Gaza / Israel / The West Bank / Palestine
I'm quite sure that my words will not make any difference to anyone whatsoever, but I'm thinking it, so I'll write it. It is a blog after all, and perhaps if I write when things come to mind, it will be less neglected. Maybe someone who can change things will read it - maybe it will change the world. Probably not, but I suppose in this age of information, anything is possible.
I sit here reading about the plight of people living in Gaza and the West Bank. I say 'people' for a reason, since I firmly believe that all people are equal in worth, no matter what descriptive appellation may be attached to them. Yes - these are people, just like you and me. But there seems to be a difference, and it's quite vexing.
What I'm having a hard time understanding is this: How can a group of people not understand after so many years of doing the same thing that what they are doing is absolute insanity? Surely some of the people who live there want peace. Surely some people will watch their neighbor bundle up their child with explosives and send him to die a pointless death, and ask themselves, is that how much a human life is worth? And then perhaps they will realize that terrorism of this nature is pointless and is would be better to seek peace at any price. I recognize that terrorism / guerrilla warfare has succeeded before in certain situations, but I submit that in this case it never will. Israel, notwithstanding the rantings of Iran's Ahmednejad, isn't going anywhere. It's just too strong militarily, notwithstanding it's subjective failures recently in Lebanon. Also - It has, arguably, a legitimate claim to existence. Palestine also has a legitimate claim to existence. In any case, and I do mean any, the failure to seek peace, instead relying on terrorism to accomplish an impossible goal, is absolute and utter folly.
Perhaps I don't understand the objective. What is it that someone wants who lobs RPG's into a neighborhood, with children playing in yards and parks? Maybe someone will tell me that without the violence that has occurred up to this point, the Isrealis wouldn't be in a mood to negotiate anything, since they don't want a state of Palestine to exist just as much as some people living in Gaza and the West Bank don't want Israel to exist. But I just don't get it - Is it religion based? I sure hope not. Yes, there's been reams written on injustices and atrocities committed by many religions in the name of God, but eventually people within those religions spoke up to end it, or the particular ideology faded away, or something, and it ended. Please let it be the case here that we're close to an end of this. Are there no religious leaders in Gaza and The West Bank that think that what people are doing is pointless and wrong? Where are they? I wish they'd speak up.
Here's the thing - peace is obtainable. Perhaps it wasn't before, but I think it is now. Perhaps some people don't believe that. Perhaps some people don't want it. Perhaps some people like to live amongst death and suffering. I just can't fathom why those people seem to control the outcomes of the lives of people living in the West Bank and Gaza. Does anyone living there want peace? Where are they? Why don't we see/hear them? Is this just an example of the unintelligent removing themselves from the gene pool? I only speculate since I have very few explanations to offer up that make any sense to me. Why don't some of these people want to live a better life? It's obtainable. They can do it. A vast majority of the world would support any effort to achieve it.
I know, I know. It's a very complicated problem. It's got lots of history. Lots. I get it, I really do. But perhaps the weight of all that needs to be left aside for awhile. Perhaps by focusing on the future a solution can be found. Why is it so hard? Why? Why is dying preferable to peace? Why not just be done with it and say - Hi there world, all of us here in Gaza and the West Bank are tired of dying and living miserable lives. We going to (choose one:) open a bistro / plant a garden / visit grandma / go on vacation / listen to music / pray / play with the kids / make love. Let us know when you've drawn some lines on a map somewhere and decided who I should pay my taxes to and who I should complain to when I don't like how the postal service is running. Wait - Here's a representative sampling of 100 of us - take them with you to help out so we have some say in it.
Now I come to this confusion having lived in a very prosperous nation. Everyone I know has a lot to lose. I'm more motivated sometimes to turn the other cheek because I've got property, a wife and children, a job, a city I love to live in, a car, plentiful food. I don't want to upset the balance. I'd rather lose an argument than find out the person I'm arguing with just happens to be unstable and is liable to shoot me dead on the spot if they get too animated. We've built public institutions in which we debate and find solutions to common problems. Sometimes it seems like a terrible waste of time and resources to fix simple problems, but we have the time and resources to expend on it, so we do. And it has the wonderful benefit of being non-lethal. It's a little inefficient, I'll grant you, and we make huge compromises to keep as big a majority of us as happy as we can, but it beats sending a kid off to blow him/herself up, or sitting down on a bus and getting blown up by that kid.
I'm not sure I have a point. After all - my blog is titled marginally interesting. Perhaps it should be titled pointless ramblings. Wait - a point is forming, yes there it is. I don't understand why people are dying trying to achieve something that they can get without dying. Here's an idea - Why doesn't everyone in Israel, Gaza, and the West bank put down the weapons and figure out how to live in peace? It just can't be that hard. Obviously I'm wrong - It is hard - evidently.
I just don't understand why.
I sit here reading about the plight of people living in Gaza and the West Bank. I say 'people' for a reason, since I firmly believe that all people are equal in worth, no matter what descriptive appellation may be attached to them. Yes - these are people, just like you and me. But there seems to be a difference, and it's quite vexing.
What I'm having a hard time understanding is this: How can a group of people not understand after so many years of doing the same thing that what they are doing is absolute insanity? Surely some of the people who live there want peace. Surely some people will watch their neighbor bundle up their child with explosives and send him to die a pointless death, and ask themselves, is that how much a human life is worth? And then perhaps they will realize that terrorism of this nature is pointless and is would be better to seek peace at any price. I recognize that terrorism / guerrilla warfare has succeeded before in certain situations, but I submit that in this case it never will. Israel, notwithstanding the rantings of Iran's Ahmednejad, isn't going anywhere. It's just too strong militarily, notwithstanding it's subjective failures recently in Lebanon. Also - It has, arguably, a legitimate claim to existence. Palestine also has a legitimate claim to existence. In any case, and I do mean any, the failure to seek peace, instead relying on terrorism to accomplish an impossible goal, is absolute and utter folly.
Perhaps I don't understand the objective. What is it that someone wants who lobs RPG's into a neighborhood, with children playing in yards and parks? Maybe someone will tell me that without the violence that has occurred up to this point, the Isrealis wouldn't be in a mood to negotiate anything, since they don't want a state of Palestine to exist just as much as some people living in Gaza and the West Bank don't want Israel to exist. But I just don't get it - Is it religion based? I sure hope not. Yes, there's been reams written on injustices and atrocities committed by many religions in the name of God, but eventually people within those religions spoke up to end it, or the particular ideology faded away, or something, and it ended. Please let it be the case here that we're close to an end of this. Are there no religious leaders in Gaza and The West Bank that think that what people are doing is pointless and wrong? Where are they? I wish they'd speak up.
Here's the thing - peace is obtainable. Perhaps it wasn't before, but I think it is now. Perhaps some people don't believe that. Perhaps some people don't want it. Perhaps some people like to live amongst death and suffering. I just can't fathom why those people seem to control the outcomes of the lives of people living in the West Bank and Gaza. Does anyone living there want peace? Where are they? Why don't we see/hear them? Is this just an example of the unintelligent removing themselves from the gene pool? I only speculate since I have very few explanations to offer up that make any sense to me. Why don't some of these people want to live a better life? It's obtainable. They can do it. A vast majority of the world would support any effort to achieve it.
I know, I know. It's a very complicated problem. It's got lots of history. Lots. I get it, I really do. But perhaps the weight of all that needs to be left aside for awhile. Perhaps by focusing on the future a solution can be found. Why is it so hard? Why? Why is dying preferable to peace? Why not just be done with it and say - Hi there world, all of us here in Gaza and the West Bank are tired of dying and living miserable lives. We going to (choose one:) open a bistro / plant a garden / visit grandma / go on vacation / listen to music / pray / play with the kids / make love. Let us know when you've drawn some lines on a map somewhere and decided who I should pay my taxes to and who I should complain to when I don't like how the postal service is running. Wait - Here's a representative sampling of 100 of us - take them with you to help out so we have some say in it.
Now I come to this confusion having lived in a very prosperous nation. Everyone I know has a lot to lose. I'm more motivated sometimes to turn the other cheek because I've got property, a wife and children, a job, a city I love to live in, a car, plentiful food. I don't want to upset the balance. I'd rather lose an argument than find out the person I'm arguing with just happens to be unstable and is liable to shoot me dead on the spot if they get too animated. We've built public institutions in which we debate and find solutions to common problems. Sometimes it seems like a terrible waste of time and resources to fix simple problems, but we have the time and resources to expend on it, so we do. And it has the wonderful benefit of being non-lethal. It's a little inefficient, I'll grant you, and we make huge compromises to keep as big a majority of us as happy as we can, but it beats sending a kid off to blow him/herself up, or sitting down on a bus and getting blown up by that kid.
I'm not sure I have a point. After all - my blog is titled marginally interesting. Perhaps it should be titled pointless ramblings. Wait - a point is forming, yes there it is. I don't understand why people are dying trying to achieve something that they can get without dying. Here's an idea - Why doesn't everyone in Israel, Gaza, and the West bank put down the weapons and figure out how to live in peace? It just can't be that hard. Obviously I'm wrong - It is hard - evidently.
I just don't understand why.
posted by Administrator at 05:34
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