Armistice Day, Veteran's Day

This was posted by me as a comment to another journal on another web site. The writer wrote about Veteran's Day, and made what I considered a few minor, yet specific errors in her otherwise well-written essay.

First error: "The holiday was established as Armistice Day in 1918 to honor soldiers who have served this country in the Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy."

Second error: "It’s not a day of remembrance, but of recognition."

I thought I'd put my comment here in my journal as well. First, to give paragraph breaks. ;) Secondly, so others who read my own journal may see where I stand on the issue.

~~~

Just a point of historical correction. The first Armistice Day was declared in 1919 by Woodrow Wilson to commemorate the end of the war. As the years went on, Congress decided to formalize the purpose of the Holiday, and passed an Act of Congress. As Wikipedia puts it: An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday; "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

It was only after World War II and Korea that Armistice Day changed in meaning, from the dedication to world peace, to the commemoration of Veteran's service. In a way, I believe that this disenfranchised many people, such as the civilian contributors to wartime efforts, and those that strive for peaceful outcomes -- to ameliorate present conflicts and prevent future ones. If we returned to the original intent, then the vast majority of the world, civilians and soldiers alike, can feel invested in the cause of the day.

Lastly, I must correct this point of yours. For it is a day of remembrance. Indeed, around the nations of the British Commonwealth, it is still called "Remembrance Day," in commemoration of the Armistice and those that fought and died to achieve the peace that follows war. To remember, they wear the red poppy, symbolizing the fallen soldiers, strewn like flowers on the field.

Call me a traditionalist, but I believe that we should all remember that 20 million died in the First World War. 72 million in the Second World War. And, especially in the latter conflict, and to the present day, it is the civilians who suffer the vast majority of casualties. A mother huddled in a house, sheltering her children from the onslaught around her, knows the same -- if not greater -- threats and fears of battle as any soldier. All-too-often she and her children suffer the same fate the soldiers do. Armistice Day is now called Veteran's Day. Yet truly recall and reflect this year on the origins of the holiday, thank you.

~~~

This is not to disrespect the contributions and sacrifices of anyone in uniform. Indeed, anyone who knows my past will know the work I have done in analysis and commemoration of military history. Yet so long as we segregate the holiday to honor only those who wore a uniform (about 10% of the U.S. population), it bifurcates our populace, with the majority of the civilian population seeming only to mark the day as one of increased shopping discounts. How do we ensure that all people would reflect on the dangers of our world, and those who strove, and still work to keep us safe from them?

Ninety one years ago on this 11th of November was the original Armistice of the Great War. There was not a Second World War yet. Indeed, they had hoped that it would be the "war to end all wars." Sadly, there would be no "peace for our time." And through this very day, chaotic, violent wars are still being fought in dozens of conflict zones spanning both hemispheres. What can we do between now and the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice, the 11th of November 2018?

For me, and for some certain friends of mine, we are returning to an original intent. We are personally referring henceforth to the day as Armistice Day. Not out of spite to any veteran, but to remind all -- civilian and military -- that the origin of the national, indeed, global holiday was to ensure that we never again commit our nations to the horrific destructive methods and ends we, and our forefathers, sought in the past. That we seek a world where the amelioration and end to such horrors is a goal and an ethical standard we all must commit ourselves to.

So how about you? Would you support returning to the original intent of the holiday, and to call it Armistice Day? Should we specifically commemorate the uniformed veterans only, or should we consider the entirety of those involved -- civil government as well as military, those who serve in NGOs, the war correspondents, the peacemakers and the peacekeepers, the civilians and refugees. Can we use this day, once per year, to honor all those who suffer from war, and those who contribute to the cessation of hostilities. Can we commit ourselves, united again to the cause of world peace?

Gaza Withdrawal: Revised Casualty Figure: 1,284 Dead, 4,336 Wounded?

Israeli troops complete pullout from Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM (Associated Press) – Israel's last troops left the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, although the cease-fire was frayed when its navy opened fire toward beaches in northern Gaza, and smugglers' tunnels that were targeted in the 23-day campaign against Hamas were active again at the Egyptian border. [Read More]

The patterns which had fueled the most recent conflict are beginning again, in many ways returning back to status quo ante. The porous Egyptian border is being used to create a black and grey market for goods.

Returning life to the way things were before a war is generally considered good, when it is a resumption of normal, peaceful civilian life. If it is the resumptions of clandestine arms shipments and other illicit trading, then there will be little accomplished by the offensive to have curbed the systemic hostilities.

The Israeli government has conceded to open an investigation into allegations that white phosphorus (WP) was used against civilian populations. This may have impacts upon the United States’ own behavior, considering the controversy surrounding the use of white phosphorus by U.S. forces in Fallujah in 2005. Amnesty International’s Briefing on Applicable Law on Gaza clarifies the argument in terms of standards of international law.

First war tally: 1,284 Gazans dead, 4,336 wounded

KHAN YOUNIS (Associated Press), Gaza Strip – Squatting in the rubble, his briefcase perched atop his knees, the human rights researcher interviewed residents of a house shelled by Israel as he compiled a list of Gazans killed and wounded during Israel's offensive against Hamas.

Yasser Abdel Ghafar's work is part of a painstaking endeavor by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights to count the casualties of the 23-day war. The group released a final tally Wednesday, saying 1,284 Gazans were killed and 4,336 wounded, the vast majority civilians. [Read More]

The good news, such as it is, contends that according to these revised casualty figures, less people are dead and wounded than first reported. These revised figures from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights bring down the initial reports of 1,324 dead and 5,400 wounded. However, that latter figure is still the one cited by the Health Ministry. The difference comes from what constitutes a “casualty.” The ministry counted psychological trauma as well as physical injury, where the rights center did not. The rights group also contends the Health Ministry double-counted certain casualties.

Israel, for its part, disputes both figures, stating both reports severely undercount the number of combatants. It will take time to sort the truth from the propaganda. Yet for now, children are still having pieces of white phosphorus picked out of their wounds, detected only when smoke started pouring out from under their bandages.

Gaza Day 22: 1,203 Palestinians Dead, 5,300 Wounded; Israel Plans Unilateral Ceasefire

GAZA (Reuters) – Israel plans to halt its Gaza offensive without any deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said on Saturday, in an apparent effort to deny the Islamist group any gains from the three-week-old conflict.

Hamas leaders in exile have vowed to fight on, but many of the 1.5 million Palestinians enduring incessant bombardment and privation in Gaza seemed desperate for their ordeal to end.

"The goal is to announce, subject to cabinet approval, a suspension of military activities because we believe our goals have been attained," said the official, asking not to be named.

In today’s most recent developments, two more children have died at a U.N. school, killed by an Israeli tank shell fired in overnight fighting. That seems an ironically sharp twist to the comment “our goals have been attained.”

It is not one of the stated goals of the Israeli offensive to kill women and children. It just so happens that such results are inseparable byproducts of their military actions.

“These two little boys are as innocent, indisputably, as they are dead.”

—John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.

The Hamas leadership in Lebanon (Osama Hamdan) and Syria (Mohammed Nazzal, Khaled Meshaal) said fighting will continue until Hamas’ demands are met. Demonstrations in the West Bank in support of Hamas, however, have been monitored or broken up by the Palestinian Authority and are not now widely attended. In Israel, Palestinians and pro-peace Israelis have been shot at, shouted at, or otherwise dissuaded from public opposition. The demonstrations in the West Bank are now less militant for action against Israel, and more for a call of unity and reconciliation amongst Palestinians.

Jews Speaking Out Against Israel

Jews themselves are growing in opposition to the war. Canadian Jewish women occupied the Israeli consulate in Toronto. Protests have occurred in the U.S. and U.K. Gerald Kaufman, a Jewish Member of Parliament for the Labour Party, spoke out against Israel vehemently. Referring to his own grandmother, shot in bed by German soldiers during the Second World War, he compared her legacy to modern Israeli violence committed against Palestinians:

“My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza. The present Israeli government ruthless and cynically exploits the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians. The implication is that Jewish lives are precious, but the lives of Palestinians do not count.”

Amongst the voices in opposition to the Israeli offensive is Canadian journalist Jesse Rosenfeld, who describes himself as “Jewish and Anti-Zionist.” His proposition for a solution to the crisis echoes Hamas’ requirements: “It is the same solution as before: if Israel would withdraw its siege, withdraw its troops and open the Gaza borders like the Palestinians in Gaza have demanded, there would not be a war right now.”

Israel’s counter-argument has been that the siege was a response to Hamas rocket fire. It is a chicken-and-the-egg argument of nationstate tit-for-tat. “You started it.” “No, you started it.”

Rosenfeld likewise opined, “Israel's goals in this war are not something they will achieve. They will not get Hamas to agree to stop the rocket-fire. That is something that will only come politically. Eventually it will have to get to that point, but Israel will kill a lot more Palestinians in the process.”

Mutually Assured Mass Manipulation

Both Israel and Hamas are intentionally ignoring the dirty secrets and blatant truths, overstating or understating their actions and positions to garner international support. Propaganda is nothing new. Each of the powers-that-be are playing to the gallery and shedding crocodile tears.

The casualties, however, are real.

Today I shall leave the final comments to Bill Moyers.