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Why is There an Arms Industry?!

By Tali Shapiro at Mar 13, 2009

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Warning: The following is a rant, as the writer has just realized something completely obvious, but has qualms about banging her delicate head against brick walls. 

 

When I imagine arms dealers, I'm thinking Venezuelan, mustached, with an ugly scar on their cheek, in white suits. You can blame Hollywood for that. It never really occurred to me that there's a bustling arms industry, with a marketing and copywriting department. Here's the short that brought to this realization:

 

 

 

Confession of a Misinformed GIrl

The above is an Israeli production, made for the Indian annual air show, and was apparently "received with much acclaim in India." But I don't want to can't talk about the artistic merits of this project. I'm too much in shock. I think, somehow, in my head, having an arms industry was OK, as long as it was illegitimate. Getting this sudden mental image of the creative team clapping as they finally come up with the "brilliant" idea for a flower covered missile, made me sick to my stomach. It had finally dawned on me: In our world, It's completely legitimate to sell an item, which soul purpose is to kill. As one of the comments to the article in Ha'aretz, which featured this video said:   

"Should have just used some stock footage from the last Gaza "campaign" Look India you can do this to Pakistan if you buy our missiles..... Israeli companies selling death to anyone that can afford it,well done!"   

 

Disarmament Now!

I've said this many times before. In public, in private, alone in a room, to my cat- fuck, I probably say it in my sleep- Disarmament now! Back to sticks and stones for the lot of us! Maybe if all us Israeli third monkeys had to look straight into a Palestinian's eye, before we stick-and-stoned them to death, we would think it over.   

And while we're at it: Decapitalization now! Fuck the system that puts monetary gain before lives!   

I had a conversation with a friend of mine, just yesterday. She told me she talked to a land-owner that bought out Israeli-Arabs (encouraged by the state). This worthless excuse for a human being said that "we [the buyers] don't care if it's Arabs, we just got a good deal". The point this guy was making was that he's not a racist. I believe him, I just happen to think he's not much of a humanist either.  

Arms industries and Capitalism... we've been duped. Where's your tax money going? Who are we all killing, right now? How many children are starving? Women being raped? Men holding guns to other mens' heads, while we call it legal because they are both in uniforms? 
 

That's it. I'm done. Gonna go back to staring at my Sony, drinking my Coke and munching on my Oreos. See if I can ignore the taste of blood in my mouth.

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