Great poem, lil. Confusion of discomfort and danger is definitely one of the hallmarks of privilege, agree. The pro-Israel, vehemently anti-Trump contingent of American liberals will never make sense to me. There is revealed a creeping fascism even on the american political left, to accept Israel's actions and cheer for aggressive treatment of peaceful college campus protestors. Ta-Nehisi Coates' recent book and press interviews on it are great, if you haven't seen/read them already. And the US seems headed for an apartheid of its own. I hope you are well. I'm alright :).
Thanks Am I checked hubski today to see reactions to the election, and then thought to send the poem. I haven't noticed pro-Israel and anti-Trump together. But I can imagine, because Liberal Zionists are basically progressive and liberal for everything except Palestine. So sad. F'g psychopath Netanyahu was the first world leader to congratulate Trump. Thanks for the recommendation Ta-Nehisi Coates. I haven't dug into him too deeply, but I'm aware. I've been reading and watching Timothy Snyder. I am reading his new book On Freedom and of course On Tyranny
Masha Gessen is really good too, re: fascism and human rights, would recommend some interviews of them.
Al Franken, in one of his books, answered the "why Israel" question with "because it's the only democracy in the middle east and that ought to count for something." That said, it has become an increasingly illiberal democracy since Rabin was assassinated in 1995 and, if we're being honest, has been about Israel first, last and always from the drop. Israel has great PR, though, is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world from a lobbying standpoint and has goals that have traditionally aligned with the US often enough for us to let them get away with murder. Should you question this decision they remind you of their PR and lobbying and that's it for you. Lemme show you a li'l movie about terrorists and terrorism: From a simplistic, uninvestigated standpoint, the Middle East is full of hook-nosed stereotypes we'll never understand, all of them hell-bent on annihilating those poor people Hitler tried to finish off. Question that narrative and find another line of work.The pro-Israel, vehemently anti-Trump contingent of American liberals will never make sense to me.