One year on: How the Gaza conflict turned into a global hate machine tinyurl.com/yc2rn7tc
Hard to believe it's been a year.
Beautifully written, Ian, thank you.
Underlying everything is stealth fascism and the refusal of people to use the F-word confirms that.
So, what would you recommend people who stand up and oppose genocide do? What would you recommend to those who have friends and colleagues in Gaza? Say nothing? Be silent? Because to oppose genocide is to hate? A polarising debate in the UK, but it's not a "debate" at all in Gaza. It's mass murder.
This is a searing piece which gets to the appalling crux of the toxic discourse surrounding this heartbreaking humanitarian disaster.
It is easy to forget that every villain in this conflict was once a victim too. I was reminded that in 1948 invading Arab armies blockaded Jerusalem, preventing essential supplies from reaching the Jewish population. However well meaning, we should not be taking sides.
Well said, this is one of those areas where you just wish people would step back and consider that it's the ordinary people on all sides trying to make their way in the world, who suffer the most in all of this. I find it depressing that nuanced debates on the conflict are difficult to have
Thank you for putting into words what I don't dare post because of the retaliation that tribalism causes.
Brilliant piece. Thank you. And so sorry you had to write it.
I'd like to think some might stop and think and try to recognise themselves in this brilliant piece of writing Ian, maybe they will.
The UK is supplying armaments and intelligence to one side and actively participating in it's defence against attacks by it's hostile neighbours. And this is a "middle course"?