On Civilian Casualties

“The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.”

- Andre Gide

“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity”

- George Bernard Shaw

I just want to comment about the raging arguments concerning "how civilian is a civilian?". Alan Dershowitz has recently vocalized the opinion of many, that there is a spectrum of civilians, and some are more guilty than others.

Such arguments are not new, and are not unique to this conflict. According to these premises, it can also be argued that the mother whose son is in the IDF is also not an innocent civilian, since she feeds him, among other things, and has created a "soldier." The worker who slaves all day in a metal company - metals which are later used to create tanks and guns - is also guilty. The taxpayer is guilty as well, since a portion he pays goes to support the IDF.

By these arguments, everyone is an acceptable target - except of course, children, even though some have even tried to justify those.

My point isn't to condone one side or the other in this post, but to ask for the most basic requirement in dialogue: consistency. Be consistent. You're outraged at Hezbollah attacking civilians? You should also be outraged at the IDF attacking civilians. You're furious with Hezbollah attacking cities? You should also be furious with the IDF attacking villages, towns, and cities. You feel hatred at Hezbollah for dropping ~ 2000 bombs? Feel hatred at the IDF for dropping tens of thousands of bombs. You go beserk at pictures of two year olds holding guns? Also go beserk at pictures of children and adults signing Israeli missiles. (and vice versa)

Otherwise, all that exists - besides the killing of hundreds and the displacement of ~ 1,000,000 - is hypocrisy. As well as your own inhumanity.

posted by Lazarus, 1:02 PM