A few days ago, the editors at the widely read Vox Populi (18K daily subscribers) published my essay, “Moral Absolutism: Do Not Kill Children.” The emails have streamed in, most of them understanding and in agreement, and most of them understanding my issue is not with Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, nor even Israel’s right to seek out Hamas and destroy them. My issue is the exorbitant amount of civilian casualties, in particular women and children. It is all in the essay below.
But then something happened.
A few days ago, seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen were killed by accident in an Israeli airstrike (the disclaimer “by accident” was never used by Israel for the deaths of children). Since then the world has been outraged. “Repulsed that this has happened!” exclaimed “Left, Right, and Center” host David Green. President Biden said he was, “Outraged and heartbroken.” A reporter for Slate covered this best and I’ve included her article below, please please read it. But the obvious explanation, and one that repeats itself all too often, is also dangerously close to an accusation of such sweeping generalizations that I hesitated to say it, but that moment passed and here it is: We are more disproportionately outraged by the deaths of seven aid workers who voluntarily entered a warzone to provide relief than we are the deaths of over fourteen thousand children, because the aid workers for the most part look like us. The Israeli government even came out quickly and said they screwed up, they apologized, they promised swift resolution to the issue and punishment to those involved. A rare and decisive apology was delivered nearly immediately for the “error.”
Wait a minute. No such declaration was made by the Israeli government, and no such clear and emotionally charged disgust was displayed by President Biden nor British Prime Minister Sunak nor US Secretary of State Blinken for the extermination of fourteen thousand children. Can this mean the kids were targeted so no apology was due? You really can’t apologize for something you intended to do, can you? Or does this imply Israel is not sorry or disgusted by their deaths? Does it suggest the lives of seven people, only one of whom was Palestinian, were more valuable because they worked for Spanish celebrity chef Jose Andres?
Tens of thousands of innocent civilian deaths, fourteen thousand of them children, famine, rampant disease, accusations of genocide from UN officials all reported by the world media daily, but it is the deaths of these seven that pissed off the west and made them pay attention. Come on. This is simply wrong. Isn’t it beyond time we admit the rest of the world couldn’t care less until it directly affected them either through death or economic impact? It happened in Rwanda thirty years ago with the deaths of 800,000 Tutsis, and it will happen again. Apparently, we can afford for all the children to die and tens of thousands more who are about to through more attacks, hunger and illness caused by the Israeli Army and Hamas, but damnit, Israel stepped over the line when these seven familiar faces were killed.
Anyway, I’m just confused, that’s all. Why is it acceptable for innocent children to die but unacceptable for aid workers who knew the risks to die? Why is one called an accident but the other not? Why did one result in an apology but the other not? After all of the refusal on Israel’s part to allow aid to begin with, and when they did they made it nearly impossible to get it through, how can we believe these seven weren’t targeted and the culprits knew they’d just have to apologize, all the while anticipating exactly what would come to pass: that Chef Andres would cancel future aid deliveries and Save the Children would end up going to save other children, pulling back their presence in Gaza as well?
And to those officials whose response is, “Of course the deaths of the children were unacceptable as well,” one must demand an explanation for the six months of silence on the matter.
Please read these two pieces: one from Vox Populi, the other from Slate.
Peace.
The Vox Populi Article:
The Slate Article:
a view from this wilderness 