Tag: israel

But have we failed?

Its awful to any humanitarian what is going on in the middle east. The ongoing conflict in Gaza and the IDF’s military expedition now underway has ripped open wounds and tested sanity of folks the world over.

Nobody, in their right mind, likes war. Not overt war, not acts of terror, not anything where there’s a potential of large losses of innocent civilian life.

This goes for Jews the world over, and Muslims everywhere as well…or, folks of any faith (or practice none at all)…yet here we are.

In one of the most hotly contested real estate on the planet, the Holy Land is claimed by all the major religions as their rightful turf.

Clearly that isn’t going to happen. Not like that, and not in absolute terms either.

Lets be clear of a few absolute facts.

1. Hamas is a terrorist organization who have the folks in the Gaza strip under an oppressive boot. Hamas terrorizes their own citizens as well as Israeli citizens.
2. Israel is lead by alleged corrupt Prime Minister in Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition of far right political parties. The Lekud lead parliamentary coalition in Israel is a far right hawkish group who have little qualms about military intervention into their neighbors. But they are not exactly popular at home. Folks in Israel have taken to the streets on several occasions to protest the actions of their government.

This isn’t a ‘both sides are bad’ argument, but the leadership of both sides have a lot to be held accountable for.

Reasonable people the world over are getting louder in their calls to stop the bloodshed, and they’re right to do so. But there’s a new problem rising out of the conflict for anyone who dares to speak about it.

The radioactive, rhetorical quicksand that a person finds themselves in once they speak openly about the outrageous situation and a need to stop the violence.

By calling for a ceasefire, I’ve witnessed those same people attacked as anti-semitic…for a call to stop fighting. Nothing else.

I have also seen folks who call for the return of the Hamas-held hostages called “genocidal Zionists”.

Really?

We’re at a place where any expression of basic humanity is attacked for being anti-this or anti-that.

I’ll add that I am not Jewish, or an Israeli citizen. So I have no lived experience from the perspective of those folks. Just as I am not Islamic or Palestinian – and no first hand knowledge of their experience either.

I am a Canadian citizen, I would consider myself as a progressive/left-leaning-Christian, with a basic grasp of humanity and decency. For that, I’m certain, would be labelled as a bigot against one side or another.

We need to stop doing this. Now.

Being a humanitarian isn’t a political narrative. Nor is it a party, or a candidate. Wishing that innocent folks stop getting killed is the correct position, everywhere…in every religion, belief system or otherwise.

We should have, instead of rushing to ‘pick sides’, we should have stepped out of our comfort zone and seen each other in a time of great anxiety and fear.

We all know at least one person or family that is either Jewish or Islamic who are going through extremely hard times as a result of the anarchy in the middle east. They might even know or have family in the region.

This was the moment to reach out and offer an empathetic ear, recognizing their fear and anxiety; they’re not alone in this world or our community.

This is by no means to excuse the horrible, hate-filled, rhetoric spewed by some very bad-faith actors seeking to exploit and create divisions in our society.

Exploiting religious sensitivities and culture war tactics are how we get distracted and pitted against each other at a time we need each other the most.

All we had to do is to be kind to each other.

We still can.

Its a choice.

my2bits