How the Israel-Gaza conflict reveals American decay
The aftermath of the horrific attack in Israel showed Western institutions across the board are eroding.
Summary: With the Israel-Gaza conflict underway, media outlets misreport major developments, America suffers blows to its global prestige and Congress remains unable to elect a speaker. The crisis has revealed decay in crucial institutions.
Could there be any major Western institution not on the decline as evidenced by events in the past few days with carnage unfolding in the Middle East? So much is in disarray the diminishment of any one particular institution is hiding like a fish in a larger metaphorical school representing overall decay.
I could write about journalism being a declining institution as demonstrated by major media outlets, most prominently The New York Times, running with headlines declaring an Israel attack in Gaza left a hospital destroyed and hundreds dead. Evidence, however, is now overwhelmingly pointing to a failed rocket from Gaza as the culprit. It's even in question whether a hospital was struck when images suggest it was a nearby parking lot. The casualty count appears to be a few dozen as opposed to hundreds.
Even five years ago, it would have been unthinkable for a major news outlet to rely on officials reporting to terrorist groups like al-Qaeda or ISIS as a reliable source of information. And yet The New York Times relied on Hamas for a front-page headline. Defenders will say these outlets were trying to make the best out of a situation with breaking news and attributed the source of the information in the headline, but that still gave the claim from Gaza officials way more credibility than it warranted.
It burns me the companies that are taking the blame are social media platforms. Lawmakers left and right are seeking answers from them on content moderation to stem the tide of disinformation, when the purveyors tend to be traditional media and sometimes lawmakers themselves. In fact, social media is acting as a correcting agent by enabling users to provide additional context or more truthful information in response to posts with questionable content. Blame the media outlets supposed to serve as an authenticator of information instead for not upholding their responsibility.
I could write about the decline of America's global standing. Stories are a dime a dozen these days about the end of the Pax Americana, the poetic Latin term referring to the period of global stability brought on by U.S. dominance in the post-World War II era. Generally, I find these articles to be overly catastrophic as the United States maintains a significant edge in terms of its economy, military and historic reputation as a global leader and champion of freedom.
And yet, evidence was on full display this week suggesting we've reached the end of a global era. One prominent example was when Jordan cancelled a summit it was set to host with President Biden as well as Egyptian and Palestinian leaders, reportedly over the story of the Israeli attack on the Gaza hospital that later turned out to be untrue. Biden responded as his plane was about to take off for the Middle East by cancelling his entire trip to Jordan. It takes some real gall to cancel on the American president, whose company is normally desired and promoted by foreign leaders seeking to add to their prestige and credibility.
Echoing the insult was the Saudi crown prince making Secretary of State Antony Blinken wait hours to hold a meeting with the diplomat, ultimately delaying it until the following day. The Washington Post characterized making the senior U.S. diplomat wait for a planned meeting as a major snub. Just a couple weeks ago, serious progress was underway toward an agreement of U.S. military defense of the Saudis in exchange for recognition of Israel. The Blinken snub wasn't a very dignified way to treat the delegate of a country proposing to take up your protection.
These officials are toying with American leadership because they now have an alternative in China. Despite the initial condemnation of violence after Sen. Charles Schumer prodded them for a comment in support of Israel, China's foreign ministry earlier this week delivered a condemnation of Israel and said it has gone too far in responding to the initial attack. Keep in mind Israel hasn't even begun its ground offensive yet. China is eager to embed itself in developing nations and is finding an opportunity in the split created by U.S. support for Israel.
I could write about the chaos unfolding in Congress as the House Republican caucus is unable to coalesce around a speaker. As I write this post, news is breaking the Republicans have rescinded their support for Jim Jordan as their designated nominee after three failed ballots on the floor, the last of which resulted in 25 votes against him when near unanimity is required. He’s the latest casualty after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster, Steve Scalise’s bid failed and the idea to empower an interim speaker failed to gain traction. New options are emerging as the House is set to hold another conference next week. I don't know if there's any reason to expect another candidate will be successful after the drawn out process we've seen so far.
I'm beginning to eat my words from a couple weeks ago when I said the ouster of McCarthy was no big deal and expression of democracy in a congressional body. But an international crisis was sparked the next day and a deadline to fund the U.S. government is less than a month away. That's not enough, apparently, for Republicans to coalesce around any candidate. I can only explain it as the chickens coming home to roost after the seeds were planted in the Republican Party of nihilism in running the federal government.
Fortunately, the executive branch should be able to operate on its own in addressing international security issues. Congress, however, is needed to act on any supplemental funding deemed necessary, such as the request for $106 billion Biden laid out this week in his Oval Office address.
Finally, we have our vaunted academic institutions being unable to express condemnation over the terrorist attack in Israel, accompanied by student groups at these institutions blaming Israel itself for the atrocities or even opposing the existence of Israel altogether. Other voices are saying the Hamas attack and the continued holding of hostages in Gaza should be considered relative to the conduct of Israel's government and settlements in the West Bank. We saw such claims echoed this week as government aides, including an official at the State Department, resigned in disgust over their bosses’ alignment with Israel and more than 400 congressional aides signed an anonymous letter to convince their bosses to back a ceasefire.
If the unelected officials working for representatives elected by the people force them to comply with the ideas of the unelected, that’s a form of tyranny. As of now, that doesn't seem to have occurred. I think I remember complaints about the "Deep State" during the Trump administration that played out in a different way with more sympathy for bureaucrats. Either way, the latest developments vindicates the idea the radicalism found on college campuses would be the future for all of us. It now seems to have come to fruition.
There appears to be a deep-seated need to make Israel the aggressor and Gaza the victim as this conflict unfolds. Concern over innocent civilians in Gaza makes sense, but I've never seen such sensitivity to a population whose leaders indisputably initiated violence and are still holding hostages, nor such deep skepticism of a country responding an unprovoked attack. I share the concern for civilian life in Gaza, but I also recognize certain realities as Israel rightfully engages in self-defense and seeks to eliminate Hamas, which brings the potential for collateral damage.
I think it would be oversimplifying things to blame anti-semitism for the eagerness to make Israel the villain. Instead, I think we should turn to the left embracing a mantra of oppression coming from white supremacy and people of color being the victims. There's a demand for stories validating that worldview, which includes any stories depicting Israel as a relic of white colonization. Instead of anti-semitism, the phenomenon appears to be the refusal to see anti-semitism even when a mass atrocity has occurred.
New revelations about the crumbling nature of Western institutions was an unexpected consequence of the terrorist attack in Israel and the violence that has unfolded in Gaza. Arguably, the event was a catalyst pushing them further on the path toward their demise. The mass atrocities in Israel overwhelmingly were awful on an incomprehensible scale, and the continued violence in Gaza is dreadful, but one can feel that reverberating in the decay of fundamental cornerstones of our society.