This world can be a place of wonder and charm, a place where hopes and dreams come true every day. That’s one scenario. Sadly, the other can be a nightmare of almost unimaginable extremes. Ever since last Saturday morning, the state of Israel has seen some of the very worst. Much of it is so unspeakable that it literally takes a few days of hearing about it and watching it before you are able to actually process how humans can be so inhumane. On the TV and movie screen, we are conditioned to seeing evil in every terrible form that computer generation can create, but when you see the real-life effects of raw hatred and disregard for life, you feel like you are witnessing evil for the very first time. It is frightening to a degree that we truly cannot understand.
I am not a student of Middle East affairs, but I think even the most earnest of those scholars have a difficult time winding through the maze of history and geopolitical minefields and generations of human suffering that are woven into life in that part of the world. Of all the tribes, kingdoms, sheikdoms, sultanates and all the rest, it is difficult to find a political system in that region that practices anything like what we know as representative government. Israel has now witnessed what is being called their 9/11. The understandable response is one of massive revenge for the Israeli lives lost. Gaza City will likely crumble to the ground as Hamas is eradicated. The cost of this in human terms will be the death of thousands of Palestinians who do not support Hamas but will be caught in the crossfire.
The real monsters in this story of death and destruction are not only the murderous members of Hamas but also the cowardly leaders of the series of failed governments in Gaza. For years, they betrayed the people of that small strip of land, forfeiting any chance to build true peace with the people of Israel. Israel is an uncommon land. It is a complex experiment, and a symbol of many, many things to many different people. The sentiment expressed about it, however, is strikingly similar. In spite of differing opinions, heated loyalties and uncompromising principles, most of the people who have either lived there or just visited, simply want to go back.
It will be a difficult time there for a while. Let us hope the people and the leaders of that country and the world are prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.
