Watching the parade, sitting on the curb, candy was being thrown my way. Against my better judgement I picked up a few pieces of carefully wrapped colorful candies and handed them to the toddler nearest me who was instructed by her parents to say, “Thank you.” I was doing her a disservice. Candy is an addictive substance that can cause serious illnesses, and she’s being taught to say thank you to me for facilitating the development of a harmful addiction?
I should be reprimanded, not thanked. I do have a conscience, but I played along with the candy-collecting ritual. This is a free country. “All men are created equal… endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights… among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If it makes people happy, let them pursue happiness by indulging in self-injurious behaviors occasionally – eating candy, drinking alcohol, overdosing on drugs.
But spreading our bad habits to other countries? How good is that? I remember being alarmed when I read a story about our soldiers in Afghanistan passing out candy to children who’d never seen American candy before. I didn’t know what to do with it! My mild protest was no more than an inaudible ‘plink’ in an ocean of roaring waves.
In China, when Uyghurs – who don’t believe in alcohol – protested Chinese liquor sales in their communities more audibly, they were labeled “terrorists,” which seemed to justify any actions taken against them.
Such labeling can have devastating consequences. In Israel/Palestine, thousands of Palestinians protested years of abuse, the bulldozing of their homes, the cutting down of their olive orchards, the theft of their lands, the restriction of their movements, the spraying of sewer water into their shops and homes, the building of walls and fences, the shooting of those who resisted Israeli aggression, the extrajudicial assassinations of leaders, the assassination of the leader who engineered the collapse of an Israeli-sponsored wall between Egypt and Gaza, and this is only the beginning. The Israeli government has called Palestinian communities “hotbeds of terrorism.” Snipers killed 214 people while wounding over 36,000 people, including medics, journalists and flag wavers, because they wanted equal rights and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Israeli snipers were called national heroes and honored for protecting national security. Those Palestinians who retaliated against Israeli actions killed one Israeli soldier and wounded seven soldiers. And they were all called terrorists.
Sadly it seems that our good friend Israel is a terrorist state. What can we do to make things better? We can stay informed and work to change our foreign policy. Or we can sit back and watch the fireworks, be entertained by tragedy.
