Some thoughts on Kamala, Hamas, Israel and the whole crazy thing [Video]

Hello, everyone!

I have been off the boards for a while, mainly because everyone following all the “stories of the day” has done a pretty good job at saying all the things I would say. I figured it was not worth it to be seen saying the same things as everyone else, and I had plenty of other things to do.

However, the issue between Israel and Hamas is so strongly manipulated in both the American and Russian narratives that I feel like it is important to say something about it, particularly in light of Kamala Harris’ absenting herself from listening to PM Netanyahu’s speech to a docile and largely brainwashed American Congress (on this issue as with so many others, naturally!)

I am a big-time Trump supporter (full disclosure!) and I consider myself a MAGA conservative even though I live in Russia. I am an American by birth and living in Russia has helped me purify and hone my political views about the United States of America as founded relative to what it is presently.

All that said, I believe it is important to weigh in on this Israel-Hamas thing. My opinion is more likely to irritate people on both sides, and with all respect, I do understand that many people who read The Duran are very strong supporters of the Palestinians. You may be surprised to know that I am too, and I think this is particularly important to keep in mind as you read my critique.

Bear in mind that I am trying to approach this issue not from a geopolitical perspective, but from an Orthodox Christian perspective, which means “no one gets away unpunished.” My set of standards is based in what my understanding is of what the Orthodox Christian Church teaches us, and I will not claim that I have the whole framework correct. That would be presumptuous and arrogant. What I will claim is that this is my attempt at this stage to set this issue in the way it seems to me a Christian ought to view it. So, here goes:

A tragedy on three sides, with three aspects: Hatred, Ignorance and Arrogance

This whole “antisemitism” thing is a tragedy, and I think it is a tragedy for Israel, but not in the manner that the narrative says: I have no antipathy for Jewish people (this is what ‘antisemitism’ has come to mean, regardless of the fact that Palestinians and near-East Arabic speaking people are also Semitic… just saying…) – but if we take ‘antisemitism’ to mean ‘hater of Jewish persons’ I certainly am not one of those. Nevertheless, I AM critical of the government of Israel and its very racist view of the Palestinian people. I believe that for PM Netanyahu, his claim that only a few civilians have been killed is true. To him. That may be because for him, basically everyone in Gaza is Hamas or Hamas-sympathetic.

I remain unconvinced of this kind of generalization.

Christianity is not in the argument here, we must not presume it is.

I believe that every effort Mr. Netanyahu makes to “eliminate” Hamas only creates more resistance, hence more Hamas. I do not understand why he will not see this. I am not there; perhaps almost ninety years of conflict has burned this harsh definition into his and others’ heads and souls. This naturally applies to the Palestinians too, and since both Jewish people and Muslim people adhere to “an eye for an eye” in terms of dealing with wrongs done them, they are likely to beat on each other until there aren’t any left of one side or the other.

One thing we as Christians need to come to accept is that while the people of Israel work hard to present themselves to us as being culturally more palatable than jihadist Islam, this lack of mercy that Judaism appears to espouse is NOT what we as Christians are taught, and we wrongly assume that they treat situations like we do.

Is that antisemitism? I do not believe it is. I think this is simply an understanding of Jewish culture and religion. I don’t want to dig into the absurdity of “the Jews…” this or that, because all those conspiracy theories are just that – absurd – EVEN IF TRUE. After all, who, really and truly, can ever take over the world? No one. The Psalms even say so “put not your trust in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth, in that very day his plans perish.” (Ps 146:3-4).

The American people are treated by their media as fools.

The video clip above gives an exposition of the kind of narrative framed and supported in the USA, especially on my side of the political spectrum. This exposition again misses the whole point, even among confessed Christian believers such as Mike Johnson, and with all respect, I call nonsense on this and maintain that the adherence to this duality is abusive to the American people, let alone either Palestine or Israel. Americans are once again being deceived. Big time.

They know something is wrong, but no one will say openly what that actually is. Therefore, their thinking is narrowed through the skillful and forceful use of framing the narrative that either “Jews are evil incarnate – Hamas are the victims” or “Hamas is evil incarnate – the Jews are the victims.”

Here in the USA where I am presently writing this, we are presented with a duality, and neither option is fully true. In fact, neither option is even really close to true. Irreconcilable hatred of each side for the other seems far closer to the truth. Picking a side? I cannot see how doing so does anything except abet evil and further bloodshed.

Sometimes, in fact, quite often, the American people are derided as delusional fools (I have done some of the deriding myself!!) but being on the ground and observing what is going on here, I must confess my wrong assessment. The American people are generally very good, very kind, and they are being lied to with such intensity by their news media services that for many of them, the truth is simply not accessible.

For every reader of The Duran there is in the USA (and there are many!) there are probably about 100 more who either do not know about our little journal, or do not have easy access to independent news sources, because national penetration only happens when an organization is large enough to provide it. That takes money, and most of us indies don’t have it, even the great YouTubers like Steve Turley, Megyn Kelly and Trish Regan, not to mention our Alexanders. We have work to do if we want this to change, but in my conversations with many Americans, they are VERY grateful when someone gives them real information. They feel its truth and all they are looking for is someone to open that possibility for them to think and speak about it. Fox, CNN and the rest only pound WHAT TO THINK at their viewers. This is profoundly wrong.

To conclude this thought: the politicization of this issue in the United States is ignorance buried under absurdity. It benefits no one, not the Israeli people, not the Palestinians and not the Americans. Fox creates a duality and you are either “with us” or “with Hamas” – I am not with either side. I think they are both irreconcilable with hatred of each other at this time, and the fighting won’t stop until someone becomes willing to let that go. Because of this perspective, I am just waiting for what Mr. Trump will do – I bet he finds the right road – but no one else seems interested in truth, just narrative.

This situation is very sad, very deadly, and without a completely different approach being applied, it is and will remain utterly irreconcilable.