IS ISRAEL JUST A SHIT MAGNET?

by Duns Scotus

My initial reaction to the Hamas attack on Israel was, of course, revulsion at the horrific acts of the terrorists, but my secondary action was more interesting. It was: "here we are again, involved in another messy situation with Israel at the heart of it."

Maybe this is a very "old school" way of looking at things, but when a stupid row blows up between people, there are always micro reasons why it started -- somebody cut in line or somebody looked at someone the wrong way, etc. Essentially both sides have their reasons and think they are "in the right." But what sensible outsiders tend to do is to ignore this trivia and focus on the "bigger picture."

We take note of who tends to get involved in these rows, and we start to conclude that the immediate trigger is not the problem, but instead the person who keeps getting into pointless rows. In fact, the so-called "trigger" might just be one link in a long chain of other causations, taken out of context.

Jim Goad, no friend of this site (or even the Counter-Currents site he writes for), has, from all his tedious writings, gifted the World with the term "shit magnet" for such people, no doubt with reference to himself. In truth, it is a great concept, because it skips the tedious detail and cuts to the main point -- certain people do seem to attract a lot of shit, and usually that tells us more about them than anything else. 

Now, with "Israeli problems" once again taking up vital bandwidth -- and at a time of real crisis (Ukraine, the threat to Taiwan, the hollowing out of American democracy by moronic populist forces, etc.) -- it seems appropriate to apply the term "shit magnet" to the state of Israel. 

Of course, Israel is a relatively new state and all new states should be allowed a little leeway to make mistakes and learn from them, but when I compare Israel's track record with other states of a similar vintage, there can be no doubt about it, Israel is definitely the king of the shit magnets, getting involved in one stupid fracas after another.

Since its foundation in 1948, it has either been involved in stupid wars, pointless occupations, constant infringements of international law, and the constant rubbing up of its neighbours (and occasional friends) the wrong way.

Of course, I'm sure its tedious defenders can dredge up micro-reasons for why it got involved in this or that row, war, air raid, assassination, human rights abuse, etc, but I'm not in the least interested. I am just noticing the general pattern: Israel is just not a "get along" kind of country. It seems to be devoid of a sense of "good form," constantly "oversteps the mark" (those invisible guide rails of harmonious behaviour), and, maybe even without meaning to do so, rubs up its friends and neighbours entirely the wrong way.

One or two border wars since 1948 and even a temporary occupation or two would have been forgivable,  but 18 wars, the occupation of foreign territory for decades, and countless instances of ignoring international law within the last 75 years make it look like it isn't even trying.

Really, once this framing is accepted, it is impossible to argue that Israel isn't a total shit magnet.

Remember, this is not about some cherry-picked timeline or instance apparently starting with an aggressive or unfriendly act against Israel (check what was going on two weeks before the Hamas attack). This is about the bigger picture and about one country's insistent track record of always being at the centre of the shitshow. 

So, how can Israel stop being a shit magnet? As with alcoholism, the first step to not being an alcoholic is to first recognize that you are one and then work outwards from there.