Blog#199- 4/28/24
DÉJÀ VU 1969
By Richard Davis
It’s starting to look like the late 60’s and early 70’s across America and the world. An unpopular war is raging, thousands of people are dying and the people who are making this war happen are not listening to the rest of the world, asking them to put a stop to the madness.
This time the war is in Gaza and the state of Israel is incurring the wrath of much of the civilized world. The U.S. has become an enabler and many people feel that Biden is not doing enough to prevent Israel from killing more Palestinians and destroying their land. Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for the withholding of support to Israel if there are not strict conditions on how the aid is used, but his common sense pleas are falling on deaf ears.
It seems that although people of all ages are outraged at the behavior of Israel, it is mostly the young people of the world who are showing their displeasure at events and putting themselves at risk by protesting on college campuses. This is similar to what happened during the Viet Nam War.
Protests in the U.S. during the Viet Nam War had an impact on the outcome of the war, at least many of us want to think that is the case. War criminals such as Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon were quick to dismiss the protests, but it was hard for them to ignore what was going on around them. Their cabal was arrogant and they were responsible for the death of thousands of people because they did not end the war sooner.
It seems that we have not learned any valuable lessons from the Viet Nam War. Biden is not sending in troops to help Israel, but the amount of money we are sending them does not send a message that we want them to stop their aggression.
The protests continue as they did 50 years ago and it seems as though the situation may soon reach a point where it boils over in some location, whether it be Columbia University or the Sorbonne in France. My fear is that we will once again see young blood being spilled as happened at Kent State in 1970.
I marched on Washington in November of 1969. It was estimated that 500,000 people walked through the streets of Washington in protest of a war they could not support. But it took until 1975 for the war to end because those in charge thought they knew better than the rest of the world.
It is a little different now, but one man and his cabinet are fomenting worldwide protest and they think they know better than the rest of the world how to make their country safe. Netanyahu is committing crimes against humanity in many people’s opinion. When this war is over the World Court may try to convict him, but that is very unlikely.
I don’t know what it will take to stop the madness in the Middle East but, so far, the best we can do is to support the younger generation that is making the outrage visible while sacrificing their education for the good of the rest of the world.
Not really like 1969
I disagree with you. This is nothing like 1969. In 1969, students and their friends were being sent to war and fighting and dying. That is not happening here. Not even close. Americans are not fighting and dying in Gaza. Americans (and others) are being held hostage by a terrorist organization whose mission is to destroy Israel and kill Jews.
If the hostages were to be released this could all end. If Hamas would commit to a ceasefire, this could all end. It is impossible to have a ceasefire if only one side stops shooting. There is no indication that Hamas would stop firing missiles. Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel. Unless that changes, asking for one side to stop defending itself is disingenuous.
These selective protests are hard not to see as antisemitic. Where are the protests about the war against the Uyghurs? About the war and civilians killed in Yemen? About what is happening in Sudan? Or Ukraine for that matter. Where were the protests supporting funding for Ukraine?
Netanyahu is acting horribly, and he is not being reasonable and his actions will not lead to a permanent peace. But to say that these student protests are similar to what happened around the Vietnam War is just incorrect.
Not really antisemitic
Protesting against Israel’s actions is not antisemitic anymore than criticizing Iran’s harsh laws is anti-Islam. You willfully mischaracterize the motives of the protests and talk about things being “hard not to see”. The slander is outrageous.
The protests are not disingenuous. There are scores of differences between the other atrocities you raise and the one the protests are about, and the major difference is American complicity.
Protests
I did say these protests were different. I think the real comparison is that protests then and now are catching the attention of most of the world. It may not be our war but it is a war we are paying for to a large degree. I agree the comparison may be too much of a stretch.