It's been going on for nearly two years. I'm not talking about my life, but the Israel-Hamas war. In this period of time, I've seen Jew hate exploding. I've grown to question whether Jew hate is now a hidden reality in Singapore because of what's happening in the West. As someone familiar with Jew hate from the right and left, I know the situation, especially in the West post-Oct 7, was something waiting to happen. Oct 7 wasn't the cause. It was a catalyst. On the right, I saw the likes of Nick Fuentes and Joel Webbon. On the left, I saw nameless hypocrites claiming that Hitler was right. As a Christian, however, I've learnt to thank God for reminders of human good at random moments. When surrounded by evil and knowing it, it's essential to understand that goodness is still part of reality through the common grace God gave humanity.
This raises the question of which side I'm on. After all, in a world defined by conflict, this is the number one question people will ask. Let me just put things this way:
I have a problem with narratives. To me, narratives and facts are two different things. I know what the media is saying without even looking at random articles. This is how predictable the media is on this matter. What is less predictable is the Israeli narrative. This was where I started delving from Hillel Fuld to Hananya Naftali and Honest Reporting. I'm also no stranger to Jews and Israelis siding with the global majority. Call me a henjin, but I believe the media is always about narratives.
This was where I started digging up things that don't fit the black-and-white narrative the media sells to the world. While I've seen photos of allegedly malnourished Palestinian children, I've also seen photos of well-fed Palestinian adults in the mainstream media. I've seen videos of alleged Hamas members hijacking aid trucks, only for the press to keep quiet about their existence. I searched on Instagram and saw accounts of Gazan restaurants operating their social media accounts well into the war. Then there was the UN releasing statistics stating that 80+% of their aid was intercepted (i.e. hijacked). On the GHF front, I questioned why the UN was only interested in criticising and not helping out. On the aid trucks, I asked why the UN never arranged armed escorts to dispel the Israeli narrative that Hamas was stealing aid.
The more I think about it, the more I realise people cannot be trusted easily.
This is where this post comes in. This post is about songs from anime/manga series that I perceive as having a deep connection to the current state of human nature. Why I say human nature instead of conflict is very simple: Conflict is a state and part of human nature. There is no debating about it. Regarding the perception of human nature, I reject the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and gravitate towards the thinking of Thomas Hobbes. Thank God for the common grace He gave to humanity, so that good can be possible.
