I'm Angry About Palestine. Should You Be?

A people may lose a war, but they should never be treated as less than human.

There is a sense of having been here before. We were here before. Periodically, there are wars in Gaza. They tend to end as they start: inconclusively. There is a period of calm, but the calm is always temporary in the absence of anything resembling a permanent peace. What is the appropriate response to this?

For me, there has been frustration, although that's putting it quite mildly considering the rising death toll. At the time of writing, in Gaza, at least 120 Palestinians have died, 31 of them children. In the matter of a few days. The last war lasted seven weeks. Around 2200 Palestinians died. 1492 were civilians, including more than 500 children. One hopes that we do not begin approaching these numbers this time around.

I have to say that I've been surprised by the way these dead Palestinians have been discussed, on Twitter and in pro-Israel outlets. Stripped of dignity in this life, they have been denied it in death. Perhaps I am naive, but even if you think Israel is completely in the right, it shouldn't be too hard to offer the pretense of sympathy, even if it is not deeply felt, or perhaps not felt at all. There are recurring narratives that I see, and I find them difficult to fully grasp. I expect the Israeli government to put forward these narratives. It is fighting a war. Propaganda is part of war. It is less clear to me why others feel a need to say things that, as far as I can tell, aren't merely false. If only they were.