Does evil start with fear and mistrust?
by Diane V. McLoughlin; 29/02/08
Adolph Hitler was, in the beginning, a manifestation of hope for the
suffering German people after the First World War. The Allieds took
revenge against Germany and starved the entire nation. The
Germans were made to become fearful. They suffered. They circled
the wagons.
I hope we come together on issues of peace. I fear If we don't,
together we will find our very existence threatened - this is what it
comes to, in this, the nuclear age.
What do we do with suffering and injustice? Do we perpetrate it and
justify it?, saying, it was done to me. I am justified to ensure it doesn't
happen again. Evil in perpetuity.
Some ask rhetorically, where were you? But I wasn't born, even during
the Second World War.
My Dad was. He was drafted at 18 and served in the Philippines. He
never got over it. He did well in his career. He was gifted. But
emotionally.
He witnessed a slaughter house. He witnessed the fullness of the
horror of what man is capable of doing to his fellow man. Europe was
not the only place where human beings were stacked high like cord
wood.
Jews were not the only ones stacked high in the concentration camps
of Europe. Six million Jews plus 7 million - Roma, Jehovah's Witnesses,
the physically and mentally disabled, community leaders, resisters -
perished - under the Nazis.
One murder, in the eyes of God, must be a stain upon the
consciousness of the entire universe.
Israel is in a classic Catch-22 situation. The Jews have been
discriminated against, and have horrific memories of horrific things
done to them.
Some Jews believed having a state would be the answer. One Jewish
leader is recorded in history as having stated that one cow in Palestine
is worth all the Jews of Europe - and betrayed many he could have
saved, for the cause of establishing Palestine as the national home.
Jews betrayed Jews to achieve this goal.
Jews find they have put themselves into a position where they justify in
exactly the same way what Hitler justified to his people in his time. A
state based on race. The inferiority of the other; that the other pollutes
the state. This is how many Zionists feel about Palestinians.
Discriminatory laws against the other are made. Forcing the other, the
Palestinians in Israel's case, to have to carry documentation with them
at all times. Some do not have documentation. Therefore, they are
non-persons. They do not exist. They have no rights. They must live in
fear of being discovered as being in existence. Because existing
without documentation has repercussions.
Laws are made to deliberately, slowly, tear at the fabric of life - like
making it illegal for an Israeli Arab to marry a Palestinian love.
Jews-only roads. Palestinian ghettos ringed with barbed wire and
tanks and big guns. Bulldozing orchards. Denying the right to harvest.
Instilling fear, mistreating the Palestinian children as they try to find
their way to school each day. Murdering civilians, in cold-blood, done
with impunity in the full sight of many. Happens all the time.
The horrifying night raids when the doors are blown wide open and the
men are dragged from their beds in front of the terrified families, who
are left to fend for themselves.
Many Jews in Israel claim they don't know - when it all takes place
within a stone's throw of themselves. Others know, and believe it is
right.
Jewish relief agencies that try to help Palestinians report back the
fullness of the suffering. Gaza is starving. 41% of food requirements -
that is all that is allowed in since last June. Jews in Israel really don't
believe that things can be 'all that bad' - without a doubt, exactly the
same type of denial that Germans once expressed amongst
themselves.
When does it end? How might it end? It is not just about a speck on
the map of the world. This is a threat to global stability now.
And I think, it threatens the hope that Man might ever prove his good
worth.
I will tell you how I hope it should end. It should end with a new
beginning on a fresh new page. Israel's best chance at long-term
stability, and even, deep happiness, is a one-state solution with several
provinces or states that are semi-autonomous within. At best, Israel
and the Palestinians would embrace as the brothers and sisters they
are. At worst, live and let live. [That's how I do it. I have annoying
neighbors. The neat round hole in a window of the house should have
been a clue when we were house-hunting.]
This would surely be, a light unto nations.
It is false to claim that Hamas is not willing to discuss terms for peace.
If that is what you have been told, then it is time to cast a wider net for
the truth.
There is hope, to my mind, for everyone there. In such ways as this,
through dialogue, the exchange of feeling, thoughts, and by joining
efforts at creativity - through commitment, peace would come.
Some blame religion for our problems. I am not inclined to do so even
though for my part I am an agnostic - that is, I cannot say in my own
heart that I know there is a God. For me, this is beside the point. If
there is a God, he has given us all the tools to live. This is the gift. It is
up to us to choose to demonstrate through right living how much we
cherish it. We need to bring to the table the best of what our cultures
inform us will bring out the very best in ourselves. If one is inclined to
praise God, I can think of no greater way to demonstrate our reverence
for God than this.
I hope I may be forgiven for posting such long thoughts.
Peace, long life, prosperity, security and tranquility to you, whoever
and wherever you are.
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