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ISRAEL, claimed ancestral lands of the alleged chosen
people of God, appears to nurture a vision of preemptive aggression
as a solution to the Middle East conflict. Its government is rapidly
transforming Palestinian lands in Gaza Strip into a desert
wasteland. Surrounded entirely by Islamic states, the Hebrew people
believe they can never be fully secure in their ancestral homeland
unless the Muslims unanimously accept the State of Israel. Because
most Islamic states recognize that the territorial lands of Israel
actually comprise the State of Palestine, and almost none have
manifested the possible recognition of a Jewish homeland, Israel has
occupied several territories outside its own internationally
recognized borders where it feels there are imminent threats to its
national security. Fearing the Lebanese Hizbollah, which means
“Party of God,” now headed by Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,
the Jews have occupied the Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon. Israel
anticipates the continuing threat from Hamas, also Harakat al
Muqawama al-Islamiya or the Islamic Resistance Movement of
Palestine, now headed by Ismail Haniya, who resides in the Gaza
Strip, where Hamas has gained much power with its delivery of needed
social services to the Palestinians who are mostly residing in
refugee camps and shantytowns.
Both socio-political
organizations, Hizbollah and Hamas have obtained political power
among their constituents with elective and appointive positions in
their respective governments. Both, however, continue to denounce
any recognition for Israel. Thus, both organizations continuously
target Israeli soldiers for extermination. Despite Hizbollah being
Shia Muslim, with Nasrallah counting himself among Prophet
Muhammad’s blood descendants, and Hamas being Sunni Muslim, both
organizations support each other, in their political campaign
against any recognition of a Jewish heartland. It is from their
natural expectations on the anti-Jewish sentiment among their
neighboring Muslim states that Jewish insecurity emanates. To Jews,
the Holocaust must never be repeated. But they do not feel safe
anywhere except in Israel, where their temples had once been built,
where the palaces of their kings had once been erected, and where
they feel most welcome in the practice of Judaism. How then will
there be peace in a land claimed by both Muslim and Jewish peoples,
without any concession from either side?
With the termination of prior
ceasefire agreements, Hamas threatened to transform the Gaza Strip
into the “Wrath of God” for Israelites. Anticipating renewed
aggression from Hamas, the Israeli government waged its preemptive
offensive assaults with nonstop air strikes, rocket launches and
shelling. Its alleged targets of aggression were supposed to be
headquarters, camps and residences of Hamas officials and their
mujahideen. But today, over 700 Palestinians have already been
massacred, constituting mostly civilians, while only five Israeli
soldiers have been killed. Most of the massacred Palestinian
civilians are children, who are under 16 years of age. Even
international schools and heavily populated civilian residential
areas in the Gaza Strip have been bombed as legitimate objects of
Israeli assault. The dubious claim of the Israelites is that even
international schools are now legitimate objects for aggressive
assault because Hamas officers and members are hiding in those
schools. This virtually means that Israel does not even recognize
civilians anymore. To them, all Palestinian civilians, including
Palestinian nursery and kindergarten children, are also Hamas
operatives. It may indeed be true that Hamas militants have sought
cover from civilian communities and civilian buildings, but does
that justify excessively disproportionate and aggressive attacks on
such civilian communities and buildings, where any such attack will
certainly result in the deaths of so many children? With the
three-hour humanitarian ceasefire, the Israeli government might even
demand the world to extend its warmest appreciation amid the
genocidal massacres.
How can Israelites claim to be
the Chosen People of God when they commit mass murder of innocent
children, also created by the same God they worship? How can
Israelites profess worship of God, while committing cruel killings?
How can the United Nations push an agenda of a two-state solution in
the Middle East when the legally established Israeli government does
not heed the international laws it is obligated to respect and
uphold? Yahweh or Jehovah, however He is peculiarly called, cannot
possibly allow extermination of humanity for a piece of desert land.
Lands claimed by Israel must be seen not selfishly as an ancestral
heartland for a singular people but as an opportunity for the
sharing of resources and solidarity with neighboring communities. If
only the Hebrew geniuses could see themselves as propagators of
divine love, brotherly peace, scientific development, and stewards
of the holy lands of the Hebrew, Christian and Muslim peoples,
rather than genocidal warriors, then perhaps the Muslim peoples
around Israel could adapt a friendlier, more congenial and more
compassionate stance towards the Jewish peoples. It is what Yahweh
must have envisioned for all peoples of the world—to make the
world a better place in which humanity, regardless of race,
religion, color, or station in life, comes together in solidarity
bound by the common vision of peace and progress for all peoples.
ericfmallonga@yahoo.com
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