UPDATE: The Israelis have started moving into Gaza. See here.
Of late I have been exchanging comments on Mosquito Blog with Mac (see here) about the situation in the Gaza Strip. Mac wants peace. However, he left me mystified as to what he expected Israel might do to achieve peace. I wonder if he would be elated if Israel just laid down it arms and gave up. The way he ended his response to an anonymous comment indicated as much.
This is really about trying to move everyone’s consciousness up a notch, toward more spiritual awareness. Spirit is universal, thus so is love, because love is integral to spirit. Everyone, Jew, Moslem, Christian, etc., is capable of spiritual growth and awareness, which can move us beyond “tribalism” on all sides. (from here)
The problem is that Mac’s belief that everyone is capable of moving beyond what he calls “tribalism” is not true. Of course, all people can love. Unfortunately, not all people learn that God expects us to love people from outside our immediate group. The notion that we should love people from other communities and people of other races and religions is actually still somewhat novel. What is worse is that there are those who still teach children to hate. Consider the following extracts.
From The American Thinker
In a few weeks, it will be five years since the Palestinian Authority was to prepare its citizens for a two-state solution and end incitement in its educational system. Yet from pre-school through highschool, Palestinian children are indoctrinated to deny Israel’s legitimacy, demonize Israelis and Jews, and glorify violent struggle as a religious goal. The Palestinian government-produced textbooks and government-controlled media work in tandem to assure that Palestinian children will be no more disposed to living peacefully with Israel tomorrow than their parents are today. (from here)
From The Jerusalem Post
In the first of a series of papers analyzing the effectiveness of Britain’s overseas aid, the Tax Payers Alliance (TPA), which lobbies for lower taxes and better government, has published a report looking at the effects of British aid spending in the Palestinian territories.
“Funding Hate Education” reveals disturbing evidence on the millions of pounds of British tax revenue has been funneled into hate education and promoting violence in the Middle East.
Some of the money is even being used to fund school textbooks that teach children in Palestine to worship violence and hate all non-Muslims.
“With moves towards a peace settlement at Annapolis and an American presidential visit to Israel, there is real hope that a peace deal can be reached,” said Matthew Sinclair, author of the report and policy analyst at the TPA. “In order for a deal to stick over the long term, however, it is essential that the Palestinian population fully accepts it. This is why it is particularly concerning that British aid is supporting the radicalization of the Palestinian population, particularly the children.” (from here)
From the New York Times
Mark Regev, spokesman for Mr. Olmert, called on “Arab leaders who are moderate and believe in peace to speak out more strongly against extremist elements.” He called the “incitement to hatred and violence standard Hamas operating procedure,” adding, “In Hamas education and broadcasting they turn the suicide bomber who murders the innocent into a positive role model, and they portray Jews in the most negative terms, that too often reminds us of language used in Europe in the first half of the 20th century.”
The “serious question,” he said, “is what ethos are they promoting?”
Hazim el-Sharawi, 30, the original host of the Farfour character on Hamas television, and known as “Uncle Hazim,” has no doubts. It was his idea to have Farfour killed by an Israeli interrogator, he said. “We wanted to send a message through this character that would fit the reality of Palestinian life.” (from here)
More often the major media has little to say about how Palestinians educate their children. For example The Atlantic in a long article on the Palestinians provides only a passing reference.
The camp consisted of little cement or frame houses rambling over the hillside, a village of poor people, disorderly and beflowered and cheerful. School was letting out for lunch; troops of children, dressed in the pinafore uniform that small boys and girls wear in Italian schools, meandered home, shouting bye-bye at friendly, giggling length. They are Roman Catholics here, but the young teachers are refugees, not priests. They have to teach the children about Palestine, since most of them have never seen the country and even the oldest cannot remember it. The children are taught hate, the Garden of Eden stolen from them by murderers; their duty is to live for Return and Revenge. (from here)
Oddly, The Atlantic refuses to directly discuss what Palestinian children are actually being taught in school.
What is sad about the Palestinians is the status of these people. The Palestinians have been deliberately classified refugees for almost 60 years. The Volokh Conspiracy has an article (see here) that addresses this issue and the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. When one considers the tendency of bureaucracies to perpetuate themselves….
So what is the truth. When the news media tells about what is going on in far away places, we should be skeptical. The news media exists to provide an audience for advertisers, not to inform us. Because they are less spectacular, the rockets that Hamas has been firing from Gaza for months has garnered little media attention. However, the more “photogenic” Israeli response has. In addition, when reporters tell both sides of the story, they find it unsafe to cover the more spectacular part of story in Gaza. Thus we end up with a one-sided picture.
So what is the the latest news?
Artillery units joined Israel’s Gaza offensive for the first time Saturday while warplanes and gunboats pounded more than 40 Hamas targets and a mosque where 10 people were killed.
Airstrikes waned during the day but gathered pace after dark Saturday. In a sign that the offensive was entering a new phase, military officials said Israeli artillery units attacked Gaza for the first time, something that could signal a ground invasion is nearing.
“We will do all that is necessary to provide a different reality for southern Israel, which has been under constant attacks for the past eight years,” Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Channel 2 TV. (from here)
Likely the Israelis will invade. Should they? I cannot honestly say I have a better idea. Were I running Israel, I suspect I would take over Gaza and clamp down on Hamas and other such Palestinian organizations. Why? How can you hope to make peace with people who are being taught from early childhood to hate you?
World peace is noble goal, but everyone wants to define the conditions for peace their own way. So we end up with a puzzle. In order to have a cessation of violence, we sometimes have to impose “peace.” That, of course, is not what Christians think of as true peace, and that, I think, forms the crux of the problem. If we want everyone to accept peace based upon love and mutual respect, we have to persuade everyone to either accept Christianity or at least Christian ethics. Such is a task unsuited for government.
What government has ever taught its people they should love and forgive even their enemies? None that I know of. Perhaps that is why no president has succeeded in bringing peace to the Middle East.
How true!
The politics of Israel and the Middle East have always stumped me, probably because the warring has gone on for centuries. I have a hard time following it. However, I’ve always suspected the media chooses one side over another depending on the climate of our country. Right now, “Arabs are out” in our culture. So how can we believe anything we read? I’m not saying Israel is at fault, mind you. I’m just saying everything we read is suspect.
I asked my friend what he thinks about all this. He teaches several languages, travels a bit and has a broad world-view. He said when he wants to get the real scoop, he watches and listens to the Swiss news because Switzerland is neutral. He says he also listens to CNN and the BBC to try to get some balance. We had a grand chuckle over the cool reporting techniques across the pond, followed by a skit of how reporters from each nation would respond to a bomb. I can’t possibly translate the hilarity here. But since this whole situation is so far from funny, it’s probably best anyway.
kgotthardt – Since I do not live in the Middle East, the main reason I pay attention is that the warring parties keep dragging us into the mess. Warring parties tend to do that. Ever watch a family feud.
Since Israel has an open society, I tend to side with them. It is not that I think the Israelis are better people; it is just that an open society makes it harder for them to hide their misdeeds.
Often the only solution to a difficult problem involves a great deal of time and patience. This generation of Israelis, Palestinians, Christians, and Muslims and perhaps several more generations may not be able to make peace. The best we may be able to do is to refrain from killing each other. So give President Bush some credit for keeping the Middle East from flying apart at the seams, and let us pray and hope President Obama can do the same.