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  • An Equally Appalling Solution to the Israel/Gaza Issue

    Yesterday President Trump put forward the idea that the United States should forcibly relocate the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and that the United State should take over the land, spend billions of dollars to develop this area into a what, high-end resort area in the middle east? He further stated that wealthier nations in that area should pay for the reconstruction and that Palestinians should be relocated to Egypt and Jordan.

    The problems with such a statement are plentiful and in no small way enigmatic of what we have seen from so many other oversimplified ideas coming out of this and the former Trump administrations. This so called idea, seems to have been voiced with the typical Trump ignorance and lack of forethought as so many others.

    The issues:

    • Forced displacement of the Palestinian population may actually be unlawful under international law.
    • Though the Gaza Strip has been occupied by Israel since 1967, the United States nor Israel actually “owns” it, making any claim of the territory tenuous under international law.
    • None of the countries in the region agree with having to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, as it has been under Israeli occupation for decades and it was Israel, with the backing of the United States, that caused the devastation by going to war against its own occupied population killing nearly 50,000 and destroying much of the buildings and infrastructure of Gaza.
    • This idea would still leave in place a population of Israelis and Palestinians within the West Bank where Israelis have been displacing Palestinians by the expanding of “settlements” which is actually the taking over of Palestinian homes by Israel.
    • The displaced Palestinian population, as well as the population forced to accept them, would harbor ill will towards the United States for displacing them from what they consider their homeland.
    • The idea that other nations, rather than the actors who played the biggest part in the destruction of Gaza (Hamas, Israel, and the United States) is shirking the responsibility of those who created the devastation.

    Given these issues it would likely fall on the American Taxpayer to flip the bill for any redevelopment (and perhaps rightfully so), be held up in international courts, and would probably break and ceasefire agreements currently in place resulting in another escalation of violence in the region.

    The Absurd Alternative

    This is an equally absurd alternative that many anti semitic people around the world would agree with. The United States could take over Israel and move the Israeli population to somewhere safe and secure such as the U.S. state of Arizona or Florida. The United States with the help of the Palestinian population could then rebuild Israeli territory and the Gaza Strip and make it into a progressive Middle East nation with a large tourist industry, but with the regional political option of removing a major conflictive actor in the Middle East therefor also bringing an end to the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Syria, and Israel and Iran. This plan would partially restore the region to the post World War II political landscape which should result in more political stability in the region for decades to come.

    Just a few problems with this fictitious idea that just popped into my head:

    • It’s equally fraught with violations under international law.
    • It would be rightfully seen as anti semitic
    • The United States Taxpayer would once again be on the hook for the price of rebuilding Gaza
    • The United States would gain a population that, though hard working, would likely despise and blame the U.S. Government for their being displaced from what they consider their homeland

    What advantages would this idea have?

    • It would provide a peaceful resolution to all countries in the region, with the clear exception of Israel
    • The Palestinian population, who’s current average age is a bit over 20, would grow up seeing the prosperity that a partnership with the United States can provide, and may lead to better overall relations in the region

    A Conclusion From These Two Radical Ideas

    Neither of these ideas are based on the respect of people within Gaza or Israel. Both ignore the reality of the situation and would leave a population that would feel betrayed for generations to come.

    So, where do we go from here?

    Given the facts that both Hamas and the Netanyahu government allegedly committed atrocities, these two entities can no longer be considered viable folks to have at the table for any future negotiations; Given that the Netanyahu government allegedly committed war crimes against the Palestinian population that they occupied and were responsible for, and that Israel cannot guarantee that a future government would not take similar action; Given that the United States government did nothing to dissuade the actions taken by the Netanyahu government, and for the most part supported the actions taken by the Netanyahu government; the following may be concluded.

    The only solution left is a two-state solution

    When a country has under its occupation a population they are responsible for the wellbeing and safety of that population. The Netanyahu government’s actions show that a Palestinian population should probably not be under Israeli control. The attacks by Hamas likewise show that Hamas, or entities like it, should be, not just scrutinized, but policed by international organizations. Should the world also ask why Hamas made the attack on Israel in the first place? Yes. Does this excuse such an attack? Absolutely not! Further, all efforts should be made to bring the Hamas actors in this attack before international courts as well as actors within the Netanyahu government who may have committed atrocities against the Palestinians.

    As any future Israeli government cannot be given a similar position of power over the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian people should not be forcibly relocated, a two state solution seems to be the only way forward.

    Given that the United States was very one sided in the Israeli/Gaza conflict (the Biden Administration seemingly empowered the Netanyahu government in the alleged criminal actions taken against the Palestinian people, and that President Trump is putting forward statements so blatantly one sided and likely illegal under international law), the United States should be in no way a part of a Two-State solution and should be kept completely out of any talks of the solution.

    Perhaps then it is up to another entity such as the European Union to take on this responsibility and also place the fiscal responsibility of rebuilding Gaza on the three actors that should have been more responsible for the Palestinian population: Hamas, Israel, and the United States. It is long past time for an end to this conflict, occupation of the Palestinian people, and the overt overreach by the United States government in supporting of regimes such as the Netanyahu government which act against the people under their authority.

    The rebuilding of not just Gaza but relationships between Palestinians and Israelis will be difficult, but in the long run, and this will take generations, building those relationships with respect and understanding is the only thing that can lead to peace. We should all act accordingly and not fill the air with nonsense proposals of displacing people from their homeland. We need to do better than this.

  • Reckless Right Rashly Rushes Reopening

    Yesterday, the far right leaning Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the Stay-At-Home order issued by Democrat Governor, Tony Eavers. This ruling left no standing plan for the state regarding reopening and left counties and municipalities to make decisions on their own.

    Telling of the politicization of the pandemic, the ruling was on partisan lines with one conservative judge descending from the majority stating the following:

    This decision will undoubtedly go down as one
    of the most blatant examples of judicial activism in this court’s
    history. And it will be Wisconsinites who pay the price.
    Justice Rebecca Frank

    Justice Frank also stated that “legislating a new policy from the bench exceeds the constitutional role of this court”, meaning: the conservative court is legislating from the bench, something many of the radical right have been touting liberal judges for decades.

    Mixed Messages Lead to Lack of Leadership

    In mid-April the White House released Guidelines for states and regions (also noted on NPR) which it labeled “Opening Up America Again”. Though no state has met the criteria outlined in the guidelines (including Wisconsin), it seems many are simply pushing for a relaxing of restrictions. This is both reckless and irresponsible as outlined by the White House Guidelines.

    So what is the justification of the reckless “reopening” of states amid a pandemic that has not yet quelled? And why are many backers of President Trump ignoring the guidelines set up by the White House itself? My opinion: Greed.

    Yes, all of us would rather be able to go to a ballpark, restaurant, concert, or just socialize the way we did only a few months ago. But most understand that this behavior could lead, not to just us catching the virus, but to us passing it on to others. It’s one thing to take our own life into your hands, but to flagrantly disregard the lives of others is irresponsible. But some look past this and only see that their right to freedom is being denied. I think Thomas Jefferson placed Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness in that order for a reason. Life is the most basic of these, and if expressing my liberty puts someone else in danger for their life, then my liberty should be curtailed to the point that I am not endangering someones life.

    When we put our own happiness above others’ lives, we act out of greed.

    Unfortunately the leadership guiding the United States at this crucial time seams to be inept at best, but leaning towards incompetence. During the Great Depression, and World War II we had great leaders who inspired us and lead us to give up creature comforts. We made sacrifices great and small. Perhaps that’s why that generation was called “Great”. Today we have a president who talks about greatness, but does little to inspire a nation to do great things. The message from the White House seems to contradict itself from one day to the next, and much of the time going against the advice of experts that server the nation.

    White House Guidelines

    I suppose we should look at the guidelines the White House put out to see if they are reasonable or too restrictive in nature. Here’s a rough outline of the Guidelines.

    Before Proceeding with Phased Opening

    • Symptoms – Should be downward trending for a 14 day period for both influenza type symptoms and COVID-19 type symptoms
    • Cases – There should be a downward trend in documented cases or percentage of positive tests
    • Hospitals – Treating all patients without crisis care, and robust testing of all at-risk healthcare workers including emerging antibody testing

    These are the guidelines the White House came out with that were supposed to lead us through the pandemic, but as the administration has done nothing to prepare a nation for this endeavor, what could have been a great coming together of the citizenry has become a dysfunctional patchwork of incompetence.

    There’s not enough testing in place.
    A system for contact tracing has not been set up.
    States and communities are bidding against one another for medical supplies.
    The United States is woefully unprepared for opening up again, and the responsibility for this falls squarely on the current executive administration.

    In the face of this pandemic, with a void in the leadership of the nation, dysfunctional communication about the reality of the situation, and a segment of the population too arrogant to curtail it’s greed, we can look forward to an upcoming year of crisis.

  • Are Wisconsin COVID-19 Test Results Under-Reported?

    Wisconsin is doing it’s best to address the COVID-19, but the bottleneck of testing seems to be delivering inaccurate results. With so few tests being processed, the statistics we are seeing cannot be trusted to show the real situation.

    On Friday morning, March 13, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) reported a total of 188 people tested of which 19 tested positively for COVID-19. Yesterday, Monday, March 16, the DHS reported only 47 positive COVID-19 results, and I was relieved. I had expected to see more than 100 as I figured the positives would double every day.

    However, I then added the Negative and Positive together (551) subtracted that number from the Friday morning total (551 – 188 = 363) and then divided by three to find the number of tests performed each day which was 121. If we are testing just over one hundred people a day that is woefully inadequate.

    If we are seeing nearly 10% of all tests coming back positive, and most tests are still in the queue, we are missing a lot of data.

    Wisconsin is not alone. Nationwide the United States has only tested about 25,000 and testing from over the weekend (March 13-16) is lagging (mostly not available from the CDC).

    We need more testing! NOW!

    The only way to monitor the situation is to get information. Here in rural Grant County, WI, there is only one hospital with access to the test and there are not enough tests to go around. The slow reaction to this pandemic is now resulting in our simply guessing what the situation is. Guessing is not good enough.

    We, all states, and all areas in the states need testing now. Until that happens we should be in complete isolation as Italy, France, Germany, and so many other nations are.

    My advice to you: Completely isolate yourself.

    There is another statistic that is very telling. 80% of the positive tests are from people 40 years old and older. What this likely does not mean is that younger people are not getting the virus, but that when they do, they are not showing symptoms and are able to spread it without knowing they have it.

    So, if you have kids, do not bring them to Grandma and Grandpas house, or let them have play dates with other kids. Yes, I know this is a tough thing to deal with, but this is how the virus can spread.

    Self-Isolate, now!

    The best thing we can do, given that test results, are lagging and this virus is spreading, is Self-Isolate. This is the best way you can help slow the spread of the virus down.

    See you on the other side.

  • Voters did not elect Trump! The Republic Did.

    < 26% of eligible voters