Gaza Violence

The pictures on TV shows it all in the most graphic form, almost everyday - since Israel's founding. The non-stop violence has by now, must have become a way of life for the parties involve in the conflict. Or, in another word, it must have become part of the psyche of living in those parts of the world. At the risk of oversimplification, I often conclude the apparent conflict inevitability and the elusive solution, suggest something far deeper than a collective psyche - the root cause of the conflict, above all - must have been as deeply entrenched as the vast difference in religious beliefs and dogmas.



What else drive men to such extreme intolerance, and such belief in self-righteousness, if not their religious dogma - especially those that had conferred in their believers such sense of righteous action, so as to preclude any possible notion that other dogmas can be accomodated ?



The religious leaders, political elites, and the learned and the intellectuals - normally would rationalise or downplay the role of religion in the conflict, rather than facing it head-on but the explanation should really be as simple as follow: the Jews population at large is conferred by their religion as a special people, and gave them holier-than-thou attitude towards the rest of the people in the region - indeed, in the rest of the western world; the Christians west, see the Jewish state as the guardian of the birthplace of Christianity and the Jews are their close cousins, and for that reason - no one in the Bible belts is going to think of Arabs as anywhere near as the Jews as the close cousin of Christianity (hence, the US will sink and swim with Israel); as for the Muslim pious, it would be hard to imagine that the piety instinct in the most learned human being can overcome specific verse in their Koran, that one could be considered unkind to Jews: and the continuing hurt of the Palestine in this century - only serve to reinforce the Koranic versus about the supposedly stubborn Jews.



Religion do have many a beautiful intentions that urge kindness in people. However, the more religious one gets, the more intense the need to close ones mind to accept that other religion are equally right in their assertions and dogmas. Hoffer could not be more right in the True Believer - that at certain stage, the belief system graduated to denying basic rights of the others to be true.

If there is light at the end of the tunnel, it surely rest in the gathering of momentum towards pragmatism - that simply, lead to the choice by the parties and their supporters, to drop deap seated positions and review the conflicts simply from territorial, and/or economics and political dimensions. But, even in this scenario - there is a possible simple explanation to the intractable solution to the conflict: namely that, both parties to the conflict has gotten used to living with the huge amount of aids by the international community - that the benefactors to the aid, will simply detract the process towards peace. Again - the argument here, is the simpleton's view of the conflict; may not be the absolute truth - but that there is basis, for the conjecture - can't be easily dismissed.

Perhaps, its time for all to drop all intellectual pretentions - and be honest, and then move on - to common ground - whatever, that truly mean: I do hope it means, to cease from believing in the righteousness of conflicts to settle scores.

For a Just World,
Meramat /2008