So now things in Ferguson, MO have gotten "so out of hand" that Governor (to use the term loosely) Nixon has called in the National Guard. My first thought: At least he didn't decide to shell neighborhoods in that town, or send in drone attacks!
It never ceases to amaze me that cops in this country--and government in general--respond to the civil unrest caused by a cop shooting an unarmed African-American teenager with more cops (or soldiers) who can kill unarmed African-American teenagers even more efficiently. It's like looking at a fire and deciding you need to put it out with gasoline. It's a lot easier, certainly, to point an assault rifle at someone who can't shoot back than it is to actually listen to them and understand their needs, but that's a lousy way to govern.
The only time--the ONLY time--things looked under control in Ferguson was when the local cops were ditched for State Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, who at least made a show of being one with the protesters and hearing their concerns. That relative control was short-lived, however, and after a few looting incidents, MO local and state governments responded, again, with a massive show of force that, predictably, failed, again, to calm the situation.
And through it all, no one is listening to the community's concerns.
Differing only in degree, the situation is largely the same in Gaza. A large group of disaffected people with real concerns about how an outside power is controlling their lives, and making it clear that their lives are cheap. No attention is given to the Gazans' real concerns about HOW their lives have been so cheapened, and no attention given to how the situation could be resolved - except by more, and more massive, shows of deadly force.
Look - When a group of people has spent their entire lives living as second-class citizens, and have been reminded repeatedly that their lives are less imortant than others', you can't expect them to be rational, or react rationally, because the entire situation is not rational. And a society that governs to give such people violence as the easiest way to express their disaffection is not rational, either.