I love media coverage of wars that they actually know something about. You see, the Western media cares about the Middle East. So when hundreds of civilians die in a war, the coverage is appropriately hysterical. However, the ongoing war in Sri Lanka, which bares some similarities to the one in the middle east, has not received the same coverage in spite of the much higher death toll. Sri Lanka is yet another intractable conflict caused by poor post-colonial planning. The ethnic division in Sri Lanka, to make a very long story, very short, resulted in a terrorist organization (the Tamil Tigers) providing a pseudo-government to a large swath of territory not controlled or cared for by the government. The government has now decided to wipe out the Tigers. Are you starting to see the parallels?
I think it is important that every time we get hysterical over a war in the Middle East, we remember there are wars all around the world, that we just don't hear about. So yes, the conflict in Gaza is tragic. It's not more tragic than a half a dozen other conflicts in the world today. A little bit perspective may be necessary in order for everyone to stop the angry protests and accusations of racism. I am beyond tired of the conflict in the Middle East defining politics in other quarters of the world.
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