So let's start off with the disclaimers.
Firstly we do not speak for all Satanists. This is a blog where we express 'our' opinions as women who happen to be Satanists. There is plenty of information about us and our beliefs if you look around this blog. Secondly the title itself 'a Satanic perspective' will be off putting to anyone who doesn't understand what modern Satanism is. Thirdly among Satanists there will be a wide divergence of opinions on this matter. We are of the left of centre, libertine branch of Satanic thought and belief. However, we do think that Satanic philosophy should and does require us to look at the situation in Gaza in particular ways.
Firstly we must disregard the religious element on both sides. While we acknowledge that religion does play a part in the conflict, we have to step back and say that both sides are equally delusional. The premise of both Judaism and Islam (and virtually all other religions) is wrong. The God of those religions is fictional. In the twenty-first century it doesn't make sense to place any credibility in the ideas or dogmas of those religions. So whenever either side uses their religion to justify their actions, we have to call it out and say such a notion is ridiculous. It would be like using the story of Hansel and Gretel to justify banning gingerbread!
Secondly we must say things as they are. The present situation in Gaza was caused by an attack by the terrorist group Hammas. That attack, in which many people were murdered and many more were taken hostage, was horrific and evil. Hammas knew what the likely Israeli response would be. They wanted the present situation to happen because it makes Israel look bad in the eyes of the world. They have got exactly what they wanted and they are now reaping the reward by winning the moral argument. The response of Israel has been out of all proportion to the original attack. The actions of the present Israeli regime can be described as genocide according to any dictionary definition. People within the Israeli coalition government have openly said they want to eradicate the Palestinians in Gaza.
But we must be careful not to conflate things (which is what the most destructive forces on both sides want us to do). Hammas does not mean Gasa or Palestine. The majority of the people in the Palestinian lands just want to get on with their lives peacefully with as little political interference as possible (like most people in the world). The present government in Israel does not represent the will or the wishes of most Israelis. Indeed it is a minority government which is losing support on all sides. Both in Israel and around the world legal authorities have suggested that the present regime in Israel may have committed war crimes that the general population of Israel probably don't approve of. In short there are Muslims of many different opinions and Jews of many different opinions all trapped in the disputed areas.
Next we must speak about the aspect of revenge. As Satanists we do believe revenge can be justified. Indeed it is part of being personally responsible for your own life and actions. We don't have any moral objections to the concept of taking revenge. We have taken and would take revenge on certain occasions. Revenge for the Hammas attack is therefore justified in our opinion. But Satanists also believe in intelligence and therefore any act of revenge must be tempered by intelligent thought. 'Will this action punish the one who transgressed against me? The answer is no. It will mainly punish people who were not involved in the Hammas attack. Moreover, it will be exactly the reaction that Hammas wanted. It will make Israel seem barbaric in the eyes of the world. To take this form of revenge will empower my enemies and cause long term harm to innocents and to myself. It would be stupid to take this form of revenge. (There may have been better thought out and more justifiable means of revenge;- but this was not the path that the Israeli government took).
We also need to take into account historical and political context, which in the case of Israel and Palestine is extremely difficult. News coverage is extremely biased and polarised on both sides. More worryingly even historical sources tend to be biased to one side or the other. With so many differing views as to the historical context that the present Gasa situation results from, it is very difficult to say with confidence that you know what really happened. We don't claim to know or understand the historical and political situation perfectly. However, if you read around, there seem to be some facts that are hard to dispute. One is that the geographical area known as Palestine has been occupied by both Jews and non Jews for thousands of years. Overall it would seem that the non-Jews have outnumbered the Jews in that region for the majority of that time. The region has been occupied and ruled by a variety of countries and empires. With the tacit support of the winning powers after the second world war, the present state of Israel came into being following a Jewish insurgence against the British rulers of the time. After the Holocaust, western leaders seemed to feel the Jewish people deserved to have a home state, and have generally supported and protected Israel ever since. The local Palestinian population never really accepted this. (Why should they?) There have been wars and violent terrorism in the region ever since. Israel has frequently ignored U.N. resolutions concerning how the land of Palestine should be divided between the Jewish and Palestinian populations. According to international law, Israel has been illegally occupying some Palestinian territories for a long time.
In the ongoing protests and demonstrations about the situation in Gaza, those who tend to support the people of Gaza and criticise the actions of the Israeli government are frequently accused of antisemitism. Antisemitism is a form of racism characterised by prejudice, hatred and hostility aimed at Jewish people in general. We denounce and abhor all forms of racism. However, we feel that in this case the term antisemitism is too often being used to shut down any criticism of the state of Israel and it's actions. Being disgusted by the actions of a particular regime does not mean you are prejudiced against all the people who share that regime's ethnicity or religion. That is dumb thinking.
We would describe ourselves as anti-Zionists. As Satanists we couldn't take any other position on that. Zionism is a Jewish nationalist movement that argues that there must be a state of Israel corresponding to the Land Of Israel according to Jewish Biblical tradition. Since we don't believe there is any truth in the Biblical stories that form the basis of Jewish tradition, we cannot support a movement based on what we see as a fairy-tale. Again, it must be noted that not all Jews and not even all Israelis are Zionists.
Satanists don't all subscribe to the same moral values. But that doesn't mean we don't have moral values. The authors of this blog see the genocide being committed in Gaza as morally wrong and politically stupid. We think it could lead to much more instability, violence and terrorism in the region (and around the world) for generations to come which will serve the interests of virtually nobody.
Watching an entire population being bombed out of their homes and then starved to death makes us extremely sad and angry. This shouldn't be happening. All world leaders should be ashamed to be allowing this on their watch.
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