Insecurity and Violence
I found these comments by Ramzi Kysia who is living in Lebanon very helpful in trying to understanding the current conflict in the Middle East. I'll try and understand where all of this violence comes from. Some of it comes from racism the notion that all Arabs are natural born terrorists, not worthy of our collective human rights. Some of it comes from greed the desire for geopolitical dominance and territorial cupidity. But much of the violence also comes from fear. I'm not sure that non-Jews to appreciate the depth of Jewish existential fears. Intellectually, we can understand the travails of the Diaspore, and the almost continuous history of European pogroms. As human beings we can all feel horror in the massive evil of the Holocaust. But that horror is different for Jews. They are emotionally connected to it in a way that I just am not. Given the complete dominance of Israel in the Middle-East, both economically and militarily, Jewish existential fears today seem silly and contrived. However, in my two trips to Israel one of the things I was a little surprised to discover was that those fears, illogical though they may be in this particular context, are very real. Because they are real, any solution to our troubles has to deal with them. Jewish existential fear has contributed to the refusal of Israel to ever truly negotiate, or even desire to create a just peace with its neighbors. This fear is part of the reason why the only lens Israel sees the Middle-East through is one of dominance and submission. This is the context of the supposed demand that the Arabs "recognize" Israel. It isn't recognition that Israel really wants, it's submission to its dominance. This attitude,much more than racism or religious fanaticism, is what drives the Israeli-Arabconflict. Because Israel refuses to use anything other than violenceto try and achieve its political goals, it concretely demonstrates to itsneighbors that violence is the only thing Israel will respond to fueling actsof terrorism. (more at Insecurity and Crisis).
4 comments:
Ok, walk me through the process that leads you from the King James "rulers" to your versions "judges." I'm not saying that I disagree, just want to have you fill in the gap. You could simply point me to your posts that spell out the solution, or another website, etc. Thanks. jfedako@aol.com antipositivist.blogspot.com
Hi Jim
I have coverd the theme over a whole series of posts starting away back in the June Archive.
I am going to put the whole thing together soon, and post it at www.kingwatch.co.nz.
Blessings
Ron
I think we can bring this issue closer to home.
Imagine we have a group of neigbours many of whom are completely committed to our distruction.
This is strange, because we provide employment for many of their families, collect taxes on their behalf and remit them to their elders.
Never the less, they lob firebombs over the fence from time to time, and on occasions send their children strapped with explosives over to play.
There is a police force, but it's distant, remote from our concerns, and in the past when it has finally become involved, done nothing to increase our security.
In order to assist with the 'peace process' that those in wellington want us to negotiate with our neigbours, we carve up some of our back yard (lets call it Gaza) and give it to our neigbours as a demonstration of our good will.
What do they do? They move their rocket launchers into this new territory, and increase their attacks.
Do we have a right to a 'military response' of our own?
The analogy falls down somewhat in that as individuals we are not permitted to 'wage war' whereas nation states do have a responsibility to defend their citizens.
Never-the-less, when we bring it home to our circumstances, I think the situation becomes somewhat clearer.
Best regards,
Brendan
Brendan
I am not sure that we can bring it back to our circumstances. It is just about impossible for us to understand what it is like to be a third generation refugee, living your entire life, in a refugee camp, in your own land, feeling betrayed by everyone, including some of your own people.
However, in answer to your question, there are circumstances, when we are entitled to take military action, but they are very rare. I have written in more detail on this topic here. I more and more think that there are very situations where the benefits of war outweigh the costs.
The problem is that war generally just increases hatred and the desire for revenge, so it rarely achieves the desired result. This is true of Lebanon. Hezbollah did not exist before Israel invaded and occupied Southern Lebanon for twenty years. So in a sense, Israel’s previous military action, created the current problem with Hezbollah.
Israel will never get peace by beating up their neighbours. That is so obvious, that I cannot understand why they persist with this tactic. The reason I put up the post, is that it provides an explanation for their blind persistence with a tactic that is bound to fail.
And if war is justified, we never have right to kill innocent women and children or destroy homes, shops, roads, bridges, and power stations with bombs (Deut 20:10-20).
The current adventures in Gaza and Lebanon will just produce another generation of desparate young people, with nothing much to lose, filled with anger, bitterness and hatred, seeking revenge. It will not bring peace.
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