A Local News Column on Gaza is Poorly Written, and It Annoys Me
Normally, I am not particularly chagrined at any given instance of poor argumentation, and I'm perfectly comfortable with the free tongue of informal conversation. However, in the context of writing for the purpose of submitting prose to a serious publication, I would like to think that a given writer would hold themselves to a higher standard, especially when discussing grave and solemn matters of war, peace, and death.
Lee Baxter's recent column "In light of current affairs", published in our Lawton Constitution, makes the argument that one should pity Israel as it wages its war against Hamas. The brief essay begins with a story imploring the reader to imagine themselves as a citizen of New Hampshire in the year 1785. In his hypothetical scenario, New Hampshire is a hated state, under attack by forces from all across the continent. They are only receiving aid from Oklahoma and have fought nine wars over the course of seventy-five years.
The first thing that stands out to me about this introduction is its comically lackluster historicity. The detail that this scenario takes place in 1785 distracts from any broader point this story might be trying to make. I found myself completely consumed by the absurdity of Indians(?) in Iowa or California marching across the continent simply to attack New Hampshire. This is a petty point, but, just as in social relations, a first impression is a lasting impression, and this strange introduction undermines the rest of the article.
Thankfully, the rest is less nonsensical and more substantive than the introduction, which serves literally no purpose other than to explain its failed metaphor. The remainder is personal-analytical, an analysis of the complex situation in Gaza with evocations of personal experience. Unfortunately, both elements of this personal-analytical essay fail. It isn't sufficiently personal, for it is not made obvious how having merely lived forty miles away from Gaza some years ago qualifies one to have a unique or interesting perspective on today's conflict. It also isn't sufficiently analytical: many of the facts the article presents are just wrong, and it is difficult to derive a correct analysis from incorrect and incomplete facts. Hamas does not govern Palestine, for the PLO governs the West Bank. Many of Israel's neighbors, including Egypt, Jordan, and even Palestine, have recognized Israel and have normal international relations. And of course, while Israel may be tiny, its economy is huge. According to the International Monetary Fund, they have a higher GDP per capita than Germany.
Israel, in this article, is presented as a tiny, dependent nation. This could hardly be further from the truth. Israel is perfectly capable of fighting terrorism on its own terms, as has been demonstrated in previous months. Baxter's article is condescending: Israel is not a weak nation. It is a first world country with a strong military, and it doesn't need to be coddled. Each time Secretary of State Blinken has attempted to encourage Israel to adopt humanitarian policies towards the civilians which it is bombing in its increasingly desperate, depraved crusade against the wicked, terroristic Hamas, Israel has told us off, believing it needs not our support in order to continue their destructive bombing campaigns.
They have taken advantage of our delusions, and now, they are bucking us. Without our noticing, the United States has become the parent of an violent, insolent manchild. At its age, Israel no longer requires our support or our pity. While we may continue to love them, we are under no obligation to let them sleep in our house. Israel can end this war, and I pray that they will. But for now, we are under no obligation to finance it.