French poet Paul Valery aptly said, “War (is) a massacre of people who don’t know each other for the profit of people who know each other.” True…war is just an avalanche of human suffering… there are no victors. And that’s exactly what is happening today in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Israel… the Biblical land of hope and promise, situated between the Judean Mountain and the Mediterranean in the Middle East, is one of the oldest countries in the world that is linked to a gossamer blend of a dusty chronicled past, with a super advanced modern present.
Gaza on the other hand, has a history dating back to the days of yore. But what mars the lineage of both these countries is the violence that has scarred them for centuries.
Common link
I was invited to Israel by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism a couple of years ago and it turned out to be one of the best experiences in my life. The Israeli people are warm, welcoming, proud of their heritage and revere all faiths… and the fact that the Church of Holy Sepulchre, the Al Aqsa Mosque (the second most holy place after Mecca) and the gold-capped Dome Of The Rock stands in perfect sync with the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem stands witness to this.
I travelled to the desert land of AlUla in Saudi Arabia last year and met some wonderful, free thinking articulate people that included the Palestinians, Syrians and Arabs.
Suffering galore
In Israel, my guide, Gabbi Landau, spoke about how the people of Israel have suffered over centuries because of the debilitating wars. In AlUla, I met Syrian female actor Deema Bayya’s mother is Syrian Turkish and father Palestinian Egyptian. Her family is well-known in the TV and film industry. Incidentally, she’s the ex-wife of the super handsome Tayem Hassan, the main lead in Netflix’s Al Haybaa. The free spirited red-haired Deema articulately insisted that it’s time they lived a normal life like the rest of the world.
War and peace
But the war takes sides. Fauda actor Rona-Lee Shimon breaks down as she insists that the attack on Israel by Hamas will never be “forgotten or forgiven”. Her actor colleagues Fauda producer and actor Lior Raz and Idan Amedi who plays ‘Sagi Tzur’ have already taken to the frontline.
On the other hand, Corey Gill Shuster, a Jewish professor at the Tel Aviv University, walks on Palestinian soil asking people in Ramallah, Bethlehem and other places what they think of the Hamas. This is for his YouTube
‘Ask Project’ which he started as a survey between the two countries because he felt war had taken a massive toll and perhaps peace could be bartered between Israel and the Palestinians. Now however, he feels, because of the brutality of the Hamas attack, peace is bleak.
Casualties galore
Psychologist Dr Seema Desai avers, “Both Israel and Gaza have had too much casualties. Hamas has brutally killed, raped and abducted many
Israelis. Israel in retaliation has relentlessly bombed Gaza killing thousands, cut off water, power, the internet and even bombed a hospital. I agree with Turkish President Erdogan when he says, ‘Stop this madness’.”
Call murderers “criminals”
Desai adds, “Both these countries have been savagely ravaged by war. The media clamours for the blood of ‘terror apologists’ – politicians sitting on fine leather arm chairs insist the battle needs to go on. But who is getting hurt? The common people! Both these countries have suffered enough over centuries – it’s time they sit over a table and discuss a solution. I believe that people who have committed brutal crimes should be called criminals and punished, instead of smearing an entire nationality because of them.
It’s time to stop this mindless bloodshed that is orphaning children, making women widows and killing men in their prime. Besides this, both the countries are killing their own economy and tourism prospects. They are weakening the Middle East economy because of this war. Surely a solution can be bartered across the table in terms of discussions? Israel and Gaza has seen too much bloodshed, perhaps it’s time they find a more peaceful solution.”
