The recently concluded visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Holy Land has refreshed our awareness on the lingering Arab-Israeli conflict which is too complex a problem. However, by definition, when there is a problem, there should be a solution. Where heads of states and diplomats failed so far, it is not my intention to write a prescription on how the conflict is worked out. The loss of lives, properties, resources and collateral damages are enormous in a seemingly perpetual clash between two peoples of different faiths, cultures and histories. Yet, it should not be forgotten that the Jews and Muslims (Christians too) came from one family. These great religions consider Abraham as their founding patriarch.
For centuries, Jews are persecuted and in our times, anti-Semitism is on the rise. A lot do not recognize the State of Israel while others want it to be erased from the map. Others, out of hatred or twisted religious belief think that it is right to kill Jews although they were nearly exterminated as a people.
The Jews and the world will never forget the horrors of the Holocaust wherein six million of them in concentration camps were sent to their death in the gas chambers. Their crimes? They were Jews, an “inferior race”. As an adherent of equality, I do not believe that one race is better than the other. What is not equal is the degree of opportunity bestowed to each race or group of people to develop and contribute whatever asset they have in the family of nations and humanity. Some also deny or refuse to believe that the Holocaust indeed happen despite irrefutable historical evidence. (One Franciscan priest says that in Auszwitch, from top of the ground down 25 feet below, there is evidence of charred human remains till now.) An established fact is impossible to be denied!
From the ashes, the Jews are determined never to allow another Holocaust. For this reason, the priority of Israel is for the security of its citizens and its survival as a State.
The Palestinians also suffered a lot and continue to suffer in a conflict where an outsider like me sees it as a fight to the end. When Israel received its independence in May 14, 1948, after 2,000 years of exile and diasporas, the Jews started to return to their land they claim given by God. That was the start of the disenfranchisement and marginalization of the Palestinians. Some were exiled and never to return home. Families were separated. Left behind homes and properties were bulldozed. Their villages were obliterated. Today, the Palestinians are trapped and as if they do not have human rights and freedoms as defined by the International Declaration of Human Rights.
A Palestinian cab driver I met in Detroit but married to a Filipino when asked about the conflict responds with eyes looking afar with low voice, “As if in the middle of the night, a bandit hollering ‘This is our Land’ comes ordering us to leave our land, properties and homes as family members cry helplessly and right and then, families are separated and never to see each other again.”
Each side has reams and volumes of non-fiction horror stories to share. No one is determined to blink first. It does not matter if mere AK-47s, rocket launchers, ancient weapons of slingshot and stones fight one of the most modern and powerful armies of the world.
These cousins have suffered a lot from the hand of one another. Too much blood has been spilled. A lot of lives have been sacrificed. A lot of families have been dismantled. A lot of dreams, hope and aspirations have been shattered. Too much properties and resources have literally gone to smoke.
We must not forget that the Palestinians and the Israelis are just like us in the free world who long to be free and live a normal life the Americans, English, French, German, Italians and Canadians enjoy.
Each of them must live a day to day life without fear. Each of their children must be able to play in the streets or backyards without fear. It is time for the Palestinians to stop giving their children toys that suggest violence and a time for the Israelis to stop their unjust and appalling treatment. With same emphasis, Israeli children should not play in the bunkers. They should play in their homes and backyards without fear of raining rockets and stones from slingshots or thrown. Israelis must not be targeted to be killed.
“The word Islam means "submission" or the total surrender of oneself to God (Arabic: الله, Allāh).” the Wikipedia defines. Total surrender to Allah means to do his will so that all may live as brothers and sisters. To the Jews, I know your struggles as a people from the time of Moses. I have no answer or explanation why you suffer a lot. Despite the tragedies, I do not see “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” as the answer. As a Christian, Jesus whom you consider as a Great Teacher taught and still teaches us to practice reconciliation and love. Adonai is a God of shalom.
I earnestly join the prayers of Pope Benedict XVI and all peace-loving people that finally, peace and reconciliation come between the Palestinians and the Israelis and throughout the Middle East, the cradle of our Islamic, Jewish and Christian faiths so that Israelis, Muslims or Christians can coexist in love and harmony. We look forward to the day when the conflict in the Middle East is permanently extinguished and thereby everyone in the region and the world experience the sweetness if not the sacredness of brotherhood and peace.
Peace, Shalom, Al Hub aAs-Salam (Love and Peace) is possible because in Allah, Adonai, God; nothing is impossible.-30-
For centuries, Jews are persecuted and in our times, anti-Semitism is on the rise. A lot do not recognize the State of Israel while others want it to be erased from the map. Others, out of hatred or twisted religious belief think that it is right to kill Jews although they were nearly exterminated as a people.
The Jews and the world will never forget the horrors of the Holocaust wherein six million of them in concentration camps were sent to their death in the gas chambers. Their crimes? They were Jews, an “inferior race”. As an adherent of equality, I do not believe that one race is better than the other. What is not equal is the degree of opportunity bestowed to each race or group of people to develop and contribute whatever asset they have in the family of nations and humanity. Some also deny or refuse to believe that the Holocaust indeed happen despite irrefutable historical evidence. (One Franciscan priest says that in Auszwitch, from top of the ground down 25 feet below, there is evidence of charred human remains till now.) An established fact is impossible to be denied!
From the ashes, the Jews are determined never to allow another Holocaust. For this reason, the priority of Israel is for the security of its citizens and its survival as a State.
The Palestinians also suffered a lot and continue to suffer in a conflict where an outsider like me sees it as a fight to the end. When Israel received its independence in May 14, 1948, after 2,000 years of exile and diasporas, the Jews started to return to their land they claim given by God. That was the start of the disenfranchisement and marginalization of the Palestinians. Some were exiled and never to return home. Families were separated. Left behind homes and properties were bulldozed. Their villages were obliterated. Today, the Palestinians are trapped and as if they do not have human rights and freedoms as defined by the International Declaration of Human Rights.
A Palestinian cab driver I met in Detroit but married to a Filipino when asked about the conflict responds with eyes looking afar with low voice, “As if in the middle of the night, a bandit hollering ‘This is our Land’ comes ordering us to leave our land, properties and homes as family members cry helplessly and right and then, families are separated and never to see each other again.”
Each side has reams and volumes of non-fiction horror stories to share. No one is determined to blink first. It does not matter if mere AK-47s, rocket launchers, ancient weapons of slingshot and stones fight one of the most modern and powerful armies of the world.
These cousins have suffered a lot from the hand of one another. Too much blood has been spilled. A lot of lives have been sacrificed. A lot of families have been dismantled. A lot of dreams, hope and aspirations have been shattered. Too much properties and resources have literally gone to smoke.
We must not forget that the Palestinians and the Israelis are just like us in the free world who long to be free and live a normal life the Americans, English, French, German, Italians and Canadians enjoy.
Each of them must live a day to day life without fear. Each of their children must be able to play in the streets or backyards without fear. It is time for the Palestinians to stop giving their children toys that suggest violence and a time for the Israelis to stop their unjust and appalling treatment. With same emphasis, Israeli children should not play in the bunkers. They should play in their homes and backyards without fear of raining rockets and stones from slingshots or thrown. Israelis must not be targeted to be killed.
“The word Islam means "submission" or the total surrender of oneself to God (Arabic: الله, Allāh).” the Wikipedia defines. Total surrender to Allah means to do his will so that all may live as brothers and sisters. To the Jews, I know your struggles as a people from the time of Moses. I have no answer or explanation why you suffer a lot. Despite the tragedies, I do not see “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” as the answer. As a Christian, Jesus whom you consider as a Great Teacher taught and still teaches us to practice reconciliation and love. Adonai is a God of shalom.
I earnestly join the prayers of Pope Benedict XVI and all peace-loving people that finally, peace and reconciliation come between the Palestinians and the Israelis and throughout the Middle East, the cradle of our Islamic, Jewish and Christian faiths so that Israelis, Muslims or Christians can coexist in love and harmony. We look forward to the day when the conflict in the Middle East is permanently extinguished and thereby everyone in the region and the world experience the sweetness if not the sacredness of brotherhood and peace.
Peace, Shalom, Al Hub aAs-Salam (Love and Peace) is possible because in Allah, Adonai, God; nothing is impossible.-30-
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