Lucas Ntyintyane, News24 User
The Middle East never fails to disappoint! A new year, a new generation and an old war. The destructive cycle never ends. The pain continues!
Close to 600 people are already dead. Thousands have been displaced or left homeless. For what? To resuscitate a centuries old war that has no meaning or direction?
Ordinary women and children are paying a heavy price with their lives. The politicians, army generals and guerrilla leaders that started the carnage are living in luxury surrounded by bodyguards in the safety of the bunkers. War is a game to them. They do not give a damn about those who are dying.
I am reminded of David Shipler's wise words in his book, Arab and Jew - Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land: "...you will enter a vicious circle, blood for blood, and at the end you cannot remember where was the beginning . And you are not more just than the other side..."
Today I can confidently say no one has a clue about where was the beginning or an end to the carnage. The eye for an eye philosophy has left the region politically blind.
Unecessary and pointless
The current conflict is unnecessary and pointless. This is no longer about the land. It has nothing to do with religious differences. Massacring innocent people is not an excuse for self-defence. It is barbarism. The death of ordinary Palestinian is no different to the death of an Israel citizen.
This is pure hatred, driven by war-mongering vultures masquerading as leaders. The Israel government and the Hamas leadership are birds of the same feather. All they want is power at all cost, even it means destroying their own people in the process.
It is therefore myopic and misguided to blame one side for the mess. They all have blood on their hands. Including their so-called friends; Iran, Lebanon, USA and Syria are adding fuel to the fire and today the region is on the brink of insanity.
It is time for the people of Israel and Palestine to accept that bloodshed will not bring peace to the region. Suicide bombers, rockets, warplanes and gunboats have brought more hardship than prosperity. You can send as many suicide bombers into Tel Aviv or warplanes to bomb Gaza, but it will not put an end to the madness.
Why persist with violence, if it has failed to bring stability to the region? From 1948 until today, violence has not solved anything, only compounded the political quagmire. What guarantee is there that it will work now?
Peace can't hurt
The status quo must change! Sincere political dialogue is the only key to long lasting peaceful co-existence. The Israelis and the Palestinians can live together - what divides them is less than what binds them. Only the people of the region can save themselves from hatred and self-destruction. It will not hurt to give peace a chance.
This is not the moment to point fingers. I do not care about the past or who is right or wrong. It is an academic debate for the historians and political analysts to indulge themselves. My only concern is the unfolding human catastrophe. Surely that is good enough to make any sober minded person to think twice about pursuing the war strategy. What is victory, if all that is left are ruins and corpses?
It is clear the leadership of Israel and Hamas are not interested in peace. Actually, the war benefits them. Israel army generals are decorated with five star medals for bravery and Hamas leaders are celebrated as martyrs in the camps whilst the poor are starving or dying. It is the ordinary people on both sides of the political divide who must say no to this bloodshed. Because they are the ones filling the mortuaries and cemeteries.
The international community must intervene. The suffering must stop. The world cannot sit and watch. We owe it to ourselves to call for an end to this massacre. It is appropriate to conclude with the words of Jerusalem based author David Grossman. In 2001, he wrote: "...the two sides have been drawing each other's blood for almost a hundred years. Tens of thousands have already lost their lives. Yet the Arabs have not succeeded in destroying Israel, and Israel has not succeeded in cementing its occupation by force. The only thing that can prevent this horrible fate is swift international intervention..."
If they failed to kill one another in the past, maybe they must learn to live side by side in the future. The Arab leaders must accept the state of Israel. In addition, the Israel government must recognize the Palestinian Authority and their Arab leaders. When will it end?
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