Worse than Terrorism?

Denial and propaganda are useful tools but they only achieve so much manipulation over reality. Israel spent a year running from Gaza and squabbling with America. Its international image eroded to the point where many Israelis are upset with their government too.

And yet 700 new settlement units in Jerusalem celebrate the end of Hanukkah.

Israel always finds a way to maneuver, but some things you can't run from. Total Racism, Total War is far from anti-Semitic. The viewpoints in Saleh Al-Naami's report are anti-Semitic because of the reality in Gaza.

According to the Adala Human Rights Center, the Gaza Strip is home to the highest number of disabled people in the world. Suffering from the wars and blockade is compounded by a lack of medical care and sanitation. Roughly 4% of Palestinians, about 70,000 people, have some form of disability.

This is impossible because disabled people make up almost 10% of both America and Israel's population, but there's a caveat. America and Israel's disabled population is rising because of wars, notably Vietnam, and a cluster of wars against Muslim peoples, Gaza being one of the worst cases. 70,000 sounds like a low estimate too, but this isn't the point either.

No, you really have to dig for this reality.

Italian researchers claim to have found carcinogens and toxins in Gaza's soil as a result of Israel's use of internationally prohibited weapons - white phosphorus, Dense Inert Metal Explosives, and radioactive shells.

Israel denied using the latter weapons in Gaza as they're believed to cause long-term harm to the environment. But UN envoy Richard Goldstone suspected DIME's were used during his investigation and now 12 toxins are found in the researcher's sample areas, who warned that many Gazan residents could suffer from chronic gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses.

They also said unborn children are at high risk. If there's any conspiracy that Israel wants Arabs to stop having children, this is it:

"In a report marking the first anniversary of the war, the Dameer Centre for Human Rights reported "high levels of deformed births and miscarriages", and that the use of radioactive and toxic ammunition by the Israeli army on Gaza resulted in significant deterioration in the health of Palestinians. The report was based on a survey that found that health and environmental conditions in the Gaza Strip are worsening by the day as a result of Israel's aggression and border closure by occupying forces for the third consecutive year."

The researchers called on the Palestinian Health Ministry to test all Palestinians in areas that were bombed during the war, meaning they might find radiation and toxins across the whole Strip. And there will be no hiding from this discovery.

War is simple but not monolithic. It seems easy but is always hard, seems the same but always varies. There's a different between military aggression, terrorism, and oppression. Destruction when rebirth is allowed is its own class. Terrorism sits in the middle, never bringing ruin but always a nuisance.

Oppression is destruction followed by suppression. Hamas terrorizes Israel, it doesn't oppress Israel. Israel oppresses Gaza, and to a lesser degree the West Bank. It seeks to destroy hope in Gaza through a siege, chemical weapons, and potentially radioactive - nuclear - material.

The Muslim world knows where Israel stands, but it's finally realizing where President Obama stands too. There's no place to hide for either of them. Oppression is worse than terrorism and it's happening right in front of him.