Imagine a Gunman

Imagine a gunman (they are almost all men) actively shooting into a crowded auditorium.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

What is the appropriate response?

And imagine this auditorium has had all its doors locked by the gunman and there is no way for anyone to escape. That the gunman has surveilled all of the people in the auditorium for decades, has put rules in place to control their movement, how much water they have, how much food, and how much electricity.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

He stands and watches from a balcony. Chooses a target. Bang.

Do you explain why he has the right to slaughter the people in the auditorium? How one or two of them committed some atrocity against him last week or last month?

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Is this gunman exercising the right or the “duty” of self-defense?

Ten dead. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Do you send the gunman more ammunition and defend his actions? Do you point out targets for the gunman? And what do you do when you see people outside defending the gunman and sending him supplies?

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Would you call for a temporary halt to the shooting, so the people under attack can have a snack or cup of tea before the shooting starts up again?

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Or, maybe, do you cry out that the gunman must stop? Must cease fire.

Do you desperately tell everyone you can about the ongoing slaughter to try and get more people to demand it end?

Twenty dead. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Do you shame and expose and call out the people supporting the gunman? People who have some power to take action on behalf of a group or a nation, do you demand that they stop participating in the slaughter and instead demand it end?

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Or do you close your eyes and ears to the carnage and focus your attention on your own existence? Your own struggle to get by and try to live a decent life.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

When the shooting is happening is not the time to defend and explain the shooter’s actions.

First stop the shooting.

Then, try to understand why the shooting happened and put in place conditions that will help prevent it happening again.

Israel is committing genocide in Gaza TODAY.

TODAY we need to do what we can to make them stop.