Just read the cover story in the Independent UK on the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza and other occupied territories in Israel.
I dunno, I have been reading and hearing about the Palestinian situation ever since I could read and understand the news as a small kid. Every week since I was small there were stories in the papers, 8pm news and ‘Dunia Jam 10’ (World News at 10). Everytime I turned on the news there would interviews with Yasser Arafat or Yitzhak Shamir or Ronald Reagan or Moshe Arens or on-the-location footage. And I’m tired of it. And so are a lot of people. That’s not to say we’re ignorant of it, the Middle East problem is a complicated issue reaching back to the 1940’s (or A.D.70, depending on how you see it).
There are so many sides to the multi-sided fence, Jews, Palestinians, Arabs, Americans, the British, the PLO, the muslim nations, the Amerian & European Jewish sympathizers, and anyone else who has vested interests in petroleum or power.
I have no inclination to any side in this political and territorial turmoil. For every notion or argument you hold, there is a dozen counteractive ones waiting to respond to you. War is hate, anger is king.
Patrick once told me (after listening to Ron Choong) that the nation of Israel in the holy land today has nothing to do with the Israel of the Bible. The Likud-led party of today is only a secular government that is run by the descendents of the Hebrews and are occupying the land once tread on by Moses and the patriachs.
The newspaper report I read today described the Gaza settlers using the Holocaust imagery and analogies to avoid being deported from their homes. They are called Ariel Sharon a corrupted traitor to the Jewish nation, pandering to the super-powers while betraying the trust of his own people.
Whatever happens in the next few days won’t really matter much in the grand scheme of things. The Palestinian conflict will still go on for years as it had for more than half a century since the Balfour Treaty. And so long as there is petroleum down there beneath the sand.
The angel of the LORD also said to her:
“You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
Gen 16:11, 12
8 Comments
keng
sadly, a religious evil…
Ali
Why religious conflict still occurs in modern era…very sad to say…
Pat
While the human stories behind the conflict are poignant, there’s really no way to understand the issue clearly unless seen from a very different perspective.
The reason why both parties refuse to see it from this different perspective is because it would have made them realize that all the deaths and sufferings on both sides have been in vain, a scary thought that no one wishes to contemplate.
whodhellknew
Sadly, we (or the govt that represents us) are partly resposible for this. It’s tough to solve a conflict where both sides are at fault when others have already indicted one side.
It’s weight in one tip of the see-saw, and the other guy wants to get back down to earth as well.
lilian
Me too. One small strip of land and they (Christians, Jews and Muslims) fought over it. And the worst thing is the more I ask, the more confused I become. Each party will tell a different story.
Freddie Chong
Religion, and truth, as usual, are the main casualties in war.
The mid-east conflict is not a religious conflict. It is a conflict of people and politics, arising from a history of immovable mindsets, cultural imperatives, neo-colonial interference, and plain old land-grabbing.
Religion happens to be a very good cover for all sides concerned, because it gives them the opportunity to draw legitimacy from divinity. Over the years, this cover of religious legitimacy has become inextricably woven into the “fabric of truth” that sustains the respective warring factions.
The greatest tragedy is not that so much had already happened, but that by dragging in religion, all sides believe that they are inherently “right” and now refuse to come to a compromise. This inability to seriously negotiate will only result in drawing out this conflict for generations to come.
egghead
They can call it Holy Land and yet spilled so much innocent blood on the same Holy Land…
simon
ali – you didn’t leave your website address. 🙂