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The Measure of a Man
The measure of an IDF soldier
The attrocity upon attrocity happening in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem on the longest livestream in history defies definition or rational explanation. Whatever you want to call October 7th, it was an event. It was extraordinary, tragic and consequential but it was an event. What is happening in Gaza can be called a genocide but even that term is somewhat impersonal and imprecise.
There is no metric by which it can adequately be described as it encompasses heritage, education, religion, healthcare, residence, belonging, family, identity, humanity… It’s an ontological cunundrum. Many of us were aware of the targeting of Al Shifa hospital. We heard harrowing stories, tales of resistance, extreme inhumanity and senseless life taking and humiliation.
But it was only after the IDF retreated that the full horror hit our social media devices with stunning clarity. A hospital complex older than the modern state of Israel was gutted and defaced. Every living quarter was destroyed. Hundreds were killed with hundreds more captured. A hospital that served over 2 million people was eviscerated, it’s medical staff tortured and executed and it’s entire purpose nullified.
To call it a hellscape doesn’t do it justice. I can’t process it — it just doesn’t compute. What’s been done is plain…
