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Afghanistan and Gaza: Tragedy and Farce
Karl Marx. Photo: public domain.
JNS.org – Keen-eyed readers of this column will know that I am fond of occasionally quoting Karl Marx’s observation that history repeats itself, “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” In those lines originally published in 1852, Marx was referring to the coup in France the previous year carried out by Louis Napoleon, nephew of the far better-known Napoleon Bonaparte. But since then, his aphorism has been applied in many contexts where current events echo the past.
Looking at recent developments in Afghanistan, I was again reminded of Marx’s quote. When the Taliban first seized power in that shattered country in 1996, that was undoubtedly a tragedy; first for the Afghan people, yet again denied the opportunity to nurture a democratic polity, and later for the United States and the rest of the world. The terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, in the United States—the 23rd anniversary of which was solemnly marked last week—were incubated in Afghanistan after the Taliban provided Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda with a haven there. That terrible atrocity right at the turn of the millennium turned history on a different course, setting up an epic battle between Western liberal democracy, with its emphasis on pluralism and individual rights, and an Islamist form of totalitarianism that sought to crush anything and everything in its path it deemed to be a deviation from its vision.
Wars duly followed, in Afghanistan and then Iraq, and existing and new threats, especially from the Islamic Republic of Iran, deepened at just the time that Western publics grew tired of foreign interventions and foreign wars, setting the stage for a revival of both left-wing anti-imperialism and right-wing isolationism. Finally, in 2021, amid the disastrous American withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban returned to power, in a heartbreaking confirmation that the previous 20 years had been a colossal waste of blood and money.
That, too, was a tragedy—and yet, there are elements of farce here that suggest, at least to my mind, that history can repeat itself as both tragedy and farce simultaneously.
As the 20th century gave way to the 21st, only a few regional specialists and policy wonks grasped the grave threat posed by the Taliban. The rest of us were shaken from our slumber when those passenger planes careened into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. Twenty years later, with a new generation coming of age, we stopped caring and just wanted out. All that was and is a tragedy, and the restoration of the Taliban is the most tragic aspect of all. But where is the farce?
That can be summarized in one word: Gaza. For all the incompetence and corruption of their leaders, the Palestinians have long been adept at exploiting guilt over colonialism and the long tradition of antisemitism in Western countries, even as large numbers of them thumb their noses at the values our civilizations represent, from the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 massacre, when many danced in the streets and handed out candy in celebration, to the pogrom of Oct. 7 last year, when Hamas and allied terrorist groups murdered, raped and kidnapped their way through southern Israel. The result? As pro-Israel advocates on social media constantly point out, seemingly to no avail, our streets are empty of protesters when blood is shed in Ukraine or Sudan or, indeed, Afghanistan, but as soon as an Israel Defense Forces missile strikes a Hamas command center in Gaza City or Rafah, they pour out like rats from a sewer. Therein lies the farce.
This is why the pro-Hamas movement has to be understood as being about far more than Israelis and Palestinians. The fixation with Palestine is one major reason why Western publics remain largely indifferent to, and even contemptuous of, the suffering of non-Palestinians. And perhaps no current situation illustrates that point better than Afghanistan.
Three weeks before this year’s Sept. 11 commemorations, the Taliban introduced its “Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.” Its primary targets are women, who are forbidden from going to work or to school; who can only use public transport when accompanied by a male chaperone; and who must fully cover their faces and bodies when in public. Most sickeningly of all, Afghan women are now banned—on pain of imprisonment or execution—from speaking in public spaces. To call these measures “medieval” is to do an injustice to the medieval period.
There are no protests of any significance. The millions of people who have attended pro-Hamas demonstrations around the world don’t give a damn. In Western policy circles, the Taliban’s monstrous law is barely discussed; when Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris tussled over the U.S. record in Afghanistan during their presidential debate on Sept. 10, neither thought to mention it. At the U.N. Security Council, all that was mustered was a statement of condemnation—and even that wasn’t unanimous, backed as it was by 12 of the council’s 15 members. It’s no accident that the three countries who opposed the statement—permanent members Russia and China, and non-permanent member Algeria – are all firmly aligned with Iran and its proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas.
And so you wonder in vain whether the “freaking trust fund babies” at Columbia University and other campuses—to cite the unforgettable description of a labor union official whose hard-working members were intimidated and harassed by the keffiyeh mob last semester—will ever speak up for Afghan women (they won’t). You wonder in vain whether the secretary-general of the United Nations, who condemns Israel on a daily basis, will find time to condemn the systemic abuse of the same with similar urgency and frequency. You wonder in vain why a Hamas rapist who gets what he deserves is reinvented as an innocent civilian murdered in a “genocide,” while women in Afghanistan are transformed into chattels and slaves, and the silence around that—like the silence enforced upon them—is deafening. You wonder in vain why we tolerate a world in which morality is skewed so abominably. And then you realize: Wherever tragedy rears its head, farce is not far behind.
The post Afghanistan and Gaza: Tragedy and Farce first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.