Too few expressing opinions have done the work to understand the historical context, uncluttered by dogma (political or religious). I would like to think that if everyone did the work, attitudes would be very different. Perhaps I deceive myself.
It doesn't sound like you're deceiving yourself, so much as imagining a pleasant fantasy. People in the US won't do the work to understand their own country - they certainly won't work through the more complex history of the Middle East or Europe. I think the default mode of human nature is to limit perception to a black and white dichotomy, when conflict is acknowledged at all. Pushing beyond that into any sort of objective understanding is the realm of scholars, not voters.
Collective guilt is a powerful force. I wonder how much of our own history has contributed to the genocide going on currently in the "holy" land, and how much is just the greed and lust for power so intrinsic to colonialism and imperialism. Great article! This tickled my brain and I learned some things. I just picked up The Hundred Years War on Palestine - A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi. Have you read it?
Courageous and important scholarship. Colonization and self-colonization take many forms, but all masquerade as virtuous and just as they steal land and subjugate others for nothing more worthy than personal power and profit. Thank you.
Too few expressing opinions have done the work to understand the historical context, uncluttered by dogma (political or religious). I would like to think that if everyone did the work, attitudes would be very different. Perhaps I deceive myself.
It doesn't sound like you're deceiving yourself, so much as imagining a pleasant fantasy. People in the US won't do the work to understand their own country - they certainly won't work through the more complex history of the Middle East or Europe. I think the default mode of human nature is to limit perception to a black and white dichotomy, when conflict is acknowledged at all. Pushing beyond that into any sort of objective understanding is the realm of scholars, not voters.
Native Americans see these parallels ALL THE TIME.
Here's just one example: https://substack.com/@schampton/p-170205521
Collective guilt is a powerful force. I wonder how much of our own history has contributed to the genocide going on currently in the "holy" land, and how much is just the greed and lust for power so intrinsic to colonialism and imperialism. Great article! This tickled my brain and I learned some things. I just picked up The Hundred Years War on Palestine - A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi. Have you read it?
I've read other things by Khalidi, but not that. Thanks for the recommendation!
My pleasure. (⊙‿⊙✿)
Courageous and important scholarship. Colonization and self-colonization take many forms, but all masquerade as virtuous and just as they steal land and subjugate others for nothing more worthy than personal power and profit. Thank you.