Every news report I read or listen to talks about the “war” in Gaza. I have a semantic complaint here, which is that this is not a war.
“War” is when two groups of people fight and kill each other. In Gaza, what’s happening is that a bunch of people have been crammed into a tiny strip of land, defenseless. They’ve been surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall so they can’t escape. And now a much more numerous and powerful group of people outside the wall has started killing them indiscriminately. Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Minister threatens a “shoah” against the Palestinians. “Shoah” is the Hebrew for “holocaust,” a word I don’t imagine the Israelis use lightly.
There are a lot of ugly words for what’s happening right now in Gaza. “Murder” is one. “Extermination” is another. “War,” though, that one doesn’t fit.
“War” is when two groups of people fight and kill each other. In Gaza, what’s happening is that a bunch of people have been crammed into a tiny strip of land, defenseless. They’ve been surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall so they can’t escape. And now a much more numerous and powerful group of people outside the wall has started killing them indiscriminately. Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Minister threatens a “shoah” against the Palestinians. “Shoah” is the Hebrew for “holocaust,” a word I don’t imagine the Israelis use lightly.
There are a lot of ugly words for what’s happening right now in Gaza. “Murder” is one. “Extermination” is another. “War,” though, that one doesn’t fit.
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