We Need To Talk About Judeo-Christian Terrorism
Far too many Christians and Jews support the crimes of the American and Israeli governments. It's time for a difficult conversation.
“By the time we arrived, the entire school had collapsed on top of the children. People were pulling out children’s arms and legs. People were pulling out severed heads.”
“She was very sweet. Just ten years old. [Unintelligible] Where do I look [for her]? Look here? Look there?”
Like every other parent, these two Iranians began their week by dropping their children off at school. On Saturday morning, the begining of the Iranian week, they drove their kids to The Good Tree (“Shajareh Tayyebeh”) elementary school in Minab, Iran. There, they kissed their children goodbye, told them to have a great day, and pulled into rush hour traffic that, like everyone else, they cursed for making them late to work, even though they knew it was their fault for not leaving earlier. Those who relied on the bus to shepherd their children were no different. In all likelihood, they hastily packed their lunches and encouraged them to hurry, fearing the penalty for tardiness. Just like my mom did when I went to school, I’m sure some Iranian parents took pictures of the most cherished treasures in their lives, as did the mother of Mikaeil Mirdoraghi, a third grader who waved goodbye to his mom as she captured the last image she would ever see of him.
Their children cared for, these parents prepared to go about their day. Their morning was no different than anything experienced by any American, British, Brazilian, or any other parent of any of the world’s many nationalities. The only difference for the parents of those attending The Good Tree Elementary School in Minab, Iran, is that this was their last morning of normalcy.
Sometime between 10:23 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. local time, the Good Tree Elementary School was hit by a guided missle. According to NBC News, the school was bombed three times. If true, this would mean either the U.S. or Israel maximized civilian casualties by waiting for rescuers, parents, and other civilian staff to arrive at the blast, then sent another bomb to kill them. Then another, to kill those who followed. Both the Israeli and American governments have denied responsibility. They do not deserve the benefit of the doubt, as they have destroyed every building in Gaza, making no distinction between military and civilian infrastructure. The Israeli government is also known to use this horrific tactic. Last August, the Israeli double-tap of Nasser Hospital was caught on video. After the IDF bombed the hospital, rescue workers and journalists rushed to the scene. Israel then sent a missle directly onto those working to save the lives of survivors. To be clear, this is not the only time Israel uses double-taps; it is only one of the times they were recorded doing it. As the United States provides the weaponry and diplomatic cover to Israel, it bears equal responsibility for Israel’s heinous actions.
There is only one word to describe the American-Israeli attacks on Iranian civilians, which are not limited to The Good Tree Elementary School: terrorism.
“Terrorism” carries hefty connotations, but no honest observer can deny that this is exactly what the two war-mongering nations are doing. They are conducting political violence against civilians to intimidate, disrupt, and destabilize a sovereign body. This is not a new observation. The U.S.-Israel axis has been targeting civilians in Palestine and elsewhere for over a century, with the most concentrated state terrorism coming in the last three years in Gaza. While there are many factors driving the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran — racism, imperialism, and a sadistic desire to see things explode — we cannot ignore the religious elements driving this violence. In both Israel and America, fanatical tendencies within the Christian and Jewish religions are not only pushing for this conflict but actively celebrating the mass murder of innocent civilians.
The Trump administration has provided a dozen reasons for launching a war with Iran, contradicting itself at every turn. The first rationale was to “destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” even though we “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities last summer. Marco Rubio and Mike Johnson said America needed to bomb Iran because Israel was going to bomb Iran, and then Iran would bomb America and Israel. (“Your honor, I had to punch that man; otherwise, he would have punched me after I punched him.”) As absurd as that was, it got even more outlandish when the two denied ever saying it the very next day.
However, there has been one justification that no one in the Israel-American axis has bothered to deny. The fanatical elements of Judaism and Christianity subscribe to a violent, savage religious doctrine that says it's not only okay to kill innocent civilians, but demanded by the Abrahamic God. Unfortunately, these beliefs are not limited to a few crackpots, but are discomfortingly common in both Christianity and Judaism. I won’t say they are ubiquitous across either faith, but they aren’t rare. As hard as it might be to accept this conclusion, it is undeniable given the recent religious justifications for this war from American, Israeli, Christian, and Jewish leaders. Let’s take a look.
