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From the Other Side of the Edge…..
Israel as Role
Model, ...Unrelenting Bully, …or Worse?
By Joe Facinoli
On the One Hand, …President Obama, and the World, should learn a lesson
from Israel about how to take care of one’s own, and their territory,
when threatened, abused, or attacked.
On the Other, …what gives them the right to defend as their own, and so
brutally, a piece of land which is claimed by each of three major world
religions as their “Holy Land”, and by diverse millions as their
Homeland ??
It all began in this desert sand over three thousand years ago, and the
savage territorialism and violence has scarcely stopped, since that
time.
Hundreds of thousands have died in the virtually non-stop battles over
this near desolate piece of ground during these millennia, …and
millions more have been displaced or uprooted, purely by political or
“turf” reasoning, …on all sides.
Every group laying claim to this “Land of Canaan” has been bitterly
tenacious in their assertions that it belongs to them, …but just as
selfish, and at times inhumanly so, in their irresponsible attempts at
the resolution of these claims.
One can look at the Israelis with a kind of prideful admiration, for
their measured, “zero tolerance”, but most often proper responses to
the constant threats, and bombardments, which come from all of their
geographic neighbors, …and at any time.
But the truth is, they TOOK this land they have come to love so much,
from those same neighbors, …and several times throughout
history.
When the twelve tribes, of the twelves sons of Jacob (aka:
Israel), being the grandsons of the founding Abraham, crystallized into
one Jewish nation in this region (back in 1300 B.C., as the Torah, and
legend, will tell us), they did so at the expense of the very people
they fight with today.
Over the centuries, they have continually fought against, both winning
and losing many times each, all of the region’s, and most of the
world’s powers, with an unrelenting zeal that may be unmatched in human
history.
But always with an unexplained disregard, and even disdain, for the
other “natural” residents of that area.
The forthright determination, in recent decades, of men like Moshe
Dayan, and Ariel Sharon, Menachem Begin, and today, Benjamin Netanyahu,
is undeniable, worthy, and deserving of all praise, for their military
maneuverings and defenses of their cherished and precious
land.
But in actual fact, their beloved country of Israel was simply carved
out of a portion of southern Syria (albeit, a very sacred portion), and
given to the burgeoning Jewish nation in 1948, after even more wars of
ugly death and destruction.
The faltering British Empire at that time, which had been in control of
this area for many decades, was more than happy to see a way out of
this troubled “no-win” zone of religious
self-righteousness.
And the United Nations, with the same non-sensical “wisdom” we see so
often today, was more than happy to comply, and assist in this
“resolution”.
Nothing more than a land grab, or giveaway, and it only made matters
worse.
But who are these Palestinians, who have come up second so many times
to their Jewish co-inhabitants, and who show the same ruthless
determination for taking back their “inherent” homeland?
They are Arabs, and Muslims, and other “nationalities” who all feel
they have just as much right to this land as the Jews and
Israelis.
And maybe they do. But they sure have a poor, and
very strange (and bloody) way of making their case.
All sides could say that they have simply had enough of the other’s
inflexible methods and ways, at “solving” this unsolvable
dilemma.
And all sides would be right, …and also wrong.
How DO you solve, then, a three thousand year old dispute, in which
overbearing arrogance (above all else), wildly inflated
self-importance, and unjustified false religious pride have so often
prevented even the most basic discussions from ever
happening?
You start by introducing something which has never been a part of this
deadly, and ridiculous disagreement, not even for a single moment, in
those three thousand years.
Common Sense.
Land? Really, …it’s just
land. It doesn’t breathe, or bleed, or interact
with people, …like say, …other people do.
Especially when it’s an uninhabitable, arid, and otherwise undesirable
desert.
Yes, there is history, and tradition, and the “scriptures”, telling
those involved what to do, and how to behave, especially when those
hated “non-believers” come a-callin’.
But that’s why this naïve heathen of a writer “believes” that all
organized religions, despite their best efforts, and their allegedly
clear and pure intentions, …are the root of most major man-made evil on
this earth.
And which, by their supposedly “inspired”, but truly man-made doctrine,
have led to so much untold and needless, and incredible suffering over
the centuries.
Not to mention the tens of millions of completely unnecessary deaths
over the history of man, purely on the behalf, or behest, of these
professed spiritual “truths”.
Ceasefires, negotiations, summit meetings, …are all just lip service,
…and an utter waste of time. How often, and to
what purpose, can you talk the same talk, when neither side is willing
to give a single inch, nor listen to an ounce of reason???
How many have to die, and suffer needlessly, over how many endless
years, before they realize that what they want, and what they are
doing, …just ain’t workin’??
One could say, given the past performances of these groups and
religions and combatants, …that they are all getting exactly what they
deserve.
And that the rest of the world should just pull back, and let them
self-destroy, all that their revered and highly selective makers have
given them.
However, that would be extremely cold, unfeeling, and insensitive, and
would just be throwing away lives in a fit of heartless pique, serving
no purpose other than to help perpetuate this amazingly selfish, beyond
stupid, and ridiculously deadly set of self-made circumstances, which
have lasted nearly as long as the earth has been orbiting the
sun.
But wait, …are those my sentiments and words? Or is
that the very stance taken by all the sides in this monumental
conflict???
I think that’s the problem. Religious, political, and
territorial arrogance, have trumped all common sense and logic here,
…and who pays the price?
All of humanity.
There’s a lot of sand on that continent, …if that’s what you
want.
Get over your pompous, self-made, self-righteous history, and find
another pile of it.
Away from all the trouble and death. And let your
culture, and your children, grow towards the future, in an intelligent
and purposeful way.
Tradition and doctrine are best left behind, especially when they call
for the death and suffering, or abandonment, of other human
beings.
Grow up, be real, and live long lives.
Or, …just keep doing what you’re doing.
Your choice, …and not our business.
Joe Facinoli
--Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com
Intelligent Response Encouraged !!
© Copyright 2014, Joe Facinoli
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