ATLANTA, USA, Oct 31 (IPS) – The most solemn and terrifying words ever uttered are those engraved on the gates of Hell in Dante’s Inferno: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!” Hope is essential for people to live as individuals and as nations.
Examining the history of the seemingly endless series of wars and conflicts between Israel and its enemies in Gaza and Lebanon from 1948 to the present—a period of 76 years—it seems that all hope for peace is lost. The Palestinians, the Lebanese, the people of Gaza—and yes, the Israelis—are all residents of this scene, the Hell of endless war.
If you listen carefully to the weak, watered-down words of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken—an ambassador for the equally weak President Joe Biden—you will understand that the Middle East region and therefore the world is fast approaching the Ninth Circle. of Hell.
They both utter meaningless phrases that reveal their lack of understanding at best, or at worst their brutal, inhumane association.
Now, the third latest, and possibly most shameful, act in this modern Greek tragedy was played out on October 28 in Israel’s Knesset. About 100 of the 120 members of that wise and honorable organization voted to cut off the lifeline of millions of Palestinians who depend on the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for health care and education.
Besides absurdly imposing a new atrocity—rubbing salt in the wounds of an entire mass of innocent people—the Knesset’s decision includes genocide, which is an important element of the high international crime of Genocide as defined by the United Nations.
The UNRWA registry constitutes the main link for the millions of refugees of the 1948 War and their descendants who have lost their belongings. Destroying that link erases all people from history. It ends Israel’s “Crime of the Century”, which is the theft of the Palestinian nation.
Is this the hand of friendship, the “Light to the Nations” that Israel’s founder Ben Gurion promised in 1948? Review the numbers: there are still 1.2 million registered Palestinian refugees dependent on food aid in 68 camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza. UNRWA services in Gaza alone include 140 health care centers and 700 schools educating 300,000 students.
Is there hope in this dark situation? Actually, there is. A classic Chinese poem by Sun Tzu, The Art of Warrecords the following sarcastic, understated remark: “There is no example of a long war benefiting anyone.”
Which means that at some point people will have to come to their senses, otherwise generations will pass before their descendants, with the new issues they will face, wonder what this conflict was all about.
But that is in the future—perhaps the distant future. What now? Is there hope? Surprisingly, yes, there is.
In an interview with al-Jazeera television on October 25, 2024, after more than a year of war that has devastated and destroyed the Palestinian community, led by the Palestinian politician and spokesman Mustafa Barghouti, expressed hope.
He said that one positive development during the longest and most destructive war in Palestine in its history is the continued determination of the Palestinian people to live on their land and to resist attempts to erase their nationality, as it is their right.
In Arabic it is called Sumud“strength,” is loosely translated as “Staying power.” Hope survives. Where there is life, there is hope.
James E. Jennings is the President of Conscience International, an international aid organization that has responded to the wars in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and Gaza since 1991.
IPS UN Bureau
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
