In the days of old, folks had “outside” latrines to dump their “doody”. But after a couple minutes of holding their noses, they’d “throw back” – and even read the newspapers! Maybe that’s why latrines are also called “out-houses”! They’d quickly get so used to the stench that it didn’t even register on their olfactory organs!! They could see the poop, but didn’t smell it!!
Your Eyewitness was reminded about this proclivity as he considered most of the world’s reaction to the genocide Israel’s committing on the Palestinians in Gaza. We’ve evidently gotten so used to the stench of those FORTY-FIVE thousand bodies – and counting – that it doesn’t register on our moral compasses!!
We hear all sorts of arguments justifying the Israeli “retaliation”– note that this is the preferred term to genocide. They’re “retaliating” for Hamas’ 7 Oct, 2023 attack that took 1200 Jewish lives. There’s no mention of Hamas “retaliating” for experiencing decades of forced displacement from their homes by the Israelis; herded to live in what has to be the largest concentration camp, which even the Nazis would’ve marvelled at!! NO mention of denial of basic human rights in what’s touted as an “oasis of democracy” in the Middle East!!
But there’s another aspect to the tragedy that’s still baffling your Eyewitness. Much of the world mightn’t “feel” for the Palestinians, because they aren’t “related” to them — you know the old saw: every cow feels for its own calf — but what about most of the Arab countries surrounding Israel and Palestine?? Palestinians are Arabs, so don’t their fellow Arabs “feel” for them??
There’re the Yemenis, who’ve imposed the world’s first naval blockade by a country without a navy!! But what about the biggies, like Egypt, Syria, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia?
Following the initial expulsion (the Nakbah) back in 1948, when the Brits “created” – like Jehovah of old!! – the state of Israel by forcibly displacing the Palestinians who’d lived there for a thousand years, those Arab countries had gotten together and launched the 7-day war against Israel in 1967!! So, was their defeat at the hands of Israel so traumatic that they’re still cowering in fear?? So what did they do with all that oil money that flowed into their coffers after they had taken over control of their oil in 1973 with OPEC??
Didn’t they want to wipe out their humiliation by wiping out the Israelis – or at least create a state for the Palestinians?? Well, the bottom line is that they DIDN’T!! Instead, they cut deals with Israel – like Anwar Sadat of Egypt did with Menachem Begin in 1979 – under the watchful eyes of the US!! Let’s not forget that, after Israel, Egypt was subsequently the largest recipient of American aid!!
So maybe that’s why the smell doesn’t register on us??
…our cricketing legacy
Did you notice that when listing the commonalities between our countries, India’s PM Modi named “cricket” right up there with curry??!! Now, some might quibble that he – and us – are still colonized to pick a game invented by our erstwhile British rulers!! But hey…isn’t curry now Britain’s favourite dish?? Well, they never had a cuisine, to begin with, did they??!!
But another way to look at cricket is that it gives us an opportunity to “beat them at their own game”!! And, as a matter of fact, this is exactly what India and the other colonies like us have done, innit?!! That those Clive Lloyd teams back in the seventies and eighties whupped the Brits made us prouder that even the “independence” we had been granted by them!!
And now, with the T-20 format of the game, we’ve made our “calypso cricket” the defining standard of 21st century cricket!! Which brings us to Guyana’s new Global Cricket League.
Imagine the president of the country initiating a cricket tournament!!
…backscratching??
After the said President had bestowed upon India’s visiting PM Narendra Modi our Order of Excellence, Barbados’s Mia Mottley jumped in with their highest national honour – the Honorary Freedom of Barbados. Following the leader??
