Atrocious

Israelis inspect the rubble of a building a day after it was hit by a
rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday.
(Oded Balilty/AP)

 

Politics.

It's the one thing I strive to avoid here though occasionally we have to chime in.

But human rights and such? Well, common sense indicates that it's probably wise to weigh in.

I'm frankly not smart enough to break down the Gaza-Israel Conflict nor will I try.

My greater concern is the loss of life. The death and dismembering or innocent people, often randomly.

I've seen the events of Saturday in the Middle East compared to 9/11 but on a different scale. Again, I'm not wise enough to make such statements.

No, I'm simply here to say how disconcerting it is.

War. What is it good for?

I just watched an absolutely horrible video where a young woman spoke of waking up to sirens and getting her family to a bomb shelter. They checked in via phone with the girl's grandmother and everything seemed fine. Sadly, they're used to the sirens.

A short time later, she was told to open Facebook and check her grandmother's account.

A terrorist had murdered the grandmother and uploaded video to her account. That's how this woman's family discovered she had been murdered.

There will, sadly, be other stories like this.

In another case, I watched footage of a news crew from NBC hiding from exploding mortars.

I also saw horrible images of people being taken hostage. Further images indicated those hostages had been murdered.

Words don't do any of this justice. 

Sad? Yes. Barbaric? Certainly.

Yet those and literally all of the words that I'm writing just seem so trite; they serve no purpose.

Sadly, it's all I've got.

Hamas is live-streaming these atrocities.

It's chilling and terrifying.

Of course, asking "why" serves no purpose. Factions have fought over religion and ideologies for as long as people have existed.

When you hear that they're also chanting “Death to Israel, death to America” it simply makes one sick. It might also make one scared.

And, of course, we'll get involved because that's what we do.

My heart hurts watching and reading and hearing all of these things.

My head hurts also.

There is such hatred.

For Israel.

For Jews.

For Americans.

Why?

Because of narrow minds.

Don't let the hate win.

And for the love of whatever god you wish to note here, please be safe.

On this day when John Lennon should be blowing out candles on his 83rd birthday cake, allow me to leave you with two thoughts lifted from songs written by him.

1) "Love is all you need."

2) "We all shine on."

Imagine that.