“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

“And so this is Christmas and what have you done?  Another year over and a new one just begun.”

John Lennon wrote this Christmas song  Dec. 1, 1971 and sang it with Yoko Ono and the Harlem Community Children’s Choir and it instantly became a Christmas classic with the whole world listening. Only Lennon, possibly the most talented Beatle, dared to combine the Christmas message with an anti-war song that’s still sung today in churches and rock and roll venues.

Lennon, of course, was singing about the Vietnam War and the millions who were being slaughtered senselessly. But when asked why he wrote it Lennon, ever the master of irony, said at a news conference he “hated White Christmas,” the top selling Christmas song of all time. But was Lennon really being ironic? Not when you consider that Vietnam today is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world for Americans despite the fact that almost 60,000 American soldiers died in the napalm-soaked rice paddies of Vietnam.

Vietnamese women, children and civilians were slaughtered as well as soldiers during the My Lai Massacre, and the UN  eventually declared it a war crime. But, did it end the war? Not a chance! The bloodshed continued until April 30, 1975 killing millions of Vietnamese as well as wildlife and the jungle itself thanks to Agent Orange.

Do we ever learn?

In the case of Vietnam, Americans did learn. Few Americans today would advocate a Vietnam-style war. Not even Trump’s followers if that authoritarian goon ever became president again. But in the 1960s, many Americans believed in the “Domino Theory” that Asian countries would fall like dominoes into “Commie hands” if the war wasn’t expanded. But the theory was eventually renounced and the war ended as thousands of protesters rioted in the streets and university campuses to end the carnage.

Yet here we are 50 years later back in the killing fields thanks to extremist fanatics and militant warmongers on both sides.

If John Lennon was alive today, I’m sure he would turn away at the sight of bombed out Gaza. Or, as he sang: “War is over. For weak and for strong… The war is over… if you want it now.”

But that’s not likely to happen in the war-torn Middle East. Not with warmongers like Benjamin Netanyahu calling the shots in Israel and blood-thirsty terrorists like Hamas giving Netanyahu all the provocation he needs. War is baked into their DNA.

But let’s cut to the chase. Israel didn’t start this war. Hamas did. And they did it in the most cowardly and despicable way they could, killing unarmed civilians as well as women and children. They did this knowing they were greatly outnumbered and out-armed but gambled that their Arab neighbors would join in as they did in the wars of 1948 and 1967. But they didn’t and now Hamas is on the defensive and certain to lose.

And who by far is the greatest victim of this evil and cunning decision?

The Palestinians of course. Close to 19,000 of them have died so far, most of them women, children and civilians. Essentially, it’s another holocaust, much smaller than the Jewish holocaust of World War Two, but a holocaust just the same.  How do you square that circle? You can’t, and it you’re honest with yourself, you know it. There’s no right or wrong side in this historic calamity. Both sides know it. For them, it’s just a dream. Or a nightmare.

But this much I know. As long as the Arab “street” supports driving Israel into the sea this mayhem will continue. In the so-called “Holy Land” there’s enough land for everyone, Palestinian and Israeli alike. But for this to happen, Hamas has to be taken out of the equation.

Peace on earth and good will toward all. Such a shame because in this case the sentiments don’t seem to apply in Gaza . . . . .

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who is always against war.

Article Share