framed poster, an old newsstand card from decades past. I didn't take it as any kind of augury. But it turned out to be. 
     Everything old is new again. Saturday morning the world awoke to a surprise attack on Israel from Hamas terrorists — only the New York Times calls them "militants" — firing thousands of rockets into Israel, infiltrating its southern border, gunning down civilians in the street, in their homes, kidnapping women and children and taking them back to Gaza. At least 600 Israelis killed, over 1,000 wounded, with Palestinians reporting at least 300 dead. On Sunday, Israel officially declare a state of war. 
     "War in Israel" was not on my calamity bingo card. But there it was, big as God, immediately turned into a political talking point. Donald Trump blamed Joe Biden — the recent unlocking of Iranian assets of course paid for the rockets.  A complete fabrication, of course. The money is still sitting in Qatar. But when did that ever stop him? 
     Far left sorts were worse, holding the unprovoked attack up as a reminder that all of Gaza and the West Bank must immediately be handed over to the Palestinians — the latest massive slaughter being a sign of their desire for peace, I suppose. As if a separate state would end it, as pulling out of Gaza in 2005 hadn't prompted the first rocket attacks. Or to go back further, Jordan and Egypt controlled all of those territories in 1967; didn't prevent them from massing to attack Israel. Yet some people chose to begin history with the latest Israeli counter-strike. Why is that, do you suppose?

      Their thinking seems to be: if only the Jews weren't living where they are now, why, everything would be great. Because they just ... don't ... belong. Both the Nazis and half the sophomores in America come to the same conclusion. The former viewed it as compassion for themselves, and the latter, as compassion for others, though a very selective compassion. 

      The thing to remember about talk of a independent Palestinian state is that Palestinians have never suggested that such a thing will be enough, or result in peace. They had the chance for a state, and said no. We're living in the aftermath of that blunder. Attacking one of the most advanced militaries in the world won't help them toward that end. I imagine they did it because Iran told them to. Maybe the new understanding with Saudi Arabia had to be strangled in the cradle somehow. 
      Speaking for myself, I couldn't help but wonder how much Benjamin Netanyahu's assault on Israeli democracy this past year might have to do with the nation being completely blindsided by this massive attack. When he was undercutting the judiciary, Israeli reservists were threatening not to serve a tyranny, and everyone was talking how this would undercut military readiness, which should make military readiness being in fact undercut not so much of a shock. 

     Something we need to bear in mind. A nation in crisis, tearing itself apart, is not a vigilant nation. Rather it is distracted, vulnerable. We in the United States might want to remember that in mid-November, when our government shuts down again.  We can ignore outside threats; that doesn't mean outside threats will ignore us. Israel has been reminded of that, the hard way.