Israel
PEACE AND THE MIDDLE EAST
By: Stephen Sachs
The Middle East is a place where constant violence is waged daily. People are killed for their religious sympathies and practices. Jews kill Arabs, while at the same time we see Arabs killing Jews. Why? It is because this land, regardless of how one wants to argue it, is the land of historical right to whoever occupies it. In the Old Testament it is said that God gave the Jews Canaan. Jesus grew up in this land and killed in Jerusalem, the holy city of Jews, Christians and Muslims. All three compete for the right to claim this piece of desert as their homeland. They do not have to share it with another people because God intended their particular religion to occupy it.
Well, I do not agree. For one, I understand the Jewish and Arab tensions because both feel the other party has acted unjustly towards the other. There is no denying that atrocities historically have taken part in this holiest of lands. Crusaders ravaged this land during the Middle Ages, Jews have been killed, expelled and welcomed in this land, and finally Muslims have been at war to protect their holiest place. In all, there is constant tension between the three parties, and in the latter half of the 20th Century, between Jews and Muslims. However, amongst all these competing claims for the holy land, and in particular Jerusalem, rooted in biblical teachings and lore, it seems that something has been lost.
If we follow the line of thinking that this problem is biblical, then it follows that God intended each religion to have this holy land as theirs. Jews were the first who failed to follow God's word and were banished to Babylon. Christians and Muslims were to follow, each possessing the greatest shrine for a period and losing it as well. It seems that whoever possesses this land is doomed to have it taken away from them, in essence cursed. Of course many will find my whole opinion offensive, but there is an element of truth to all this. It so seems that God, in his or her infinite wisdom, seems to have given this land to three groups, each because they are holy and based on the same teachings which she or he promulgated to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To each of these religions, private property is not necessarily a good thing, the love of one's neighbor is essential, and sharing is a trait to be praised. Does anyone not see something interesting occurring here?
Based on a religious argument it seems apparent to me that if each of these religions seek to make Israel a holy place, they will begin to see it in the terms that God intended to be used. Based on the Ten Commandments and other such teachings, it is apparent that there is a want to have humans be higher beings. They are not to be selfish, to be removed from materialism, and in all attempts, to create a better world around them. Peace and diplomacy should be the method of conflict resolution, and war should only be something invoked when all other means are exhausted. However, if one looks at the modern situation surrounding Israel and in particular its capital Jerusalem, it is apparent that these teaching are lost upon the diplomats and politicians who are more used to expounding rhetoric than anything else.
Perhaps the solution I have found to this problem is too simplistic. Perhaps it is just too obvious that anyone proposing it would be shot. Whatever the reaction, the fact is Israel and its current lack of political harmony has led many to fear what could possibly happen. War could come very soon for this region, and many lives lost for no reason. Israel was created as a Jewish homeland in the wake of the worst Anti-Semitic episode in history. Its intent was to give Jews a place where they could all go without fear of genocide. Ironically enough, it seems there is constant threats to Jewish sovereignty in Israel, not to mention the possibility that one nuclear bomb or devastating war could turn Israel and its 5 plus million Jewish citizens into a tragic chapter in history. In one fellow swoop, the work that took Hitler seven years could be accomplished in seven minutes.
What I am saying is that Israel and its current status in our modern world is creating a potential disaster. I am not anti-homeland for Jews, but I think there is more to this land than a simple homeland for any one religion. Israel, by its nature is a place where three religions call home. It should be governed as such. In the bible, according to the religious-centric argument, Israel should be governed by the teachings of God which in no way command that only one religion has exclusive rights to Israel. In fact, our modern state and property rights associated with our ideas of ownership owe more to English thought than biblical tradition. If people actually care about their world and not simply their own self-contained religion, then they will seek compromise for all these competing interests in Israel. If we take the religious argument, then perhaps God, in his or her infinite wisdom, decided that three religions should try and inhabit this land because that is a true test of their abidance to his or her teachings or word. If we all could come to an agreement, then perhaps we might begin to create a situation where "the lion could lie beside the lamb." Indeed, it is quite simple to solve this problem. Make Israel and its holy places independent of any state. Utilize our alleged "United Nations" and open this land to all, governed by none. We think we are on the verge of a higher understanding or greater sophistication than any time before (or so we think since we do learn from our historical mistakes), then perhaps it is time to simplify this particular situation and even go so far as to innovate and do something not done before. Ironically, we learn in Kindergarten to share…
