Between The Holocaust And Gaza

Between the Holocaust and Gaza Kingsley Omose

One Between the Holocaust and Gaza In an article published by Real Clear Politics on January 05, 2009, Ed Koch, the former Mayor of New York, described the Israeli offensive in Gaza as the exercise of its right of self-defense. On the issue of the large number of civilian deaths especially of women and children, Ed koch stated that the civilian residents of Gaza had themselves to blame for voting in Hamas as their government in a free election. He further stated that this was similar to the action of Germans who had voted for Adolph Hitler in a democratic election and that those living in Gaza were now reaping the consequences of a Hamas government actively pursuing violence to achieve its genocidal goal. I have read many articles and news reports in support of the Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza, although civilians are bearing the brunt of such attacks, but the article of Ed Koch would be the most numbing for standing reason on its head. To justify the deliberate bombing of civilian targets by the Israeli Defense Forces not minding the indiscriminate killing of women and children simply because Gazans had voted for Hamas is taking propaganda to new levels. And then to drag in the holocaust, and blame that on Germans who had also voted in Adolph Hitler as their government in a free election is like blaming Americans for voting in George Bush and being responsible for the Iraq debacle. Worse, an examination of the events surrounding the holocaust shows that the plights of Palestinians in Gaza are similar to some of the humiliations suffered by Jews under the Nazis. The fact that the persecutions suffered by the Jews after Adolph Hitler came to power did not draw any protests or public outcry from non-Jewish Germans, is more comparable to the silence of Israelis over the atrocities being committed by the IDF in Gaza. Bombing residential homes and wiping out entire families under the guise of targeting weapons stored in those homes is inhumane and attempting to justify this is what the Israeli PR blitz has being all about. Nazis also used laws and decrees to shut German Jews out of German society and eventually deprived them of their German citizenship and then forbade teir intermarriage with non-Jews. Well today, Palestinians in Gaza as stateless citizens are completely shut out from the

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outside world, blockaded by land, sea and air and, a Palestinian cannot even contemplate marriage to an Israeli Jew. It was Adolph Hitler who went about forcefully annexed neighboring Austria and other European nations and systematically purging them of Jews to make them part of great German empire, not minding the consequences. Like wise it is the Israelis that have expanded their borders through forceful annexation of land in Palestine resulting in the over 4 million refugees who have been scattered in neighboring Arab nations for generations. In forcefully annexing these lands and driving Palestinians into the wilderness, the underlying message that Israel passed across was that the expulsion of Palestinians and the building of Jewish settlements even in occupied lands is justified. When Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old German Jew shot and killed a German embassy official in Paris, in retaliation for the harsh treatment his Jewish parents’ had received from the Nazis, it was used as an excuse to unleash pent-up hatred towards the Jews. The incident is regarded by many as the start of the holocaust as the first State-run pogrom was conducted against Jews many of whom were killed while their synagogues were burned and others were taken to concentration camps. The scale of destruction in Gaza of residential buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques, police stations and the killings of Palestinian men, women and children is more than the assertion that Hamas provoked the attacks by firing rockets at Southern Israel. Operation Cast Lead was planned long before the Egyptians brokered a six months ceasefire between Hamas and the Israelis, and saying Palestinians should accept their daily humiliations and killings at the hands of the Israelis without responding is not tenable. Even while they were in concentration camps and were being gassed to death, some Jews decided to take matters into their hands and violently resisted the Nazis using smuggled in weapons to battle 2000 SS soldiers armed with tanks, artillery and flame throwers. Describing the scene at a 28-day battle waged inside the Warsaw Ghetto by 750 Jews, and after Nazi soldiers decided to burn down the entire ghetto because of the stiff resistance put up by the Jews, an SS report described the scene as follows: "The Jews stayed in the burning buildings until because of the fear of being burned alive they jumped down from the upper stories… With their bones broken, they still tried to crawl across the street into buildings which had not yet been set on fire…Despite the danger of being burned alive the Jews and bandits often preferred to return into the flames rather than risk being caught by us."

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Now it is the descendants of these brave Jews who are accusing Hamas of smuggling weapons into Gaza even though the battle in the Warsaw Ghetto bears similarities to the on going Israeli offensive in Gaza. By maintaining strict immigration quotas on many German and Austrian Jews who were attempting to flee Nazi persecution, Western nations ensured that the Nazis had unfettered right to do with Jews as it deemed fit. Today, it is the Palestinians who are under strict immigration quotas and other than allowing those in Gaza with foreign passports to leave, they have been blockaded and left to the complete mercy of Israeli attacks. Mean while, governments of major Western nations and other neighboring Arab states to Gaza are engaging in double speak or maintaining their studious silence, including the apostle of change, Barack Obama, the US President-Elect. As it is said there is a time and a season for everything under the sun.

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Two The Bombing of Nizar Rayyan’s Family A report by MIGUEL MARQUEZ on ABC News that a 2, 000-pound bomb dropped by an Israeli air strike on the home of Nizar Rayyan, a senior Hamas leader, not only killed him, but 15 other members of his family is distressing. In all his four wives, six sons and five daughters including Nizar Rayyan appear to have been deliberately targeted notwithstanding the Israeli claim that Nizan Rayyan and his family was given a few minutes to evacuate from the house before the bombing was ordered. The justification for the Israeli action is that Nizan Rayyan’s home was being used as a storage site for weapons and that there were worries that efforts would be made to evacuate the weapons from the home if the building was not bombed. Proof that the Israeli action was justified was that Nizan Rayyan deliberately refused to evacuate his family even though a call was put through to the house and they were told that they had a few minutes to evacuate the building. The Israelis were also stressing that multiple secondary explosions were heard after the 2000-pound bomb had been dropped on the building, proving indeed that Nizar Rayyan’s home was being used as a storage facility for Hamas weapons. First it is clear that the Israelis will stop at nothing to destroy Hamas weapons including deliberate targeting of top Hamas officials even if they have to kill women and children and deliberately destroy residential apartments. In the case in question, the Israelis had intelligence that Nizar Rayyan and his large family were in the house and yet a decision was taken to go ahead with the bombing although it is alleged that they were given some minutes to evacuate the building. Second the bombing of residential buildings occupied by women and children but which also double as storage facilities for weapons is proof that there is scant regard for human life in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That the Israelis believe that Hamas deliberately uses women and children as shields to block the bombing of buildings being used for storage of Hamas weapons while still going ahead to drop the bombs justify the bombing of women and children? Third, the Israelis assert that Nizan Rayyan deliberately chose to stay back in the building with his large family in the hope that the Israelis would not drop the bombs implies that Hamas prides the protection of its weapons more than the lives of its women and children.

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Even if this were true, that the Israelis still went ahead and dropped the 2000-pound bomb on Nizan Rayyan and his large family in order to get at the Hamas weapons implies that a scorched earth policy is being implemented in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fourth if the Israelis knew that Nizan Rayyan was in the building with his large family and refused to evacuate, and Nizan Rayan knew that the Israelis were likely to bomb the building with him and his large family, then the smell of blood is thick in the air. What it means is that both the Israelis and the Palestinians are beyond the point of reasoning and are engaged in a test of wills and who will blink first to make for massive bragging rights after the ongoing offensive would have ended. Finally, between the ground intelligence gathering on the location of Hamas top personnel and weapons storage facilities, and the pilots dropping the bombs unchallenged from the skies above, and the decision to bomb, how can the killings of women and children be minimized? While it is safer for the Israelis to drop bombs from the skies, loss of lives suffered during the last invasion of Lebanon and the war with Hezbollah, would seem to leave them will less stomach for prolonged and extensive ground operations. But would ground operations not mean that the Israelis can at least engage the Hamas fighters in combat while sparing the lives of women and children? There has to be a better strategy than having to bomb women and children along with stored weapons. http://israelipalestanianwatch.blogspot.com/

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Three Israel and World Public Opinion A report in Haaretz.com that the present offensive against Hamas in Gaza by the Israeli Defense Force was planned even before the start of the six months cease fire is intriguing. Captioned “Cast Lead” Operation, IDF bombardment of Gaza has resulted in immense destruction of Hamas infrastructure but has also killed over 400 Gazans. World opinion towards the IDF offensive was mixed with traditional Israeli backers, i.e. America and its allies supporting the attacks but calling for minimal civilian casualties. This gave the impression that Hamas personnel were fair game as can be seen by the bombing of the home Nizar Rayan, killing him along with two wives and four children. Most nations in the Middle East and others in the developing world condemned the Gaza offensive from the beginning accusing the Israelis as being the provocateurs. Mounting civilian casualties especially of women and children and the scale of devastation beamed all over the world, is costing Israel the battle for world public opinion. Now some Western nations under mounting pressure from their populace are calling the Israeli offensive disproportionate to the provocation provided by Hamas shelling of Israeli cities. The increasing importance of keeping world public opinion balanced has seen the Israelis resort to a PR blitz using both traditional and non-traditional media sources to put its case across. This is against the background that the forth coming general elections in February 2009 may have played some part in the design and implementation of the Gaza offensive. Whether this is true or not, the fact is that people love David and Goliath battles as long as David comes out victorious. In the battle in question Israel is the giant and is making minced meat out of Gaza in the full glare of global media attention. A situation where the result of a battle is predictable from the onset is not capable of winning over world public opinion unless there is more to the issue. Israel has undisputed air, armored, personel and weapons superiority over Hamas, with enough missiles to wipe Gaza off the face of the earth.

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To worsen matters, Gaza has been under sea, land and air blockades for a while with its economy strangulated and its population reduced to depending on humanitarian aid. All that Hamas has to fight with are sheer human will and some home made and imported rockets made in China and Iran, and smuggled into Gaza through a network of tunnels. Even a ground offensive by IDF that would at least allow for face to face confrontation with Hamas but is likely to be avoided by IDF or be restricted in its scope. I also find it instructive that the United States President-Elect, Barack Obama, and his aides have maintained a studious silence over the ongoing Gaza offensive by the IDF. Again this may not mean that Barack Obama is for or against the Israeli offensive against Gaza, but his silence should trouble the Israeli Government more than it does Hamas. The philosophy on which Barack Obama built his successful presidential election is that change comes from the bottom up and is not imposed from above. But that aside, the world, especially Americans with the lessons learnt from Iraq and Afghanistan, no longer have the stomach for battles of the sort that Israel is waging in Gaza. This explains why Sri Lanka has imposed an almost total news blackout on its war of attrition with the Tamil Tigers but which Israel cannot do in Gaza. World public condemnation and reprehension over the Holocaust has fuel positive support for the nation of Israel since its formation in 1947. Through its various wars of survival with surrounding nations Israel has always been regarded as the underdog. Now Israel is regarded as the dominant power in the Palestinian crises and stands the risk of losing world public support even in its staunchest ally, the United States of America. Unfortunately the man who was prepared to tow another route to solving the crises, Ehud Olmert will not be contesting the February 2009 Israeli General Elections. Chances are that a hawkish prime minister of Israel will emerge after the said elections, with serious implications for Israel and the prospects of peace in the Middle East. http://israelipalestanianwatch.blogspot.com/

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Four Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Without the shedding of blood or the making of significant sacrifices there can be no correction of or making right an error, a wrong, or mistake. In other words, errors, omissions, mistakes and wrongs rarely do get self corrected especially when they are the products of differing ideologies or beliefs. The millions of Jews murdered by Nazi Germans during World War 11 contributed in no small measure to the establishment and recognition accorded the state of Israel. This has to a large extent defined the special relationship between the nation of Israel and many Western nations save of course for majority of the nations of the Middle-East. They still regard the formulation of the nation of Israel as an aberration believing that the lands it presently occupies rightly belong to the Palestinians and other Arab nations. Going down into history, we must acknowledge that the rise and fall of nations over the centuries has resulted in a constant reshaping of borders and occupants of lands. Few countries today can assert authoritatively that the lands they presently occupy have been theirs for thousands of years. No where is this more true than in the continent of Africa where European powers in the 1800s cobbled different ethic groups and tribes to form the countries of today. These countries were initially colonized and it was not until the 1950s and 1960s that most of them were granted so called independence status by former colonial masters. Even nations like the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were not in existence some hundreds of years ago. Also India and Pakistan used to be part of the same nation until the British Crown decided to keep the major Hindu and Muslim populations apart in separate countries. What I am driving at is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has to be contextualized against the shifting sands of time to enable a workable solution to be attained. That the nation of Israel is the dominant power in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict only goes to show that the history of nations is about their rise and fall, demise and formation. It does not matter today that the Palestinians are on the receiving end as there is nothing to indicate that there will not be a role reversal in another 50 to 100 years.

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Every time the blood of a Palestinian or Israeli is shed over the on going conflict the need for a solution or resolution becomes more apparent. The killing of another human being is not a natural act as can be seen from the extent to which the Israelis have gone to find justifications for the recent bombardments of Gaza. Also no terrorist wakes up and decide to kill others by strapping bombs to his body for the sheer fun of it. There is usually an existing conflict providing the fuel for suicide acts and more importantly, there is a period of preparation prior to embarking on the mission. Just as Nazi Germany in spite of their best efforts could not exterminate the Jewish race so will Israel even if given a free hand will not be able to raze Gaza to the ground. The same applies to the Arab nations who may be under the impression that given the opportunity, they can jointly wipe out the nation of Israel from the face of the earth. Not even the use of nuclear bombs can extinguish humanity from planet earth as there will always be remnants that will be available to repopulate the earth. Will the use of nuclear bombs result in a substantial set back in the development of the human race? Of course yes but the spirit of the human race will ultimately prevail. Monuments stand as testimonies capturing the events of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Americans in the 1940s with the atomic bomb, We have to recognize that human conflicts especially conflicts between nations are a necessary part of life. But this does not mean that I love conflicts and that they should of necessity be encouraged or welcomed. Conflicts, especially of the type between the Israelis and Palestinians, point to the need for their resolution to address their consequences. It does not really matter that some nations who ordinarily have the ability to push for immediate resolution will indulge in double speak. Or those who are spoiling for a full scale war will have their way. Whichever way the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be resolved; it is only a question of time. For the simple fact that the position of having to kill others to maintain the status quo is unnatural and that the spilling of blood only serves notice of the need for solutions. It is at the point where peoples realize the unnaturalness of the positions that they uphold

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sustained with human blood that conflicts become resolvable. http://israelipalestanianwatch.blogspot.com/

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Five A Fate beyond Death The turning point of any conflict between nations or ethnic nationalities is when women and children actively become part of the struggle. For the simple fact that women are the engine room for procreation and the children are regarded as the hope for a better future and continuity. When these values are no longer held sacrosanct then the women and children are at that stage where death is a preferred option to life. I believe this is the stage which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict especially over Gaza has now crossed as can be seen by the killing of Nizar Rayyan and 15 members of his family. According to news reports, the Israelis dropped a 2000-pound bomb on a residential building occupied by Nizan Rayyan and his family. The assertion of the Israelis was that the residential apartment also doubled as a Hamas communications center and a storage facility for weapons. The bomb not only destroyed the building and the weapons allegedly stored there but also killed Nizar Rayyan, his four wives, six sons and five daughters. What is frightening is the Israeli assertion that a call was placed through to Nizar Rayyan's home warning them of the impending bombing. This was to give them some few minutes to evacuate the building and avoid being wiped out by the massive bomb which supposedly was meant for the weapons storage facility Rather than accept the said offer to choose life for himself and his family, Nizar Rayyan allegedly opted to sacrifice his family supposedly for the greater Palestinian cause. The Israeli’s are also alleging some targeted buildings were not bombed because men suspected to be Hamas members on their roof tops threatened to slay women and children with knives. A large percentage of civilians who have died during the ongoing bombardment of Gaza have been women and children and yet Palestinians are not any closer to throwing in the towel. Hamas has no air force of its own, no missile defense system against the Israeli air strikes, any armored tanks or artillery to withstand the Israeli offensive. Other than those with foreign passports who have been allowed to leave, Gaza is

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completely under land, sea and air blockade. The Palestinians in Gaza are completely dependent on humanitarian aid for survival and the United Nations says the situation is approaching a human crises. . On one side of the blockade are the Israelis worried that unchecked weapons would be brought in if the sea and land blockades are lifted. The Egyptians on the other side of the blockade are worried of the potential influence of Hamas on its own radicals if the blockade is lifted.. Gaza's hospitals are over flowing with the maimed and the injured, while daily men, women and children are being buried. Yet the bombs fall daily and Western powers engage in double speak, while Middle East nations show their anger with demonstrations on their streets, The United Nations Security Council has been unable to pass any resolution even to call Hamas and the Israelis to cease hostilities.. Death is what the average person is afraid of but in Gaza the fear of death has long gone on a prolonged leave of absence (AWOL) and yet death is the main diet served by the Israelis. During the Roman persecution of Christians, many were offered the option of renouncing their Christian faith or being served as live meals to lions. In arenas that were filled with on looking Roman citizens many Christians were mauled to death by lions that had been starved to add more action to the mauling. What initially served as a source of entertainment eventually became a source of bewilderment to the on looking Romans. They were amazed over the decisions of the Christians to chose death rather than renounce their Christian faith. It was apparent to the Roman citizens that the Christians had an insight to issues of life and death and this swelled the number of Romans converting to Christianity. Images of dead men, women and children are being beamed from Gaza to a watching world that is conscious that the odds are stacked against Hamas in the ongoing conflict. Many are beginning to ask questions in their hearts and minds about why in spite of a certain death are Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza choosing death instead of life? What message is being passed across to peoples in other crises involving the powerful

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and the weak about fighting to the death rather than conceding defeat? Are we going to witness Hamas sympathizers and look alike spring up all over the world even beyond religious and ethnic barriers? Only time will tell. http://israelipalestanianwatch.blogspot.com/

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Six Least we forget I find the issue of Israel being a country having the right to defend itself against attacks by Hamas quite interesting. It is so easy to forget the circumstances leading to Israel's declaration of independence in 1948. Then Britain and not America was the mediating power and it was the Arabs who were turning down one settlement proposal after another. Then the British were wavering in their support between the Arabs and the Jews, today the Americans are unwavering in their support for Israel. Many do not remember that Iran was one of the few countries whose early recognition of Israel as a country helped in establishing it. That Israel’s declaration of independence was vehemently opposed by Egypt and Transjordan (now Jordan) who have fought several wars against. Israel. Today, Egypt and Jordan are friends of Israel, while Iran is a sworn enemy of Israel and one of the main supporters of Hamas. Then it was the Jews who had organizations that the Arab nations regarded as terrorist, today Palestinian groups such as Hamas are the terrorists. Then it was the Arab nations that were persecuting a war of attrition against the Jews in Palestine. Today it is the nation of Israel that is engaged in a war of attrition with Palestinians in Gaza. Then it was the Jews who were scattered all over Europe and in search of a homeland of their own. Today it is the Palestinians who have become generational refugees and who seek a homeland of their own. Then it was the Jews who were being slaughtered in large numbers in concentration camps by Nazi Germany. Today it is Palestinians, who are being killed in large numbers in Gaza, which some have called the largest concentration camp in the world.

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When the Ottoman Turks held sway in the areas that Israel calls its ancestral home, where was the nation of Israel? When the British exercised the mandate over the region of Palestine where was the nation of Israel? But for the undertaking given by Lord Balfour in support of the Jews to a homeland of their own in Palestine, what would Israel be? But for the defeat of Nazi Germany who was supported by some Arab nations opposed to a Jewish nation in Palestine, where would Israel be? But for the holocaust how many nations would have supported the establishment of a Jewish nation in Palestine? May be the large number of Palestinian dead especially the spilling of blood of innocent women and children will count for something. May be the condition of 4 million stateless generational Palestinians in neighboring Arab nations will have to count for something. May be the harrowing living conditions of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza will count for something. May be the daily missiles fired by Hamas at Southern Israel, where the Israelis at least have bunkers to hide in, will count for something. http://israelipalestanianwatch.blogspot.com/

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Seven An Unacceptable Silence When reports got to the Catholic Church in the late 1930s regarding atrocities being committed by the Nazis against German Jews it is said that it kept silent and did nothing. Eventually those atrocities were upgraded to mass annihilations of not just German Jews but Jews in other parts of Europe. The latest Israeli offensive against Palestinians in Gaza which has resulted in the killings of over 800 people mostly civilians has drawn the condemnation of the Catholic Church. A representative of Pope Benedict even went as far as comparing conditions in Gaza as being like a big concentration camp under the Nazis. The Nazis had moved Jews to concentration camps across Europe were they engaged in mass killings either through summary executions or gassing of Jews in gas chambers. The Israelis have poured scorn on the statement of the Catholic Church regarding the killings of over 800 civilians and wounding of 3, 000 others, but Pope Benedict is not silent. But one cannot say the same for the leaders of churches in Nigeria, whether Orthodox, Pentecostal or Spiritual, who have collectively maintained their studious silence over the killings. It would seem that unlike the rest of us that they have not been seeing images of dead Palestinian women and children in Gaza who were bombed by the Israeli Air force. They have also not been seeing the extent of devastation of public infrastructure including schools, mosques, universities, power stations, water works and others. They have not been seeing the heroic feats of doctors, nurses and medics in trying to treat the injured and maimed in hospitals whose facilities are stretched to breaking point. They probably did not hear how the Israelis bombed facilities that were being used for housing refugees although they knew they knew these were United Nations facilities. They also did not hear how the Israeli Air Force dropped a 2000-pound bomb on a residential building killing Nizan Rayyan and 15 members of his family. Neither have they considered how the Shamouny family lost 30 of their members in Zeitoun, a south-eastern suburb of Gaza City.

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They have not seen mortuaries in Gaza hospitals overflowing with corpses sometimes with two or more cramped into a single cubicle. The report that over 10 ambulance drivers and other medics have been killed by IDF while attempting to rescue wounded civilians is probably of little significance. But the most heart rendering would have to be an IDF preventing medics from getting to Zeitoun for 4 days after the village was bombed. When medics got to Zeitoun, they found 4 malnourished children clinging to the corpses of their parents who were barely able to stand because they had not eaten. Meanwhile, IDF stood some distance away on a hill overlooking the village and did nothing to find if there were survivors who needed medical attention. So why are our Christian religious leaders still silent and not condemning the killings of Palestinian men, women and children by Israeli forces? Do they not know that every life, whether Muslim or Christian is precious in the sight of God? Surely it is not because they still regard Israel as the land of God and the Israelites as the people of God? Do they not realize that God does not dwell in temples made by hand but in the hearts of men and women? I will be shocked if the religious leaders are silent because of the annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the birth place of Jesus Christ. Is it that they would rather prefer the Israelis to be in control of the Holy Land although Israelis are Jews and do not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God? What does it matter who is in charge of the Holy Land as long as Christian pilgrims can have access to the Holy sites? Finally, I hope that our Christian religious leaders are not blinded by religious prejudice because the Palestinians are predominantly Muslim? Like the rest of us, Palestinians and Israelis were all made in the image and likeness of God. Every human life, whether Muslim, Christian, or Hindu is precious in God's sight even those who do not believe in the existence of God.

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I therefore implore our Christian religious leaders to do what is needful in the circumstances. Like the Catholic Church, they should come out strongly to condemn Israeli atrocities in Gaza asking them to cease hostilities as ordered by the United Nations.

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Eight Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict A fable related by Roger Dawson in his book on negotiating, “You Can Get Anything You Want”, may hold the key to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crises. It’s about a very old couple who lived in a small, somewhat sordid thatched hut in a tiny village, which after a particularly nasty storm was completely demolished. Being much too old and poor to rebuild, the couple moved in with their daughter and her husband and four children. This arrangement precipitated an unpleasant domestic situation, as the daughter’s hut was barley big enough for her own family of six. So the daughter went to the wise man of the village, told him the problem, and asked “What shall we do?” The wise man while taking puffs from his pipe asked the lady if she had any chickens, and responding that she had ten, was told to bring the ten chickens into the hut. Although the wise man’s decision seemed ludicrous to the woman, she obeyed but the problem was soon unbearable, with feathers as well as words now flying about the hut. The woman returned to the wise man, pleading once again for advice. On learning that the woman had three goats, the wise man told the woman to bring the goats into the hut. That seemed positively ridiculous but to disobey the wise man was unthinkable, so she brought the three goats into the hut. And now life was unlivable, with eight people, ten chickens, and three goats sharing one tiny, noisy hut. The next day the woman, fearing for her sanity, approached the wise man for the last time crying and pleading for help as life in the hut had become intolerable. This time, the wise man’s response was encouraging: “Remove the chickens and the goats from your home” The animals were quickly evicted and the entire family of eight lived together happily in the hut for the rest of their days” In a way this fable captures the reality between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the only difference being that the old couple has almost taken over the hut.

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It is good to examine the circumstances under which the old couple came to live in the hut, but important to examine how the hut can be made more habitable for all concerned. Let’s assume that the Israelis are the old couple and the Palestinians the younger couple, while the United Nations, America and others are the wise man of the village. The issue to be resolved is how the Israelis and the Palestinians can live together happily although the available land is barely enough to satisfy both parties concerned. It is also safe to assume that the chickens and goats are already in the picture as can be seen by the intensity of the ongoing Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza. Another way of saying this is that the reason why the crisis has remained unresolved for the better part of a century is because of the chickens and the goats. So what are some of these chickens and goats that the United Nations, America and other countries pushing for a settlement must identify and help eliminate from the hut? The first would have to be a change in the mindsets of the Israelis and Palestinians towards the land of Palestine. The Israelis regard Palestine as their ancestral land dating back to the time of Abraham, but it is also true that for hundreds of years those lands were occupied by others. The Palestinians say that before the founding of the nation of Israel they were the ones in occupation of these lands, but so have other nations in centuries past. Second would be the need to appreciate that Israelis and Palestinians have the same needs in terms of peace and the other necessities that make for quality living. Good education, quality health care, infrastructural development, technological advancement, economic progress are now recognized as forming basic rights of peoples. Third, is respect of the sanctity of life both of Palestinians and Israelis and understanding that human life once extinguished cannot be restored. This means that the targeting of civilian populations whether or not they have access to bunkers or are sitting on top storage facilities used for weapon has to stop. Four will be the need for all nations and organizations mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian crises to maintain their neutrality and work for quick resolution of this age old conflict. The Americans and other Western nations on the one part and the Syrians and Iranians on the other part need special mention in this regard. Finally, it is ultimately in the collective interests of the Israelis and the Palestinians to

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cooperate with the nations and countries that are committed to the resolution of the crises. Only nations and peoples that are short-sighted believe that the solution to preserving their existence is to deprive others of their own existence. The chicken and goat issues identified above are not exhaustive and neither will addressing them be simple, but then again attaining peace is worth the sacrifice.

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