Thursday 15 November 2012

A day that will live in infamy


Today, Thursday November 15th is a day that the lives of a few in the Middle East have changed forever. They have lost one of the people they have loved most in the world, the person who helped them make sense of the world they live in and the person who taught them right from wrong.
The life of the person left behind will never be the same. Whether they have read the tweets from those comforting them who they have never met and never lived the life that they have or they have read the tweets from those demanding revenge that they have never met and never lived the life that they have, they do not feel any better. Whether they are reassured by their leaders that their person has not died in vain or not, they still don’t feel any better. What they want is their person back, laughing, loving and living with them. That cannot happen. What they want is to share the events of the day and concerns about tomorrow. They cannot do that anymore.
They might listen to the news and realise that their loved one is merely a statistic. They might think of all the others that hear the news and carry on doing whatever it is their doing, whether it’s driving to pick up kids from school, eating dinner or meeting up with friends for a drink and wonder whether anyone even cares that their life will never be the same. Even though others have suffered, they might feel alone.
What side of the border does this person live? Do they live in Kiryat Malachi or do they live in Gaza city? (is there really a difference- the people are living in fear wherever they are) Are they an active part of this increasingly bitter yet futile escalation or merely in the wrong place at the wrong time? The fact is that whatever side they are on they are suffering. No child wants to lose their parent in this way and no parent wants to lose their child ever. Listening to the various media outlets and reading various twitter feeds throughout the day I know that one of the reasons why this conflict has become so polarised is because each side sees the other as being devoid of humanity. A Palestinian clearly doesn’t care about the loss of life and neither do Israeli’s according to much of social media. We read of the political motivation behind this current escalation and wonder whether it is just the governments and extremists that are devoid of humanity rather than the people themselves? Or, we tar all Palestinians and all Israeli’s with the same brush. We ignore the story of Gazan civilians being taken to hospital in Be’er Sheva and threats of incursion and assassination made by an inferior government ministers with virtually no international profile. We ignore the fact that that Hamas were elected by Gazans because we deplore the views and their subsequent crackdown on human rights and political diversity. We ignore the fact rockets have been launched from Gaza consistently over the past several months because it suits us to see Israel as the aggressor. We ignore the fact that some Israeli’s see Gush Katif as an integral part to the biblical homeland because they are Jews.
We ignore lots of facts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because it suits us. What we cannot ignore today is the fact that someone in the Middle East lost someone they love today and does not know how life will ever be the same again. If we cannot pray for a realistic and lasting peace, let us at least pray that the bereaved will find a source of comfort in the memories of their loved ones rather than their hatred of the enemy.
Peace between us and between our people              שלום בינינו ובין בני עמנו