WAR:...Why The Ongoing Bloody Israeli Assault In Gaza Doesn't Resonate In The Rio Grande Valley...Too Far?...Not Enough Jews Here?...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | Almost 2,000 dead so far. Both sides wild-eyed and eager to kill each other to the last man. That's the scene in crumbling Palestine after Hamas terrorists based there attacked Jewish settlements on Saturday and the world began to see its latest war.

Riots arrived in New York City, when partisans for both the Jews and the Palestinians took to the streets of the Big Apple. Capital cities in Europe also got a taste of that, too. The news media was making hay about it being caused by the Palestinians, reporting weighted down heavily in favor of the Jews. Rioters wished to balance the story by noting some of the heavy-handedness Israel has used for years against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In the Rio Grande Valley, it was wall-to-wall Nothingness.

Oh, it was mentioned in the television newscasts and it was written about in the local newspapers, although most of that being stories written by reporters either at the scene of the action or by others familiar with the region's historical strife.

There was nothing I could see here in the Magic Valley that approximated either the taking of a position or the defending of either side. Valleyites were not interested.

That's an indictment on residents who by and large stay away from the so-called political big-ticket items, choosing instead to play at it in minor-league fashion via local elections. You could blame it on the daily and eternal struggle to survive economically here, one of the poorest regions of the country.

Or you could argue that RGV residents simply are not up with geo-politics. They have other concerns, is what I hear - like employment, family troubles, paying bills, deciding on what and where to eat. Bibi Netanyahu? He may as well be the guy who played Tarzan way back when that vine-swinging dude flashed across television screens.

Netanyahu is the current prime minister of Israel. Some blame him for the attack on his country over the weekend. He was not paying attention, they say.

Not that just about everyone in the RGV cares.

Here, they love to look the other way when asked about troubles elsewhere in the state, the country or the world. Insular Valley residents care only about the valley, the here and the now. To expect a noisy, bullhorn-fueled protest downtown or a show of support at City Hall in this war was to expect, well, too-much.

We seriously believe that things might have been a bit different if the RGV counted even a small number of Jewish residents. There are some. But it simply does not have enough by a longshot. Palestinians? Where?

Honestly, I sort of expected some show of either support or protest. By young people, I mean. The same young people who have taken to driving in convoys bearing flaming-red Donald Trump flags and honking at every blue vehicle.

Didn't happen.

No, Maria, the Valley was busy with other things and duties and responsibilities. They were likely making plans with friends and family to go get a bite for dinner.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure...

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