Today, the New York Times front-paged an article on the genocide taking place in Gaza. The title is, "In a First, Leading Israeli Rights Groups Accuse Israel of Gaza Genocide." . The article is step toward global mobilization and moral awareness. It starts off:
Two of Israel’s best-known human rights groups said Monday that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, adding fuel to a passionately fought international debate over whether the death and destruction there have crossed a moral red line.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/world/middleeast/israel-genocide-gaza-rights-groups.html
First of all, it is appalling that an "international debate" is taking place. There's nothing to reasonably debate here. Great evil is soul-stingingly evident in the malevolence being inflicted on the Gazans. The presence of an international debate, in and of itself, shows that we live in barbaric times.
It is never morally acceptable, and always utterly loathesome, to reduce the homeland of two million people to rubble, fence them into that rubble, and continue to bomb and starve them. Hospitals gone. Schools gone. Fertile land gone. Potable water gone. Everything gone. Via social media, the world watches scenes of starving people reaching through IDF fences, begging for scraps of food, reduced to dog-like instinct out of inflicted levels of extreme hunger. This is never acceptable. Never. Again, no reasonable debate is possible here. None.
What if the two million people reduced to homeless, fenced into the rubble of their homeland and starved to death weren't members of the same racial, ethnic or religious group? Technically, it wouldn't then be genocide, but it would still be utterly unforgivable and ultimately wicked. Again, there is no possible reasonable argument that treating two million people this way is morally acceptable. Never. None.
We live in a primitive, dysfunctional time, far below the level of ethics technology we are capable of achieving as a species, This is no excuse. It is the opposite: a catalyst to change and grow. We have the brain plasiticity and the cultural plasticity to move forward, to someday, even fairly soon, achieve a non-barbaric and minimally decent civilization (1).
Anyone who is reasonably and morally aware--and we all can be educated to this level of perception, if given a chance--can see that this is genocide. And it is very very very hard to watch. It is loathsome, disgusting, reviling, abhorrent ... I could pile up futile words and it would never capture the horror of genocide. Yes, it is hard to face. But that is no excuse for putting one's head in the sand.
Humanity can move forward. We have moved forward. Even long ago, there was some incipient progress when, for instance, the Romans banned crucifixion. In the 19th century, slavery was made illegal. In the 20th century, women attained the right to vote. All they needed was an opening in the rigid, enforced social mechanisms of ignorance- and fear-based governance.
In general, there is a slow yet generally positive momentum observably in the trek of civilization, from the times of ancient Sumer to the present. Much of the positive change has happened in the last two centuries.
So, in conclusion, there is hope for us. For humanity. We don't have to be barbaric, cruel twisted versions of wolves. We don't have to take the worst in nature and magnify it into heartless, rancorous malice.
Knowing this, that we can improve and advance toward the Good, makes it even harder to watch what is going on now. I try to remind myself of the wrenching strength it takes to be ethical, to fight for what is right. To seek the Good. It is painful to face the truth. It takes courage and strength. But it is, yes, an ultimately meaningful fight. One can feel the Light of truth.
I try to remember that not so long ago, about 160 years ago, not so distant in the scope of things, slavery was legal in the USA. Brave abolitionists fought the good fight, despite the 'debates' that were taking place at the national level. There is no reasonable argument that slavery is acceptable. None. And yet, still, 'debates' took place.
We ended legal slavery. This took thousands of years.
There is hope.
Not only that, honesty can feel wonderful. Honestly makes life meaningful in the deepest way, by its very nature. Honest is a gift and a virtue, but it can also be miserably painful, especially in these barbaric, primitive times where people 'debate' whether depriving, fencing, torturing and starving two million people is acceptable. Over sixty thousand killed outright. And many more wounded by bombs, guns and the inevitable riots and thuggery when food becomes scarce.
Whatever pain I feel is nothing, the puniest picayune, compared to what the people in Gaza are suffering. I have to deal with my pain, and I try to do it in healthy, cathartic ways that keep me aware and active. In this sense, my pain, and all my emotions, are front and center in my life. Every day can be adventurous.
The only way to defeat Evil is Good. Honesty is a great step. A Pact with Honesty is hard and demanding. And yet it enriches and lifts the soul, nurtures growth and wisdom. The opposite of a Pact with the metaphorical Devil.
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(1) https://owlwholaughs.blogspot.com/2025/05/draft-intro-of-my-book-better-angels.html
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