So, it appears that our dear President Obama has finally convinced the Palestinians and Israelis to participate in bilateral talks that might lead to the much glorified 2 State Solution to the unrest in that region. I don't know what what these discussions can hope to achieve, given that settlement building in full swing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and Gazans living in a pile of rubble that is under siege for at least the 2nd year. And, I don't know what substance the talks can have, given that the Palestinian participants are unelected collaborators, and Hamas, the only government in Palestine that actually was elected and actually governs in a region of Palestine, is specifically not invited. But, somebody is going to talk about something, and the details of their stillborn initiative will be dutifully reported to us as 'progress', or at least 'news' for some time in the future.

I know the title of this article is obnoxious and politically incorrect. I do. My previous post was related to what I might call an inappropriate usage of the Holocaust to justify an unreasonable line of logic 75 years after it has ended. Today, I want to share my reaction to some recent readings on Palestine.

I have just finished reading Joe Sacco's book, Footnotes in Gaza. Sacco was in Gaza researching this book before and during the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, and at the time that Rachel Corrie was run over by an IDF Bulldozer as she attempted to stop it from destroying someone's home. His topic, however, was a massacre of between 50 and 100+ men in Rafah, depending on whose numbers you like, that occurred on November 12, 1956. The research for the book involved finding and interviewing older people who actually participated in, or witnessed the event.

As Joe and his Palestinian helpers investigate this tragedy from the past, they inhabit a world of continuous threat and violence. There are daily killings by the IDF, 10 one day, 3 another. Sometimes there is a political connection, often there isn't. House demolitions are ongoing. People's homes are regularly shot up and pockmarked with bullet holes. It isn't safe to walk down the street at night, as a tank might be waiting in the dark to shoot at you. It isn't safe to stand on a roof facing the Egyptian border, as there is an Israeli control tower from which suspect individuals are taken out by sharp shooters. Helicopters and F16s fly overhead on a daily basis. In this environment, Sacco and his Palestinian Abed, interview elderly witnesses about their experiences during a day of terror long ago.

The UnHolyCost in Palestine