Most wars are wars of propaganda. This is necessary because most humans don’t want war. We have to be talked into it.
Here is how both sides are doing it in the Israel-Gaza conflict. On Monday, Israel screened a 47-minute film of the October 7 attack on Tel Aviv for journalists. It was a compilation of footage, much of it violent and bloody, to push back against what Israel says is a “denial of severity” of the hours-long attack.
Meanwhile, Hamas released two hostages and in the footage, an elderly lady being released shakes a Hamas fighter’s hand and says, “peace.” She was later quoted by Gaza media as saying this: “Al-Qassam fighters treated us humanely and did not kill any civilians, but it was the Israeli occupation army that killed Israeli civilians during the clash with fighters from Gaza.”
How are we to take this?
If the wars of 9/11 are any template, we are to take this slowly. Ask a lot of questions and be careful rooting for any violence at all.
Axios is reporting that U.S. government officials are officially freaked at how fast global conflict is escalating. “U.S. officials say this confluence of crises poses epic concern and historic danger,” they say.
