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Should Israelis Care About Innocent Creatures?

Posted: 11/22/2012 1:18 am
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Jews aren't allowed to worry about their pets suffering. That would be shallow. In particular, Jews aren't allowed to worry about their pets being hurt by Hamas, because that would be truly shallow. God knows, Israelis deserve to be targeted, so if Hamas causes their beloved cats or dogs to suffer, that's just fine.

Though I find this premise appalling, it seems to be the conventional wisdom. Apparently, it's the way that caring people think.

Writing in The Jerusalm Post, Israeli Sharon Udasin quoted Nofar Gal, who lives near the border with Gaza: "The situation in the South has been very difficult not only for us humans but also for our pets." Gal's dog, Pitzy, "has particularly been affected by the alarms and explosions, perpetually crying and sleeping only in the family's bed, as well as needing medicine to calm her nerves."

Udasin writes about animals regularly; that's part of her purview as a journalist. She betrays sympathy even for animals on the other side of the border: "If Gazans have pets they are concerned about, then they are welcome to contact me..."

Predictably, her writing about an Israeli's pet dog triggered outrage in sensitive non-Israelis. The professionally sensitive -- liberal reporters -- were especially incensed. Typical was Rory MacKinnon, a New Zealander who writes for London's Morning Star:

@sharonudasin stalks the wards of Shifa hospital in #Gaza. "Doctor, with all these people injured or dead, who will feed their cats?"

He expanded on this liberal thought, excoriating Udasin for her "ghoulish search for stressed pets in Tel Aviv as children literally die by the dozen in Gaza."

So, the obvious, the decent response is to sneer at Israelis for caring about their pets. Good liberal folk -- the ones who have mature priorities -- recognize that innocent dogs and cats just don't matter, given the severity of the situation. And what's particularly obvious is that the feelings of Israelis who care about these creatures are of no consequence whatsoever. I mean, let's be adults.

Now, I too am a liberal reporter, but of the unprofessional and insensitive variety. I can't help noting, for instance, that these same decent souls almost certainly felt bad for Americans whose pets suffered as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Of course, that was different: storms are Acts of God.

Here we're talking about deadly shells launched by Hamas. Which are not Acts of God -- not by a long shot. When you think about it, however, Acts of Evil People are in fact somewhat uglier. Shouldn't you have even more sympathy for Israelis in this circumstance?

Unless -- and this is the real subtext here -- you feel that Israeli citizens should be okay with explosives raining down upon them. After all, they brought this on themselves, right?

Okay, let's reframe the analogy. Surely Americans living near Wall Street shouldn't have been concerned when their pets were endangered by terrorists on 9/11. That would have been shallow, right? People were dying. A family pet you've cared for -- have lived with for years -- might be traumatized or lost? You're upset by this? Grow up.

Ah, but that was clearly different: America doesn't deserve its terrorists, whereas Israel does.

Am I suggesting that America deserved to be bombed by bin Laden? Um, no. Quite the opposite: I'm suggesting that Israel doesn't deserve to be shelled, year round, by thugs across the border. And no, that's not how I'm describing the Palestinian people: that's how I'm describing the tyrants they were foolish enough to elect in Gaza, and now find themselves incapable of unelecting.

These are the gangsters who are shelling Israel. And yes, as with America's enemies, they're a lot weaker and poorer than the people they're terrorizing. They bear profound historical grudges, just as America's enemies do. Some of those grievances are legitimate.

And they are criminals.

Now, we can argue about the appropriate military response to these criminals: whether certain diplomatic solutions should take precedence; whether aerial retaliation is appropriate; whether sending in ground troops might be excessive or tactically foolish. But sorry, friends, this is not really a matter of dispute: Israelis are allowed to care if their beloved pets are distressed or killed by Hamas.

Dashiell Bennett has a good piece in The Atlantic, pointing out that Americans have in fact always worried about and mourned their animals in times of crisis. He discusses Hurricane Sandy, but also much earlier catastrophes, some of them man-made: "One of Civil War photographer Matthew Brady's most famous images is of a dead horse."

Bennett should not have had to write this piece. I spent a lot of time talking to people about the desperate situation of animals during Hurricane Sandy, and not one -- literally, not a single person -- suggested that the topic might be somehow inappropriate. I expect nobody even thought to raise that complaint.

And yet, when it's Israel being shelled by murderers, you require a detailed argument, placing everything in historical perspective, to explain how these Israelis are just like us when it comes to behaving in human ways.

Consider this: humans, unless they are sociopaths, care about the plight of innocent creatures. Israelis care about the plight of innocent creatures since, oddly enough, they're not a nation of sociopaths. Hence, Israelis -- and I know a lot of people have a hard time with this -- share certain attributes with actual humans.

This story is not really about the suffering of animals in the conflict. It is about the degree to which bigotry against Israel is simply a natural reflex in otherwise civilized people. This bigotry is so deeply ingrained in our society that even non-bigots, when confronted with it, require complex arguments to explain why they ought to be outraged.

War writing has always stressed the quotidian. The horrors of grievous injury and death are described, to be sure, but what often affects us most are details of ordinary lives quietly disrupted by the violence of history: the subtle but telling ways in which daily routines are augmented by misery.

So I have no problem with Sharon Udasin continuing to write, as she does on her regular beat, about ordinary people and their domestic creatures.

Eh, perhaps I'm just shallow. Of course I care about civilians traumatized and dying -- I care about Israelis and Palestinians, equally -- but clearly I've been spending too much of my time writing about animal welfare. I've lost perspective. In fact, I'll confess to being doubly superficial. My trivial soul is bipartisan: like Udasin, I care about helpless animals on both sides of the border.

Nevertheless, I prefer my form of shallowness to Rory MacKinnon's passionate, politically-engaged variety. Caring about animals reveals our humanity. And I still care about our humanity.

Loading Slideshow...

  • Gaza City Launches Rockets at Israel

    During the last hour of hostilities, militants launch rockets from Gaza City as an Israeli bomb explodes on the horizon on November 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. An official ceasfire started at 9pm local time between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement after a week of conflict resulting in the deaths of 150 Palestinians and five Israelis and many hundreds injured (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • Palestinians Celebrate

    Palestinian firefighters celebrate the beginning of the truce with Israel in Gaza City on November 21, 2012. Palestinians in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the start of a truce deal with Israel that was announced in Egypt on the eighth day of violence in and around Gaza. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Soldiers Victoy Sign

    An Israeli soldier gives the victory sign as mechanised infantry check their equipment in a forward staging area on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal

    Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal gives a press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel on Nov. 21, 2012 in Cairo, hours after Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr announced that a truce had been agreed between Israel and Hamas to end a week of bloodshed in and around Gaza. (Gianluigi Guercia, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to the press at his Jerusalem office on November 21, 2012. Israel and Hamas agreed on a truce that will take effect this evening in a bid to end a week of bloodshed in and around Gaza that has killed more than 150 people, Egypt and the United States said. (Gali Tibbon, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Border Patrol

    Israeli infantry soldiers patrol next to the border on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • US & Egypt Announce CeaseFire

    In this image made from Egyptian State Television, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, right, give a joint news conference announcing a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. (Egyptian State Television / AP)

  • Protest Smoke Grenade

    A smoke grenade is thrown by Israeli security forces during a protest against the Israeli military operations in Gaza Strip near the West Bank town of Nablus, on Nov. 21, 2012. (Nasser Ishtayeh, AP)

  • Produce Market in Gaza City

    A Palestinian man drives past a produce market in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in Cairo in her diplomatic push to forge a truce between Israel and Gaza rulers of Hamas. Her visit comes hours after a bomb exploded on an Israeli bus in Tel Aviv, wounding several. Clinton is looking to piece together a deal to end Israel's weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Bernat Armangue, AP)

  • Israeli Soldiers Pray

    Israeli soldiers pray next to an artillery gun on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Soldiers Take Cover

    Israeli soldiers take cover during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 21, 2012 near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Protesters Chased By Soldiers

    Palestinian protesters are chased by Isareli border guards during clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus on November 21, 2012, as they protest against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip. A new wave of Israeli raids on Gaza killed 11 people, including a child who died when the tower housing AFP's office was struck for the second time in 24 hours. (Jaafar Ashitiyeh, AFP / Getty Images)

  • A Palestinian Holds Stones

    A Palestinian youth holds stones during clashes with Israeli forces near an Israeli army watch tower at the main entrance of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as they protest against the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on Nov. 21, 2012. Israeli air strikes shook the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rockets struck across the border as Clinton held talks in Jerusalem in the early hours of Wednesday, seeking a truce that can hold back Israel's ground troops. (Musa Al-Shaer, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Palestinian stone throwers run for cover during clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, on November 20, 2012. The West Bank has witnessed almost daily demonstrations in support of Gaza Palestinians who have faced a week of Israeli air strikes against militants firing rockets at the Jewish state.

  • Israel House Bombed

    Sapir Hachmon and her boyfriend Ron Vachnish react as they enter her room after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012 in Beersheba, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldier Evacuates Girl From Site Hit By Rocket

    An Israeli soldier evacuates a young girl from a site hit by a rocket launched by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva on November 20, 2012. Israeli leaders discussed an Egyptian plan for a truce with Gaza's ruling Hamas, reports said, before a mission by the UN chief to Jerusalem and as the toll from Israeli raids on Gaza rose over 100. (Danny Sasson, AFP / Getty Images)

  • UN Supplies in Palestine

    Palestinians wait for aid at a UN supplies center after it was damaged in an Israeli airstrike directed at the nearby Hamas police headquarters at the Jabalya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012. Israel halted a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Drone in Sky

    The white spirals of a patrolling Israeli drone are seen from the seafront in Gaza City on Nov. 20, 2012. UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged all sides to the Gaza conflict to immediately cease their fire, warning at a news conference in Cairo that an escalation will endanger the whole region. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

  • House Bombed in Israel

    A bomb disposal officer at a house after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012 in Beersheba, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldiers Check Their Guns

    Israeli soldiers check their guns at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Nov. 20, 2012, as talks aimed at securing a deal between the Jewish state and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers continue. Israel halted a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance, as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence. (Menahem Kahana, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israelis Take Cover During Air Raid Sirens Sound

    Israeli civilians and security forces take cover as air raid sirens sound around Jerusalem on November 20, 2012. A rocket struck just south of Jerusalem as UN chief Ban Ki-moon was to arrive for talks on ending the Gaza crisis, AFP correspondents said. (Ahmad Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Kids Play During Lull In Rocket Fire

    During a lull in militant rocket fire young boys play on the roof of a bomb shelter and blow soap bubbles on November 20, 2012 in Ashkelon, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • Israeli Air Force Leaflet Dropped In Gaza City

    A Palestinian man holds up a leaflet dropped by Israeli air force in the Tufah neighbourhood of Gaza City on November 20, 2012, urging residents of certain districts of the city to evacuate their homes "immediately" amid fears the military was poised to launch a ground operation. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Security Forces Examine Palestinian Rocket Site

    Israeli security forces surround the place where a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip landed in an olive grove in West Bank near Jerusalem on Nov. 20, 2012. The rocket from Gaza struck an olive grove in West Bank near Jerusalem, shortly before UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived for talks on ending the Gaza crisis. The attack was claimed by the armed wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement, in the second such attempt to target Jerusalem in four days. (Hazem Bader, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldiers Pray

    Israeli soldiers read from a holy book as they pray in a staging area near the Israel Gaza Border, southern Israel, on Nov. 20, 2012. Israeli aircraft on Tuesday battered the headquarters of the bank Gaza’s Hamas leaders set up to sidestep international sanctions on their rule, as fitful efforts to negotiate an end to a week-old convulsion of violence moved to the highest reaches of diplomacy. (Ariel Schalit, AP)

  • Israeli Strike Left Rubble Behind In Gaza City

    Palestinian children stand in the rubble left after an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City, on Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world’s top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (Hatem Moussa, AP)

  • House Hit By Rocket

    An Israeli woman reacts at her house hit by a rocket fired by militants from Gaza Strip, in the southern city of Beersheba, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world's top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)

  • National Islamic Bank Destroyed in Gaza City

    A Palestinian boy walks outside the National Islamic Bank, destroyed overnight in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, on Nov. 20, 2012. Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft targeted another Hamas symbol of power, battering the headquarters of the bank senior Hamas officials set up to sidestep international sanctions on the militant group's rule. After Hamas violently overran Gaza in June 2007, foreign lenders stopped doing business with the militant-led Gaza government, afraid of running afoul of international terror financing laws. (Hatem Moussa, AP)

  • Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on smuggling tunnels on the border between Egypt and Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (Eyad Baba, AP)

  • Palestinians carry injured people out of a media center in Gaza City that was hit by an Israeli strike for the second time in two days Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad says the strike on the building killed one of its top militant leaders. (Bernat Armangue, AP)

  • Israeli soldiers prepare weapons in a deployment area on November 19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. The death toll has risen to at least 85 killed in the air strikes, according to hospital officials, on day six since the launch of operation 'Pillar of Defence. (Lior Mizrahi, Getty Images)

  • Israeli artillery shells attack a target in the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. According to reports November 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • An Israeli officer holds a Torah scroll as he reads from a holy book while others gather in a staging area near the Israel Gaza Strip Border, southern Israel, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. The Palestinian civilian death toll mounts as Israel ferociously pursues Gaza Strip militants who are menacing nearly half of Israel's population with rocket fire. (Ariel Schalit, AP)

  • Photographer injured

    Reuters news agency photographer Ammar Awad (R) receives treatment for an injury inflicted by a rock, during the coverage of the clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli security at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the occupied West Bank on November 19, 2012. UN chief Ban Ki-moon will meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of a growing push for a Gaza war ceasefire, his spokesman said. (Ahmad Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Gaza Conflict

    Palestinian youth hurl stones towards Israeli soldiers at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the Israeli occupied West Bank, on November 19, 2012. European Union foreign ministers called for an "immediate" halt to hostilities between Gaza and Israel as a new strike in a sixth day of violence pushed the toll in Gaza to over 100. (Ahmed Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli soldiers

    An Israeli soldier aims his rifle towards strone throwers demonstrating against the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the Israeli occupied West Bank,on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 22 Palestinians, hiking the Gaza death toll to 99 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Israeli Border Police

    Israeli border policemen stand guard during a protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip in Birzeit, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Nasser Shiyoukhi, AP)

  • Israeli Security Forces

    Fireworks are thrown at Israeli security forces during clashes against Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, in Qalandia checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday, Nov 19, 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Majdi Mohammed, AP)

  • Israel Launching Missle

    Israeli soldiers lie on the ground as an Iron Dome missile is launched near the city of Ashdod, Israel, Monday Nov 19. 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Moti Milrod, AP)

  • Atara checkpoint

    Birzeit University students cover their faces during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Atara checkpoint close to the university as they protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip killed 13 people, raising the Palestinian death toll to 90 as Israel's relentless air campaign entered its sixth day. (Abbas Momani, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Bomb Shlelter

    Israelis take cover in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Nov.19, 2012 in Nitzan, Israel. According to reports Nov. 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Gaza City tower hosting media

    Palestinians look on as smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the Gaza City tower housing Palestinian and international media, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 21 Palestinians hiking the Gaza death toll to 98 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Gaza Strip

    Israelis take cover in a stairway during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2012 in Ashkelon, Israel. According to reports November 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Gaza Strip

    Palestinians run as tear gas is fired by Israeli security during a protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 22 Palestinians, hiking the Gaza death toll to 99 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Palestinian Woman Mourns

    A Palestinian woman mourns after an Israeli air strike destroyed her house in the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 13 Palestinians on November 19, hiking the Gaza death toll to 91 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Border Guards

    Israeli border guards take position during clashes with Palestinian protestors in the centre of the divided West Bank city of Hebron, near the Israeli Beit Hadassa settlement, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 21 people in Gaza on Monday, raising the overall death toll to 98 on the sixth day of the relentless bombing campaign. (Hazem Bader, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldiers

    Israeli soldiers sleep next to their tanks in a deployment area on Nov.19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. The death toll has risen to at least 85 killed in the air strikes, according to hospital officials, on day six since the launch of operation 'Pillar of Defence.' (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Protest

    Supporters of Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hardline group Jamaat ud Dawa (JD) stand on Israeli and US flags as they shout anti-Israel slogans during a protest in Karachi on Nov.19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 13 Palestinians on Nov. 19, hiking the Gaza death toll to 91 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Asif Hassan, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli soldiers gather next to their armoured personnel carriers (APC) stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on November 17, 2012, in Israel. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

  • Israeli children wave their national flag as they greet soldiers stood by a car, on a road leading to the Israel-Gaza border near the southern Israeli town of Ofakim on November 17, 2012 in Israel. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

  • A rocket is launched from Gaza as seen from near Sderot on November 17, 2012 in Israel. At least 39 Palestinians and three Isreali's have died since conflict began four days ago. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

 
 
 

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No Kill Houston
A No Kill advocacy organization
202 Fans
 
05:37 PM on 12/19/2012
Very interesting article. I didn't realize some people felt this way. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since some people have commented to me that I should stop trying to save animals lives and I should focus on ____________ (fill in the blank with whatever cause the commentor believes in).

I am sure there are people (and animals they care about), on both "sides" who are caught in the middle of a war that they do not want to be in. Political leaders make decisions and everyone else suffers.
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Allegedly Mary Tully
77 Fans
11:17 AM on 11/26/2012
Wait. This is you caring just a little too much about animals? "Again?" No. This is just your latest installment of exploiting the plights of innocent animals to malign those with whom you do not agree. This isn't "animal welfare." Not by a long shot.

Slaughterhouses are war zones for animals. Circuses are war zones for animals. Biomedical research labs are war zones for animals. When you finally start introducing people to the ways that they themselves place animals in war zones, THEN you can say that you are pushing the animal welfare envelope a little too far in the right direction.
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whosonfirstwhatsonsecond
31 Fans
02:56 PM on 11/26/2012
As always, well said AMT.
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Heather Clemenceau
91 Fans
03:50 PM on 12/01/2012
Agreed, Fortunately, the HuffPo readership has thus far been spared that article about myself and others, a "threat" that has been bandied about since early November. My guess is that it never passed muster with HuffPo legal, who no doubt realized that there is a greater duty of care involved when a public person tries to commit a character assassination against a private person such as myself.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Douglas Anthony Cooper
Novelist (Amnesia), www.bloggermortis.com
847 Fans
 
05:52 PM on 12/09/2012
Your "guess" is predicated on "knowledge" that this is not the case. But you keep prodding me, so I may well produce it. The reason it hasn't materialized is that honest people keep their word (a concept difficult for some to comprehend), and the article was mostly about Donny Random -- you had a minor but repulsive walk-on role. I promised Random that I wouldn't pursue him if he removed the fake reviews: the ones that you insisted, remember, had nothing to do with the HSUS.

So, here's my word. (Remember, I'm honest -- we're not talking Mary Tully here): legal has nothing to do with it. Promise. Your'e fair game. Any time I choose to spend the time to produce a full piece on you and your mendacity, it will pass legal, I assure you. Because -- did I mention this? -- I tell the truth.

And Tully? Go away.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheExpatriate
65 Fans
12:35 PM on 11/24/2012
This has to be the most poorly written blog I have seen on the Huffington Post so far. It comes across like something I would expect to see on townhall.com or Fox News.

Those people who want historical context aren't invoking a "double standard." They are trying to look at both sides of a conflict that our mainstream media generally frames as one sided.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Douglas Anthony Cooper
Novelist (Amnesia), www.bloggermortis.com
847 Fans
 
03:22 PM on 11/25/2012
This has to be the most poorly-read blog I have written on the Huffington Post.

(Oh, and your second paragraph essentially agrees with what I wrote. Read it again.)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheExpatriate
65 Fans
05:07 PM on 11/25/2012
Why waste my time? If you can't do sarcasm well enough for your readers to figure out it's sarcasm, then there's no reason to bother with your writing.
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bigsteve5000
67 Fans
11:44 AM on 11/24/2012
the tried and true method to silence Israeli dissenters,anti-Semitism.
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bigsteve5000
67 Fans
08:46 AM on 11/24/2012
People who disagree with Israeli assassinations,blockades,collective punishment etc. are not anti-semetic.good try
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terry ward
41 Fans
06:51 PM on 11/26/2012
And the Tea Party isn't racist...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
orcinusorca47
To Whose Benefit?
439 Fans
08:43 AM on 11/24/2012
It's difficult to believe that someone wrote about Israeli house pets. More difficult to believe that such an article was given bandwidth.

In the circumstances, they are totally irrelevant.
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bigsteve5000
67 Fans
08:41 AM on 11/24/2012
Another attempt to quiet those who disagree with Israeli,blokades assassinations,collective punishment etc,with the label of anti-Semitism.
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ForTheChildren
17 Fans
05:57 AM on 11/24/2012
Are you vegetarian? Of course all the suffering is equally painful to non-sufferers like us. And the question about how the pain of certain classes of sufferers is trivialized is an important one chiefly because it shows us how irrational and bigoted is our thinking. "Why should a dog, a cat, a rat have life, and thou no breath at all?" cries Lear in his pain. And we sympathize with him, recognizing a fellow sufferer in his grief. All life is sacred, a tree, a cat, a dolphin, a shark, a child. I'll not have any cats in my bed though...am I making sense here?
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qwerpa
24 Fans
04:04 AM on 11/24/2012
Please don't call Palestinians Evil with a capital E and assume they are anti-Semites. I mean really George W. Bush has been out of office for two election cycles now. Think it might have something to do with the occupation of their homeland and their mass-poverty and lack of statehood, much?
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Douglas Anthony Cooper
Novelist (Amnesia), www.bloggermortis.com
847 Fans
 
03:59 PM on 11/24/2012
Does anybody here *read*?

I did not call Palestinians "Evil with a capital E." I went out of my want *not* to call them that. I very specifically called *Hamas* Evil -- fully capitalized. If you want to conflate decent Palestinian people with these vicious thugs, then go right ahead -- but don't accuse me of that grievous error.

And yes, Hamas are anti-Semites. Of the Hitlerian variety: they wish to see Jews in the area wiped out.
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Alison Hector
6 Fans
07:20 PM on 12/09/2012
Exactly!!
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cule1234
1 Fans
03:55 AM on 11/24/2012
Are you making a distinction between liberals who express concern for human suffering and prioritize it above that of animals, and "nonliberals" (??) who feel empathy for animals despite human suffering and death? To me, the latter sort of empathy, seen in the Jerusalem Post article and in your piece, is a thoroughly liberal sensibility. The critique of it, I'd say, can be quite a bit more radical, and is not directed only at Israelis. Living in a poor country, I often hear people critique Euro-American (and exceedingly liberal) animal rights groups working to save, feed, and provide medicine to animals in a context where people have little. Similarly, your analogy between the Israeli writer and the photographer of Hurricane Sandy is misguided. While they both express concern for animals in a context of human suffering, the Israeli writer belongs to a nation-state directly participating in the creation of human misery and death by dropping bombs (whether you the act is justified or not, this statement has to be true). She also writes for an aggressively nationalist and often xenophobic newspaper, which tends to show a disregard for Palestinians. The criticism of her relates to her particular subjectivity and circumstances (as with the case of animal rights groups in a poor country). But only liberals can possibly calibrate their ethics in a such a way and find all kinds of clever ways to justify doing so.
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Douglas Anthony Cooper
Novelist (Amnesia), www.bloggermortis.com
847 Fans
 
04:04 PM on 11/24/2012
And how did you feel about American reporters -- in say the New York Time or the Wall Street Journal -- writing columns about pets (or food reviews, or celebrity profiles) while their nation was busy invading Iraq? My guess is that you didn't even notice.

The difference? Israel has every reason to fight Hamas. America was engaged in an unprovoked war of choice against a non-aggressor.
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cule1234
1 Fans
12:33 PM on 11/25/2012
Critics of the American war in Iraq were long dismayed by the fact that the American media ignored all that was going on there in favor of more trivial stories. Americans in general could live their daily lives as if nothing was happening. It's the same kind of disregard (at best), although in the JPost author's case the bombs are exploding just down the road in Gaza rather than in a faraway land. I really don't think your point holds up to the slightest of scrutiny.

Israel's invasion was clearly a war of choice, and they were the ones to provoke it. There can be little serious debate about this.
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cule1234
1 Fans
03:10 PM on 11/25/2012
Critics of the American war in Iraq were long critical of the the way in which the media ignored all that was happening there in favor of often trivial domestic stories. Americans were able to live out their daily lives with little notion of the horrors in Iraq. Your argument doesn't hold water.

Israel, too, was in a war of choice, and one that it provoked. These points cannot be disputed seriously.
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basenji
Dog lover
345 Fans
02:41 AM on 11/24/2012
Americans cared about the human victims as well as pets. Israelis are having a tantrum over the fact that there was no re-occupation and not enough Palestinians were killed.
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zenju2
1136 Fans
02:30 AM on 11/24/2012
Good article.
The short-sighted nature of humans, driven by greed and hatred and deluded thinking, will carry us to a point at which Homo sapiens will drive itself to collapse and a massive die-back...probably in the next 3 or 4 decades. We're going to find that humans are, after all, just another animal in a complex and delicately-balanced ecosystem. Of course, it will be too late by then...
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Triple M
92 Fans
01:39 AM on 11/24/2012
"Caring about animals reveals our humanity"

If you care so much about "animals" i sure did miss you last week blogging about turkeys who are routinely stomped, beaten, trempled upon, thrown, head pulled off, and sexually abused by workers. Surely you had no problem eating one of these poor animals, and surely you ridicule vegetarians who indeed care for these animals.

Most probably you mean "pets" but really, "caring for our pets reveals our humanity" sounds rather silly, eh.

Oh, and your beginning of your article is a classic, first you give a false and rather distorted simplistic image of your oponents and than you are goind to refute this silly image.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
orcinusorca47
To Whose Benefit?
439 Fans
08:46 AM on 11/24/2012
Caring about the children murdered in the Gaza Ghetto "reveals our humanity". Caring about house pets during the rest reveals foolishness.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
dsws
No owning ideas. Limit only commercial use.
402 Fans
 
10:06 PM on 11/23/2012
Nice to see that there are two topics of interest to this author, rather than just one.

Hundred-fold collective punishment is not appropriate. That should be beyond dispute.

Of course it's ok for someone to be concerned about traumatized pets. But it's also ok for people to say something a little unreasonable when those they identify with are being killed by the hundreds. An irate tweet lets off some steam, without putting Sharon Udasin in any danger.
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SheilaKhani
can't read between the lines
258 Fans
 
08:39 PM on 11/23/2012
"The situation in the South has been very difficult not only for us humans..." as oppose to the none-humans in Gaza?
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Douglas Anthony Cooper
Novelist (Amnesia), www.bloggermortis.com
847 Fans
 
11:29 PM on 11/23/2012
Your micro-bio notes that you "can't read between the lines." So why are you trying to? You're only going to come to the wrong conclusions.
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