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"Six Decade War" Doctor Michael Hobaugh Contributing Writer - www.TheWarOnTerrorism.com December 16, 2002 Like many sympathetic citizens around the world, I have observed the seemingly un-resolvable conflict between the Jewish and Islamic peoples of the former British territory of Palestine with sadness and frustration. The division of such a tiny strip of land, much of it arid, and its very limited natural resources between so many people would be a difficult problem even if all the involved groups were cordial. The generations of acrimony among the inhabitants of this land make it tortuous if not impossible. Life and death. The mortal threat all in this region live with day-to-day clouds the judgment of its leaders and commoners. Fear drives decisions and feeds the fire of hate. Hopelessness and anguish lead young men and women to suicide and murder, adding gasoline to a blaze already far out of control. World opinion and policy swing to either side in this conflict. Yet, none offer substantive help. At best there is sympathy for all, but increasingly, world opinion has become polarized to support of one group or the other. Criticism of the political methods of both sides is easy to dole out. Israel continues to settle its people in far-flung regions of the West Bank, continuing a policy that makes eventual division of the territory increasingly difficult with the construction of each new house and farm. Such a policy belies any public statement proclaiming that statehood for the Islamic peoples of the region is the goal of Israel. Instead, it silently yet forcefully proclaims to both those people and the rest of the world that the goal of Israel is to push them out. The discrepancies in water rights and access to agricultural raw materials and health care between Jews and Muslims in the region go beyond the limitations to basic civil rights imposed for security reasons to siege tactics that will slowly starve and poison these future citizens of a new Palestine. This inexorable pressure on the most basic of human needs understandably drives these people to desperation. Yet, the lengths to which the young men and women of Palestine go in the expression of their outrage suicide by mass murder only serves to replace sympathy with horror in the eyes of the world. The celebration of suicide by mass murder by the leaders of Hamas, Fateh, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad and some Arabic nations places them beyond even the widest acceptable boundary of political action. Leaders embracing such policies do not have a seat at the table of the family of nations. I am a pediatrician and believe that the most precious asset of any people is its children. Children are our hope for the future embodied. They are the reason we strive and struggle for a better life. In recruiting adolescent boys to carry out horrible acts of suicide by mass murder, these leaders betray the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters of their nation. They betray their religion when they incite these vulnerable youths with fantasies of heavenly reward in exchange for acts forbidden by every religion of the world. When these leaders throw the bodies of their nations' children into the fire, the atmosphere of hopelessness and blinding hate deepens. There can be no nation born out of a fire fed by the bodies of its own children. These children do die a martyr's death, but their martyrdom is not to Islam or Palestine, it is to the banality of hate and evil that drives these madmen who call themselves the leaders of the Palestinian people. The Arab peoples publicly voice their unity and solidarity, proudly proclaiming themselves the Arab Nation. The Arab Nation is vast, extending from the Atlantic to India. The Arab Nation is wealthy and the royalties of OPEC want for nothing. It is baffling that the Arab Nation closes its borders to its brothers in Israel and the West Bank. For three generations the Palestinian Arabs have lived cramped into shanty towns when they could have been offered homes in any of the dozen states in the Arab Nation. The billions in oil revenue generated over the last fifty-four years could have built houses and schools for these people. This wealth could have given the people of these lands fresh water by the miracle of desalination plants and research to increase agricultural efficiency could have provided food for all. Instead, the Palestinian Arabs are thrown into the fire and the billions in oil revenue are squandered on luxuries for their leaders and the weapons with which they commit suicide by mass murder. The Palestinian Arabs are victimized not only by Israel, but by the Arab Nation itself. They are caught between the continuing push of Israeli settlement and the refusal of their brothers to welcome them into their homes. Throughout history, a multitude of crimes have been committed in the name of religion. Yet none of these religions celebrate murder of innocents. The priests, rabbis, mullahs and monks who have twisted the faith of their followers to incite political violence must be the most damned of all the souls in the Inferno. Abraham was the father of Ishmael and Isaac and we are all brothers. Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah are holy places for three billion of us. The spirit that resides in these places belongs to no nation, but to all humanity. In the United States, people of all faiths live as neighbors, attending the same schools, and sometimes marrying one another. Churches, synagogues and mosques sit side by side. I pray that the men, women and children of the Middle East may one day know the peace and wealth of diverse opinion, freely expressed amid a prosperous society. I wish I had the power to make it so. © 2002, All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission. Property of www.TheWarOnTerrorism.com |
