Hebert, Larry – Veteran Resister
Updated 2024-07-16
2024-04-06 In Gaza and Beyond, War Itself Is the Problem Condemning “war crimes” is nothing more than a shrug; it’s war itself that must be not simply “condemned,” but transcended.
And then I thought about Larry Hebert, a U.S. airman who recently began waging a hunger strike in defiance of his country’s complicity in the genocide of Gaza. He stood in front of the White House holding a sign declaring: “Active-Duty Airman Refuses to Eat While Gaza Starves.”
And Hebert was influenced by Aaron Bushnell, also an active-duty airman, who stood in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on February 24, doused himself in flammable liquid, lit a match, and set himself on fire, shouting, “Free Palestine!” as he burned to death.
War is personal, even when it’s occurring on the other side of the planet—or it can be. Hebert and Bushnell—and all the others on the planet who feel the same connection with the victims of war—aren’t simply “being critical” of how Israel is “conducting” its war. They’re screaming from their souls: “No! No! No! Stop blowing the limbs off children! Stop killing moms and newborns! Stop dehumanizing them, stop doing what you’re doing. War is wrong!”
Even the international condemnation of the Israeli devastation of Gaza often feels tepid. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said: “This is unconscionable. But it is an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted.”
Yes, of course, this is unconscionable, but the implication here is that there are decent, moral ways to conduct a war, to “defend yourself” from an impoverished, occupied population. Attention, patriots! Attention, mainstream journalists! Waging war doesn’t keep us safe. Diminishing the humanity of others, then killing them and stealing their land, while it may be embedded in our history, doesn’t make anyone safe. It guarantees endless hell. But guess what? “Just as individuals can relinquish their righteous rage and compulsion to punish indiscriminately, so, too, can groups and nations. But doing so requires leaders who can reach across divided communities and provide hope in a seemingly hopeless time to override the all-too-human drive to retaliate.” https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/war-problem-in-gaza
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Categorized Directory: News and Articles about Israel- Palestine Conflict
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