I wonder whether the photographer/uploader of this photo does in fact know how wrong what he is witnessing is and while unable to extricate himself from the reality in a more direct way, feels the need to expose it. Imagine being a man with a conscience in his situation. How would you try to resist considering that direct disobedience would probably have negative repercussions for you? It’s very easy to say that you’d stand by your morals and resist in such a situation but I wonder how many really would. Not trying to make excuses for him or those committing these atrocities but worth considering perhaps.
I think you raise valuable questions. The "banality of evil", as Hannah Arendt helped us grasp, is a powerful factor in our ethical conduct and judgment. The common sense of our cultural environment is for most of us the basis of our thoughts on right and wrong. The fact that many of us "do the right thing" or "hold the right beliefs" is often as much an accident of social influences as doing a bad thing or holding the wrong beliefs. This is why independent, critical and ethical thinking is so important develop an individuals and society. And I think you're right that many people who would under ordinary circumstances be perceived as good people could quite easily be the villain if cast into an environment for social circumstances in which doing wrong was normalized or even celebrated.
Thank you for your article. I wanted to ask if you have any article on how Palestinian people view the meaning of martyrdom ? It would be interesting to compare. Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to read my piece. You ask an important question that I do not have an answer to. Based on my limited observations, it seems that many Palestinians view all innocent people wrongfully killed as martyrs to their larger cause of self-determination.
I just found a sector on Al Jazeera, saying that 14-18 years old boys ready to die as martyrs as long as they fight IDF. Isn’t it concerning, given that Israel retreated from Gaza in 2005. Aren’t those teenage fighters later will be pictures as innocent children? How can the whole situating get improved if even kids want to die for the cause they believe in?
Finally, here is an analysis of Israel's continued occupation of Gaza by a U.N. expert on the topic: "Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, tantamount to ‘settler-colonialism’: UN expert" https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129942
Permit me to pick up where you left off, Mr. Nall.
I have lived in Japan for more than 30 years and have had many conversations with people who knew personally or who were actually Kamikaze pilots (in the case of they surviving pilot, he was due to fly a week after Japan surrendered). They were almost exclusively young.
I have asked how and why such a thing could ever exist. Without exception, there is utter respect for these young souls (and contempt for those that gave them their orders). It is usually explained that for the love of their country and their families, and a sense of the unacceptable consequences of defeat combined with an understanding of the unimportance of their own lives in comparison to the aforementioned, dying in this way was an honorable and necessary act.
We sometimes like to think that we have “progressed” to a point that such things are unimaginable in this day and age. However, I assume that such thoughts must exist in the minds of at least professional soldiers, and I posit that put in the right situation, such feelings are not, even if incredibly sad, so rare.
Your writing evokes deep emotion that’s also grounding. I’m really enjoying it. Thank you
Glad to hear it! Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts
I wonder whether the photographer/uploader of this photo does in fact know how wrong what he is witnessing is and while unable to extricate himself from the reality in a more direct way, feels the need to expose it. Imagine being a man with a conscience in his situation. How would you try to resist considering that direct disobedience would probably have negative repercussions for you? It’s very easy to say that you’d stand by your morals and resist in such a situation but I wonder how many really would. Not trying to make excuses for him or those committing these atrocities but worth considering perhaps.
I think you raise valuable questions. The "banality of evil", as Hannah Arendt helped us grasp, is a powerful factor in our ethical conduct and judgment. The common sense of our cultural environment is for most of us the basis of our thoughts on right and wrong. The fact that many of us "do the right thing" or "hold the right beliefs" is often as much an accident of social influences as doing a bad thing or holding the wrong beliefs. This is why independent, critical and ethical thinking is so important develop an individuals and society. And I think you're right that many people who would under ordinary circumstances be perceived as good people could quite easily be the villain if cast into an environment for social circumstances in which doing wrong was normalized or even celebrated.
Good day,
Thank you for your article. I wanted to ask if you have any article on how Palestinian people view the meaning of martyrdom ? It would be interesting to compare. Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to read my piece. You ask an important question that I do not have an answer to. Based on my limited observations, it seems that many Palestinians view all innocent people wrongfully killed as martyrs to their larger cause of self-determination.
We have learned nothing.
Thank you. This is most useful. I will make sure to check all of these reports.
My pleasure. Thank you for the dialogue.
Deep respect for this difficult piece. Thank you.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Jade
I just found a sector on Al Jazeera, saying that 14-18 years old boys ready to die as martyrs as long as they fight IDF. Isn’t it concerning, given that Israel retreated from Gaza in 2005. Aren’t those teenage fighters later will be pictures as innocent children? How can the whole situating get improved if even kids want to die for the cause they believe in?
It may be helpful to begin by addressing the claim that Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. They certainly withdrew forces within the Gaza strip but independent human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B'tselem and U.N. experts are of the position that Gaza has and continues to be occupied by Israel since it has significant control over Gaza's borders, airspace, and economy. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/report-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/
Here is another report by Human Rights Watch, "Gaza: Israel’s ‘Open-Air Prison’ at 15" https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/14/gaza-israels-open-air-prison-15
"The Israeli government has contended that its occupation of Gaza ended in 2005, when it withdrew military forces and settlers from the enclave. But that position has been described by Israeli rights group B’Tselem as 'entirely baseless' and rejected by international law experts." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/8/qa-former-un-expert-stresses-israels-occupation-of-gaza-never-ended
Here is B'tselem's full report on the 51st year of Israel's occupation of Gaza from 2017 https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/51st_year_of_occupation_eng.pd
Finally, here is an analysis of Israel's continued occupation of Gaza by a U.N. expert on the topic: "Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, tantamount to ‘settler-colonialism’: UN expert" https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129942
Permit me to pick up where you left off, Mr. Nall.
I have lived in Japan for more than 30 years and have had many conversations with people who knew personally or who were actually Kamikaze pilots (in the case of they surviving pilot, he was due to fly a week after Japan surrendered). They were almost exclusively young.
I have asked how and why such a thing could ever exist. Without exception, there is utter respect for these young souls (and contempt for those that gave them their orders). It is usually explained that for the love of their country and their families, and a sense of the unacceptable consequences of defeat combined with an understanding of the unimportance of their own lives in comparison to the aforementioned, dying in this way was an honorable and necessary act.
We sometimes like to think that we have “progressed” to a point that such things are unimaginable in this day and age. However, I assume that such thoughts must exist in the minds of at least professional soldiers, and I posit that put in the right situation, such feelings are not, even if incredibly sad, so rare.