I agree.
And, I would add - grievance is kind of a never-ending cycle. Do Palestinians have legit grievances against Israel? Of course. Are they legit enough to justify violence? Absolutely not - and particularly not the kind of violence we saw w/ Hamas' recent attack. There is no justification for that, ever.
Does Israel have legit grievances against Hamas? For sure..
I thought the same thing after 9/11. America has meddled in the Middle East for many decades, often dictating the politics there, and causing suffering. Did people there have legit grievances against the U.S.? It would be foolish to say they didn't. Enough to justify the attacks of 9/11? Fuck no. But, I can see why some citizens of the Middle East probably saw that as some sort of comeuppance.
And the grievance cycle continued. Our invasion of Iraq caused almost incomprehensible suffering & death, and was not justified. But Americans supported it, because WE were wronged. The disproportionate nature of the response did not matter at that time. It became more about lashing out than about justice.
We'll continue on this merry-go-round until people realize that the vast majority of OTHER people are just trying to get through life, figure it out, work & make enough money, raise their kids, etc. The differences between us aren't as big as the generalizations we make about each other would have us believe.
