I guess, in Judaism, unlike Hinduism and some other religions, for afterlife, the concept of heaven and hell doesn’t exist though the orthodox Judaism stresses that one must do good deeds as it is right thing to do but without expectation of any hypothetical future reward.
So, obviously, Netanyahu won’t have to answer on the Judgement Day for what he has done in Gaza and the West bank since Oct 2023. Still, can his actions be termed as good deeds? And was it right thing do?
One imagines, a stage comes when even a pathological killer says: it’s enough; can’t continue it anymore! May be, his inner conscience, whatever is left of it, revolts against his crimes. There might even be certain degree of remorse. Netanyahu beats these murderers in his insatiable obsession to unleash dance of death in Gaza!
Adolf Hitler gassed more than 3 million jews committing the worst heinous crimes in human history. Killing of 38000 Palestinians, more than 18000 of them children may not match the enormity of the Holocaust but the heartlessness and utter callousness with which Netanyahu orders killing of Palestinians represents the same Hitler like devilishness. How can any human being be so insensitive and so remorseless in killing other human beings irrespective of anger and intense revengefulness that drives his or her actions?
In Delhi, at 6.00 hrs, scores of mothers are seen standing at the bus stands with their 4–5-year-old kids, with the school bags on their backs, and tiny lunch boxes in hands waiting for the school bus. Others could be seen putting their children in Special rickshaws with their water bottles hanging on the side. After seeing off their loved ones to schools, they prepare their lunch and wait for their return. There is no doubt in their minds that their kids will come back home safely. Contrast this scene with hundreds of Palestinian mothers standing amidst vast wasteland of rubbles and debris of the buildings hit by Israeli bombs and missiles, holding hands of their half-clad hungry children with no food or water in sight, utter helplessness and disbelief dripping from their faces, with tear filled eyes looking up towards the sky praying to Allah that Israeli bombs may not take away some more loved ones today. Their blank eyes remind one of the scenes of Sophie’s choice, award winning film of Alan Pakula in which a Jewish mother is asked to choose between her son and daughter to be gassed. But alas, Netanyahu’s bombs don’t give any choice to the Palestinian mothers; they kill their sons as well as daughters alike!
What could be a matter of greater shame than the fact that the entire world just watches helplessly, like a bystander, the unspeakable human tragedy in Gaza caused by Netanyahu?
Hamas’s attack on Israel on7th Oct 2023, killing over 1200 Israeli citizens, committing brutalities and taking over 200 hostages was an inexcusably heinous crime which can’t be defended Irrespective of the provocation. Israel’s anger and urge to punish HAMAS is understandable. But where is the logic & justification for killing 38000 Palestinians in the name of punishing Hamas reducing cities, towns, buildings, schools & hospitals to rubbles and ordering helpless Palestinians like cattle from one area of Gaza to another with no basic facilities, food or shelter? What moral ground, if any, can Netanyahu claim when he himself descends to much lower level than those whom wishes to punish?
Netanyahu, entrenched in numerous corruption charges, was on the verge of losing his job. Out of blue, came Hamas’s terrorist attacks in Oct last year which gave Netanyahu a lease of life; even his detractors in the Govt fell in line to support him. Ever since, he has been trying to obliterate Hamas from the face of earth but half his cabinet and several IDF generals don’t feel that Israel is winning the war in Gaza. Besides, Hezbollah’s and Houthi attacks on Israel are expanding the conflict to Lebanon and Yemen. Even if IDF is able to kill the last Hamas fighter, will that kill Hamas? It’s naïve to think so. Their violent means and methods are wrong and can’t be defended but very few Muslims question the legitimacy of Hamas’s broader objective: ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. For millions of Arabs in the street, Hamas represent an idea: Resistance to Israel. So, long as Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories persists, organizations like Hamas with whatever name, will appeal to the youth of the Palestinians.
Netanyahu is no statesman. He is a ruthless, beleaguered politician for whom his political survival is most important. He has no long-term vision for Israel. In fact, by his relentless and indiscriminate Killing of the Palestinians he has not only inflicted incalculable sufferings on innocent Palestinians but also harmed long term interests of Israel. If he were a statesman like Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, he would have realised that notwithstanding the unquestionable military superiority of Israel, for the long-term security of the Israeli state and the peace of the Israeli people, there was is option but to make peace with the Palestinians through dialogue and diplomacy; it can’t be achieved through bombs and missiles!
Leaders have been buried under the dust of history, time keeps on ticking but the two states solution was, is and will be the only practical and viable means for bringing about an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Regrettably, by his ten-month long operations in Gaza and the west Bank, Netanyahu has indirectly given birth to ten times more future Palestinian fighters than he has killed. A Palestinian boy who has seen with his own eyes his mother and father killed by Israeli bombs and buried under rubbles, if survives against all odds for the next ten years, will be ready to pick up a gun at 15 years and kill Israelis even if he is himself killed in the process.
The fire of revenge doesn’t burn on one side only. How long should this saga of revenge be allowed to continue?
