Q: Where is the Gaza Strip? A: Don’t worry about it. It won’t exist by the end of the week.
Q: How has the media approached the conflict? A: Swiftly and irresponsibly.
Q: How many people have died? A: That depends on whether you count Palestinian deaths as well.
Q: Am I allowed to be sad for all of the victims? A: Absolutely not. You have to pick a side.
Q: What’s been the international response? A: People across the world have contributed an outpouring of infographics.
Q: How has the United States responded? A: U.S. leaders reminded Americans that their nation has a responsibility to be a frothing worshipper at the altar of death.
Q: How is Israel working to avoid civilian casualties? A: Civilians in Gaza are being given the opportunity to be driven out of their homeland forever.
Q: Where can I learn more? A: This is a logistically and morally complex situation involving decades of recent history and thousands of years of context, so try your cousin’s Instagram stories.
Q: What lessons should I take from this conflict? A: That dehumanization begets dehumanization, terror begets terror, and none of us will be free until all of us are free; or, you know, that it might be easier to just look away.
There’s plenty of moral complexity involved, just not at the level of whether Israel’s occupation of Palestine should be opposed.
I’m sure it’s complex for the PFLP guys who have to ally with Hamas against Israel, just like there was for the CPC allying with the KMT against Imperial Japanese occupation (after all even the most crazed imaginings of Zionist propaganda about Hamas don’t match the KMT’s demonstrated disregard for civilian life)