Sometimes I wonder if very high education and learning can be an impediment to clear thinking. So many highly educated, prestigious, individuals calmly accept without question the numbers published by various authorities, on the deaths in Gaza. But when you ignore all the learned and official stuff - and just stop and think about this matter - they're counting only the deaths that have been definitely identified, not the number who lie under the rubble of the bombing.
Fortunately, not all prestigious individuals are as complacent as that. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, warned of an “‘unknown number of people’ – believed to be in the tens of thousands – lying under the rubble of buildings brought down by Israeli strikes.
And what about the deaths from disease, malnutrition, starvation? Are these deaths from "natural causes" - or from the actions of the Israeli campaign against the Gazans?
Ralph Nader gives an estimate - considering all factors, of a Palestinian death toll today of 200,000 - a number "accelerating by the hour"
And here's another matter for clear thinking. The Israeli administration and their supporters are vociferous about the evil of Hamas. And I think that they are right about this . Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya ) can purport to respect other nations, and merely seek Palestinian rights, but in fact, their beliefs are profoundly anti-Jewish, denying the Holocaust, aiming to destroy the State of Israel and kill all Jews.
But - not all Gazans believe in that extreme philosophy. Many adults there have joined Hamas simply because that is necessary to get a decent job. And are we to believe that all children there understand and support that philosophy?
So - the Hamas philosophy is evil. Does that make Jewish Zionism good?
Zionism should not be confused with Judaism. Zionism is not the Jewish religion. It is a philosophy dedicated to the continuance of "the Jewish State" run by "the chosen people" at all costs, and the eradication of those untermenschen - the Palestinians. It's very like Nazism - it's OK to kill children , pregnant women, anyone -in revenge for Hamas' violent actions.
Of course, there are historic reasons for the development of Zionism, and of Hamas. But that doesn't make either of them OK.
Clear thinking is not black and white, supporting one side because we've decided that the other side is evil.
Clear thinking is about what is actually happening now. 200,000 Gazans have been killed, and that number is accelerating, - as the world-leader USA feigns regret, pretends to help the Gazans, while funding Israel and providing the weapons for the killing.
Meanwhile - the USA focusses on two individuals strutting about, trying to become the next President, each boasting about himself, and how bad his opponent is - both apparently oblivious to the reality of Gazan catastrophe that America is promoting - what a pathetic sight - American politics!
Zionism does not incorporate the notion of ‘at all costs’, though some individual zionists may believe that. Nor does it advocate the eradication of all Palestinians. Doubtless, some extreme zionists do but the zionism I am familiar with is the belief that the state of Israel has a right to exist, that’s certainly how the jews i know talk about it. Certainly not at all costs. A two state solution is what most Zionists I know believe in. Am not saying that is simple, straightforward or even possible in current circumstances. But equating zionism with Nazism is a false equivalence.