Israel, Palestinians and Hamas

I have been thinking of this post for a few days now, both in terms of whether to compose one, and, if so, what to write. At this point, I would be negligent to not comment, as this story is the most compelling situation in the world today, and may remain so for the foreseeable future.

First, as most people have done, it is clear that the actions by Hamas need to be condemned in the strongest terms. Regardless of any perceived justification, purposefully slaughtering families in their homes, and revelers at a music festival is horrific. It not only confirms the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization, but it does severe harm to the Palestinian people themselves, who may be lumped together with Hamas by those who do not understand the complexity of their situation, and/or prefer the knee jerk reaction of revenge.

It is extremely difficult to understand how this kind if atrocity can be be perceived by the leaders of Hamas as anything other than a huge step backwards, a PR blunder of the highest order. Perhaps in the bubble of Arab hatred towards the Jewish people, there may be some rejoicing, but, as so many people who prefer to only listen to those who echo their own sentiments eventually discover, to attain sympathy and non-partial support for one's perspective, you must first listen to and acknowledge that not everyone thinks alike.

As is usual in this type of disastrous action, thousands of innocent people will suffer. First, of course, all the Israeli (and other nationalities) people who lived in proximity to Gaza, those on the front lines of the brutality which played out last weekend. Followed by the thousands, probably tens of thousands, of Palestinians who will die during the upcoming ground war.

Will Hamas be eliminated from the Earth as is the stated goal of the IDF? It has been tried before, although not with the expected ferocity of the impending onslaught. But, while it is certain that the Hamas leadership will suffer great losses, the hatred which fuels their group will not be extinguished. If anything, should the Israelis kill as many Palestinians as I believe they will, hatred will only increase, on both sides, as the bodies of dead Jewish soldiers are returned to Israel, and as the bodies of Palestinian women and children pile up in Gaza.

There will be no winners, only losers. And, sadly, the cycle of hate will go on.

In the meantime, in America, I have read many reactions that demand that we side with Israel. Now, clearly, siding with Hamas is not going to result in much agreement, but it is important to separate Hamas from the Palestinians. In other words, to hold two thoughts in one's head, outrage at Hamas, support for the effort to recover hostages, and root out Hamas leadership, while also expressing support for the 2.2 million people who are now taking the brunt of the Israeli response.

There are those who might say that the Palestinians elected Hamas to represent their interests, and so they should have known better than to associate with such a hate filled group. That they should bear the brunt of what their ill advised electoral choice has spawned. Perhaps. 

But for those who think this, I doubt if they are willing to assign blame to the Israeli citizens who knowingly chose to live so close to Gaza, who made their electoral choice clear last year and when they chose the hard right Likud government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Some have theorized that Hamas chose this moment to invade due to the instability present in Israel this past year, due to Netanyahu's attempt to weaken the judiciary (giving himself more power), in addition to his support of continued oppression of the Palestinians while advocating for further expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. 

If it is true that the Palestinians should have known the Hamas was a poor leadership choice, then is it as true that the Israelis should have thought the same of Netanyahu? 

I certainly can not claim to be anymore knowledgeable of the decades long animosity between those living in Israel and Palestine as the average American. Their mutual hatred seems to be part religion, part territorial, part cultural. An endless cycle of fear, killing and revenge. But I certainly do know that if violence is the only acceptable reaction to violence, then this conflict will never end. Especially when the hatred that is so evident in this situation translates so easily into the dehumanization of those on the other side of the fence.

Is there some kind of resolution, or a path to mutual tolerance, if not acceptance?

When my son was in elementary school, he was fortunate enough to participate in the People to People Student Ambassador Program, an organization founded during the Eisenhower Administration in 1956. The goal of this, and other similar exchange programs, is to provide young people with immersive, educational travel experiences so as to broaden their world view and, hopefully, learn tolerance of other people and their cultures.

History is replete with examples of individuals who, sometimes by choice, sometimes by unforeseen circumstance, find themselves living with people with completely different lifestyles and traditions. Most often, those people not only learn about others, they learn about themselves as well.

There is a New Testament quote that questions why so many people can see the splinter in the eye of others but not the wooden beam in one's own eye. In other words, why can we not see our own faults when we seem so sure of others?

The point of seeing life through the experience of someone else, especially someone whose beliefs are different from your own, is not just to understand that our creator has given us the chance for a life experience full of diversity. It is also to realize what restrictions we place on our own lives when we do not reflect on the beliefs which we cling to, and often use as an excuse to mistreat those who are not like us. 

I have commented in more than one previous post, that it can be very difficult, very uncomfortable to go outside one's own realm. That fear of others may in fact, have been part of the human condition that allowed us to survive in those first thousands of years. But it seems clear now, that this preexisting condition, if you will, is waning. Some humans seek out new experiences with people of different backgrounds, seemingly from birth. Others learn by doing, or getting the chance to do so as we provided to my son.

Are there such active programs between Israel and Gaza? I tried to find some examples and did see a few mentions, so at least there are some people trying, but clearly not enough. 

I stopped writing at this point as we had old friends to dinner. Before returning to my computer to finish, I read an article from the current edition of the Smithsonian, an article which I did not know was in the magazine until this morning when I opened to it.

It is called "Songs of Survival" and it recounts a small part of the history of the Terezin concentration camp in Poland. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this camp, I would suggest you do some research on your own, or at least read the article. 

In a nutshell, Terezin was a stopping off point for thousands of Jews, a place where they were sent before being transported to the death camps. In other words, the Nazis used places like Terezin to store Jews who were forced from their homes, before sending them off to die. The concept is almost as evil as the end result.

It also happened to be that most of Europe's Jewish artists, musicians and intellectuals were sent to Terezin. The point of the article is that while there, these prisoners tried to maintain the slimmest of connections to their humanity by engaging in painting, writing and composing. And, fortunately for us, some of those efforts, specifically some of the music which was composed, were salvaged. And, are being performed today. 

It is an inspiring story, one which reminds us that the human spirit is capable of surviving unspeakable horrors.

But incredibly sad as well when thought of in the context of what is lost when humans choose to dehumanize "others". It is easy to imagine the wondrous music and art that was not completed due to the slaughter of Jewish artists, writers and composers during the Holocaust. 

But is it any less horrible, when we consider the possible accomplishments that will not be achieved due to the indiscriminate murders which occurred at the hands of Hamas terrorists, and the loss and destruction that is about to occur as the IDF begins its ground war in Gaza?

Is it always necessary to enact revenge when we are wronged? Clearly there are examples of individuals who have chosen forgiveness to break the cycle of violence begetting violence.

Here is a link to an article about 10 everyday people who experienced horrible loss yet chose to forgive those who committed the acts.

https://listverse.com/2013/10/31/10-extraordinary-examples-of-forgiveness/

And of course, a very famous quote by someone who died an excruciating death on a cross:

"Father forgive them, for they know not what they do".

I am posting this entry under the heading War and Forgiveness. I previously posted something under that title about 9 years ago. In that post I mention an event which was going on in the Middle East although I am not specific about it, although the point of the article was about Jackie Robinson, how he was treated, and how he responded. Still, it would not be hard to conjecture that the Middle East reference was related to the current crisis, as this situation has been with us for decades. Here is that link.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2014/08/42-and-hopefully-counting.html

Revenge stories are as old as written history. When I googled greatest stories of revenge in history, there was no lack of response. It seems as if multiple people and organizations had compiled their own lists of horrific examples of revenge. Perhaps some day, it will just be as easy to find a plethora of examples of the greatest acts of forgiveness in history. Wouldn't it be inspiring if in 20 years, Israeli forgiveness of Hamas brutality, were on the list?