In the 1986 movie “Platoon,” two soldiers (Bunny and Junior) are together in their hooch discussing the socio-racial inequalities of life. Junior, a black man, tells Bunny, a white guy,

The recent news about Gazans protesting Hamas with street demonstrations and reports of the abduction, torture, and death of Oday Nasser Al Rabay, a twenty-something internet personality who supposedly was initiating these demonstrations, made me think about “Platoon” and that quote. And it made me think, for an instant, “Good for you! You’ve been oppressed, and as our founders did, you are rising up and rebelling against an evil system. You’re trying to throw that yoke off. Good for you.” And then, in the next heartbeat, reality set in. Wait a second…

It appears that they could be in the seminal stages of rebellion, and it would be a plus if they were successful, but I have to wonder if they actually were, what would come after? What fills the vacuum? And I think, probably more of the same but with a different face. The Gazans are possibly getting their fill of a government that they themselves put into power. They’ve either kept them in power enthusiastically for 20 years, or been coerced to support that power structure through violence and intimidation for that same 20 years. Judging by the popular reaction to October 7, I suspect it is the former. Now that Hamas has ruined their lives and turned their homes into piles of gravel by poking the bear next door, some of these people finally seem to be emerging from their comas.

Better late than never, I guess, and I hope that they succeed, but I can’t help but feel their anger is directed at Hamas only because there’s little they can do about the IDF jumping up and down on their necks. With both feet. So the angst has to channel someplace.

The people of Gaza appear to dress like their forebears did centuries ago and think and act like them as well. They seemingly hold grudges that are institutionally preserved and advanced by brainwashing their own children to hate, hate, and hate some more when they briefly take a rest from hating. And this generational indoctrination isn’t going to stop, nor are its by-products, in the event that these people actually stand up and destroy Hamas’ power themselves. It’s got to go somewhere, and so it will likely just recirculate back into hating Israelis. At least, I see it that way.

Western Civilization has been pretty good for humanity in spite of many bad things that have flowed from it. Western Civ has created the printing press, the internet, washing machines, and automobiles. Innovation…innovation creates inventions. Inventions create leisure time by releasing you from the labor of taking one full day to plow an acre. Leisure time creates art, philosophy, and opportunity. Opportunity gives a culture the promise of progress and growth. For the people of Gaza, I don’t hold out the hope for much of that. They much more seem to prefer their place as victims in the world. Just look at the haters they’ve exported to our universities. There, they stand in bastions of hope, promise, and opportunity and scream out their pre-civilizational ideals. Apparently, they love their ideals, but not quite enough to stay at home where they would no doubt, I’m sure, flourish from them.

So I don’t know what will ever be done with Gazans. They have, as a group, created a culture that nobody wants to import. They don’t seem to produce anything or any ideas or any practices that anybody else wants to adopt. They’ve established and maintained a power structure that has just about ruined their chances for survival, and now, some of them seem to have had enough. A lightbulb. Maybe. Maybe not. I think the only hope for Gazans is to form a government willing to live adjacent to Israel in peace after destroying Hamas themselves. They have to admit defeat, cry Uncle. Demonstrate for some amount of time that they’re serious and want to crawl out from beneath the rubble, get it together, and operate in a world that just might be willing to help them if they’re willing to reject the hate and the violence coming along for the ride. In the event of that, they might actually know what cultural progress looks like. But I’m skeptical — it may well be that the only way out for these people is out the back door or in their next lives.