The State of Israel has been destroying Gaza in a ham-fisted conquest endeavour for the better part of a month at this stage, and I've been hesitant to speak on the subject. Mostly because I'm from the geographical centre of America with no ties of any kind to either the State of Israel or Palestine, and—apart from Yom Kippur and Passover—am a mostly non-practising Jew to begin with. I didn't feel like I could contribute anything to the discussion because I didn't know anything about it... but being on Tumblr during a world crisis changes a girl. It turns out it's nowhere near as complicated as the American propaganda machine would have me believe: Zionists from the UK occupied Palestine and renamed it "Israel", and they've been torturing and terrorising the Palestinians every day thereafter. That's an oversimplification, obviously, but it prevents my having to write a 9-paragraph essay on the matter, which no one will want to read anyway (least of all me); and, in this particular case, the history of the zionist occupation of Palestine isn't relevant.
I'd seen pictures on Tumblr that originated on Twitter of sit-ins and protests by thousands of American Jews calling for a cease-fire. I'd read all the reports from the people who had rung up their congresspeople and been ignored. I've seen more pictures of ruined apartment blocks and burned out ambulances than I care to think about. This, alongside simply attempting to live in the United States since 2016, finally convinced me of the insignificance of the individual in a capitalist society. The individual is as an ant at the base of Mt. Everest; even a group of individuals, as in a million-man march, is insignificant in the face of the capitalist state. The amount of money that Raytheon has made over the course of this conquest of Gaza is unfathomable. This is a corporation to which the United States government gives umpteen trillions of dollars every budget cycle to have them develop deadlier weapons, faster bullets, methods of causing greater physical pain on a larger scale than even the most evil of masterminds can comprehend. The so-called "Hellfire" missile, whose very existence would violate every law of sane and reasonable people, has been Israeli Occupation Force's weapon of choice in this whole endeavour. Consider, if you will, a bomb whose payload is 12 samurai swords as well as your conventional explosive; a weapon with the ability to kill anyone within the blast radius and chop various parts out of anyone who might be present within a 500-yard radius. This is the weapon that Netanyahu has been deploying against Gazan hospitals; and only one company in the entire world builds it: Raytheon. The reason why the United States has not called for and will not call for a cease-fire in Gaza is the exact same rationale behind Dubyub's War on Terror; the defence contractor at the time was a company called Halliburton, of which Vice President Dick Cheney was co-owner. Raytheon provides handsomely to the campaigns of presidential and senatorial nominees alike in exchange for loyalty. There will be no cease-fire as long as Raytheon is continuing to make money.
That was the big thing that sent me into the darkest place I'd been in years over the past week or so. I was trying desperately to find some loophole, or a blog I could reblog something from, or a charity to throw money at, but the facts of the matter were that I was facing down the entire corporate feudal state with nothing but a spudgun, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I suddenly realised that it was all meaningless; all the votes I'd cast, all the "vote blue" posts I'd made on Tumblr, all the ridicule I'd heaped upon the republican party and Donald Trump; red or blue, Raytheon finances your office. If they support the other guy, then he wins. If they support you, then you win. People offline had suggested that the world is unprepared to accuse Israel of anything because they want to "do right by the Jews" for turning them away during World War II. Maybe the smaller-time office managers and school principals can convince themselves of that, but it has nothing to do with Judaism or Hitler, it has everything to do with money.
Eventually, I arrived at a simple yes/no question that I could ask myself: "Are you, Tina Badgraph1csghost, personally able to do anything to effect change in this situation?" First, I said, well maybe I could go to a protest; but the protests have made no difference. Then, I said, well maybe I could call my assemblypeople; but they've instructed their clerks to let all calls go to full voicemail boxes that cannot accept anymore messages. Then, I said, well maybe there's a charity or something I could donate to; but Israel is intercepting all aid to Gaza. Finally, I realised that, no, there is not. I applaud the people who are in positions where they are able to combat the propaganda machine and get real information of Israeli war crimes out of Gaza; I'm glad they and others like them are able to survive long enough to counter everything that the staunchly pro-Israel news media says, and for as long as I need to be an amplifier for them on Tumblr, I'll reblog their stories. However, I have to make peace with the fact that, when it comes to personally effecting any kind of change to this situation, there is nothing that can be done. And, if nothing can be done, then nothing is what I shall do.
--13 November 2023--