An invitation I’d love and trying to sort things out
Image courtesy Freekpik.com
The continuing coverage of thestudent protests and law enforcement response overshadows what should be thecenter of the story—ongoing negotiations between Zionists and Hamas. Efforts inthis country, especially the GOP bill that seems to outlaw anti-semitism andcurb free speech and serve as a redundant repetition of laws already on thebooks, only serve to make matters more cloudy. If nothing else, I have beentrying to figure it out in my own mind. Here’s what I’ve thought, sort of:Israel has every right to their territory (I’m not sure about the Palestinianland which they keep absorbing). The US recognizes Israel and that’s rightbecause it is an established legitimate government. We do not recognizePalestine because Hamas, a terrorist organization, is in charge. We supportIsrael in its attempts to recover hostages (many of whom have died incaptivity) and to eradicate Hamas—but we should not support the genocide of anentire people, and despite denials that seems to be Netanyahu’s final goal.It’s a fine line that President Biden and Secretary Blinken are trying hard towalk.
Look at the statistics: 1200Israelis died or were taken hostage on October 7 (estimate down from 1400).Many died horrific, excruciating deaths, and there is no denying the brutalityof Hamas, the absolute disregard for human life. But balance that against35,000 Palestinians who have died since, including 13,000 children. We have noidea how many Hamas are included in that number, but the victims wereinevitably mostly innocent civilians—especially the children. I know war anddeath have no balance sheets—you can’t claim, “You killed this many of mypeople, so I will kill twice that many of yours.” But still it seems out ofproportion to me—overkill, if you’ll allow a bad pun about an awful situation.
One thing no one talks aboutis that if you look at a map of the Arab world, Israel is but a tiny dot in avast sea of Arab countries. I would think that would make them more inclinedtoward negotiation than force, knowing that the entire Arab world could rise upagainst them. I think the US is an enormous stabilizing force in that regard,but Netanyahu does not seem inclined to listen to US advice that doesn’t go hisway.
So the student protests? Howdo they fit in? The first thing that comes to my mind is that our country isquick to forget lessons learned. Someone pointed out to me that today’s leaderswere mere children in the sixties, and the Vietnam protests didn’t registerwith them. Greg Abbott, for instance, was twelve years old when troops shotKent State students. But he could read history, couldn’t he? Today’s situationis proof of that old saying, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeatits mistakes.” I am terrified that we are headed toward another Kent State typeof tragedy. I know there is a lot of bitter anger on both sides, but I havealso read that Palestinian and Israeli student groups have been meetingtogether on some campuses. And I know a few university administrations havereached out to students, invited them to talk. So much more reasonable thancalling out troops in riot gear. The riot troops signify, to me, theconversative mindset: force, not reason.
A gentleman has postedelsewhere on my wall giving a reasoned history of Israel and why it must defenditself—cold hard facts, historical dates, reason. But what is missing iscompassion. He keeps asking me in negotiation what I would suggest Israel giveup to Hamas. I have no idea. I am not a schooled diplomat. But I know this—forHamas/Israel negotiations, for the student protests, for most of the crises lifefaces us with: sitting down together at a table and talking is the solution.Not knee-jerk violence and punishment. We want to prevent more violence, notencourage it.
There are a lot of memesonline about love and faith and one universal god—you and I dismiss most ofthem as trite and hackneyed and rightly so. But there is one thought I thinkworth repeating: we are all one people. We are all walking each other home—Jew,Arab, Christian, whoever. Humanity is or should be a lot bigger than religiousor cultural lines.
When my children's half-sister was in high school, she signed up to work at a camp in Colorado that brought together Jewish and Palestinian women for conversation. One of her distant relatives said to her, "You can't do that! You're Jewish!" (She was half Jewish and not observant.) I thought that was such a negative incident that I've carried it in my heart for years.
Now about that ice cream … thethought takes me back to the Indiana Dunes of my childhood. Maybe Uncle Joe andJill will join me there, in my I imagination. And we will have kind, caringconversations, with our dogs at our feet. Maybe I’ll blog about the Dunes soon.
