Killing off the Children in Israel/Palestine

Here's a contribution from the author of the blog, The Old New Englander, a blog I follow closely.


Disclosure: He and I often discuss stuff, via email and comments to our respective blogs, sometimes in disagreement, but always in the interest of sharing views.


This particular post which is credited to a friend of the blogger, emphasizes some of Golda Miers's specific words about the conflict in her time, and as Israel's Prime Minister.



It is certainly a sardonic observation, and an indication of how tragic have been all the years for both Israelis and Palestinians since the creation of the state of Israel.



I'm inclined to believe that tribal conflict in this region for some four thousand years is almost impossible to interrupt. Karen Armstrong wrote an excellent account of the warring nature of the three monotheistic religions in her book, The Battle For God. Certainly Jews and Muslims have provided examples, but so have the Christians.



One ray of hope is the apparent successful stopping of violence between Christian sects in Northern Ireland.



It was reported in the Bible that King Herod tried killing off all the children when he heard of the birth of Jesus, whom he heard was born King of the Jews, and whom he deemed to be a threat to his power. How did that work out for him?



Tom Friedman wrote a column recently in which he pretty much said that Israel has to frighten the Palestinians into rejecting Hamas, like he claims they succeeded in doing in Lebanon in 2006, frightening the Lebanese into rejecting Hezbollah.



Friedman euphemistically refers to this action as educating the Palestinians.



I hold the view that the lessons learned actually result in even more militants and suicide bombers on both sides, confirming the adage, the sins of the fathers are passed on to succeeding generations.

Karen Armstrong's book, A History of God, provides examples of how this has played out, as far back as four thousand years.

At the funeral for one of Hamas' most senior officials, which turned into a mass rally, children standing on roofs were heard exclaiming, "This is in the name of God".

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper