Israel, Syria, and the Proportionality of Outrage
July 30, 2014 at 4:19 pm
(This post was last modified: July 30, 2014 at 4:29 pm by Mudhammam.)
As some of you may know from a related thread in the Atheism section, my opinions regarding the current conflict in Gaza are marked with a high degree of passion. This is true for a lot of people, on both sides of the conflict, who are not directly affected by the events in Gaza. My rationale for the intensity I feel about the situation largely stems from the fact that American politics are so financially and religiously tied into the state of Israel, as such that American tax-payers are to some extent directly funding the military operations responsible for so much of the destruction currently being inflicted, not to mention strongly and unanimously supporting a government whom I believe has kept 1.8 million people virtually imprisoned for decades. Though I am deeply resentful of all nation powers that trample upon the weak, whether it be American prisons or predator drones, Israeli occupations and missile strikes, North Korean concentration camps, execution squads, and almost everything else unimaginably sadistic, along with pretty much every powerful faction on the face of the earth that currently or has at some point existed, I'm naturally more inclined to feel more cause in vocalizing my antipathy towards USG policies that further this violence and hate. Israel, in many ways, is basically an extension of U.S. interests and in various instances rightly viewed as part in parcel with Western Imperialism.
I am, however, persuaded that anti-Zionism must not be conflated with anti-Semitism, and I'm somewhat disturbed by anti-Semitic sentiments that seem to display their ugly gaze beneath the veil of anti-Zionism, granted they're perhaps fueled by the latter (and toxic religious beliefs). Considering the history of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, it's no secret that tensions often run particularly high when it comes to the treatment of Jews and Muslims in traditionally Christian Europe, or Jews and Christians in the Middle-East, or anti-Muslim attitudes prevalent in the state of Israel evidenced by the behavior towards their much weaker and poorer neighbors. I have observed many Muslims speak of Israel in terms that could easily be interpreted as anti-Semitic towards the Jewish people on a broader scale, and that is both disturbing and revealing.
This brings me to Syria. I read today that over 180,000 people have been killed, which, not to make light of the Gaza conflict, makes its 1,300 person body count appear measly in comparison (granted one has been going on for a few years, the other a few weeks). I'm somewhat embarrassed that I have given so much attention to the Israel-Palestine situation and have largely ignored the genocide in Syria. From the standpoint of my humanity, this is inexcusable, though as an American it makes more sense. For a Muslim outside either of those two countries, however, I'm bit baffled at the intensity I perceive in those criticizing Israel and not placing a much greater emphasis on the Muslims slaughtered in Syria. As one commentator put it, Assad must be thinking, "Thank Allah I'm not Jewish."
This brings me to my questions:
Is my perception of the disproportionality of outrage displayed by Muslims towards the Israeli government and not the Syrian government a myth of my own making or is that a legitimate observation?
If this is the case, does it have more to do with the anti-Semitism that exists within the Muslim world and the Zionist cause simply inflames that?
Am I justified for feeling more of an affinity to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as an American, than I do towards the Syrian civil war?
Is it because the Syrian civil war involves multiple grotesque factions that are more or less on an equal footing while Israel-Palestine is a true example of an immensely exaggerated Goliath vs. David?
I am, however, persuaded that anti-Zionism must not be conflated with anti-Semitism, and I'm somewhat disturbed by anti-Semitic sentiments that seem to display their ugly gaze beneath the veil of anti-Zionism, granted they're perhaps fueled by the latter (and toxic religious beliefs). Considering the history of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, it's no secret that tensions often run particularly high when it comes to the treatment of Jews and Muslims in traditionally Christian Europe, or Jews and Christians in the Middle-East, or anti-Muslim attitudes prevalent in the state of Israel evidenced by the behavior towards their much weaker and poorer neighbors. I have observed many Muslims speak of Israel in terms that could easily be interpreted as anti-Semitic towards the Jewish people on a broader scale, and that is both disturbing and revealing.
This brings me to Syria. I read today that over 180,000 people have been killed, which, not to make light of the Gaza conflict, makes its 1,300 person body count appear measly in comparison (granted one has been going on for a few years, the other a few weeks). I'm somewhat embarrassed that I have given so much attention to the Israel-Palestine situation and have largely ignored the genocide in Syria. From the standpoint of my humanity, this is inexcusable, though as an American it makes more sense. For a Muslim outside either of those two countries, however, I'm bit baffled at the intensity I perceive in those criticizing Israel and not placing a much greater emphasis on the Muslims slaughtered in Syria. As one commentator put it, Assad must be thinking, "Thank Allah I'm not Jewish."
This brings me to my questions:
Is my perception of the disproportionality of outrage displayed by Muslims towards the Israeli government and not the Syrian government a myth of my own making or is that a legitimate observation?
If this is the case, does it have more to do with the anti-Semitism that exists within the Muslim world and the Zionist cause simply inflames that?
Am I justified for feeling more of an affinity to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as an American, than I do towards the Syrian civil war?
Is it because the Syrian civil war involves multiple grotesque factions that are more or less on an equal footing while Israel-Palestine is a true example of an immensely exaggerated Goliath vs. David?
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza
