2 Sep 2004 @ 16:42, by NAMAKANDO NALIKANDO- SINYAMA
"DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU."-THE MAN YESHUA(JESUS)
Of all the trouble spots of the world, the Middle East remains to me the most brutal and callous. It has been the trend of most the commentary on the region to struggle with the issue of neutrality if ones views are to be seen as constructively progressive. More often than not though we all seem to fall into the same pitfall of ‘biased objectivity’. This is a situation where one presents an argument they deem well balanced but in actuality are inadvertently presenting their strong personal beliefs or opinion. It should be realized that the two most destructive and divisive forces in history have been Politics and Religion. So then a discussion of these subjects can hardly be managed in a balanced fashion. Unless of course one wants to be naively indifferent on the issue. ‘Politics and Religion is causing more division you’ve got to find time to check out your minds, so check it, check it, we can’t take it NO more!’-so sang the radical reggae poet Mutabaruka. The bottom line is, as individuals we tend to get passionately involved in issues and objectivity is unfortunately compromised thus. Just as no one can observe the mating habits of Drosophila melanogaster (Housefly) with detached scientific objectivity. In the same way the psycho-socio scientific analysis of the Middle Eastern conflict is difficult to execute objectively. If I attempted this it would merely, probably attract a flurry charged sentiments from the Imams or Moslem clerics and the Jewish Rabbinical lobby.
To say the truth IÂ’m actually fade up with the whole Middle Eastern conflict that its mention sometimes nauseates me. Surely we have more serious and intellectually demanding issues we could occupy our minds with than this same old selfish political skullduggery, Darfur, Chechnya ,melting of the polar ice caps, the disappearance of natural fauna and flora habitats for instance .If brothers are seemingly happy to go on killing one another ,then there is little else that us independent observers would do about it. Our collective sense of humanity though demands and calls for every peace loving beings to bring an end to the madness. The situation there does get too much though that it can not go without comment.
So this piece of writing if you like is my ‘last’ throw of the dice in providing a solution to the whole senseless massacre of brother by brother. It is high time political leaders realized the truth in the words, “ Until the philosophy which hold one race superior, and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; everywhere will be war; that until there are no longer first class and second class citizens of any nation; every where will be war. Until the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes'
- His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Sellasie I
When a Jewish child reporting for kindergarten class is blown up on a bus, it just makes my innards turn with repugnant disgust. (The recent Beer Sheba double bus bombings) When a Palestinian building is raised down by military armoured vehicles while they house old women and children crushing them to pulp, my heart is crushed and just wonder how long it will go on for. (The Jenin massacres)
POLITICS
"I'm not quite sure about the 'opening of the gates of hell' bit, but just how much is Sharon now prepared to pay in civilian blood? The patriarch Abraham has surely turned in his tomb because of the scale of carnage that will ensue from this day onwards. The killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to me should go down in history as the worst political blunder the Israeli government has ever made. The shock waves of the reprisals will be felt for millennia, i grieve for the Jewish nation. It might well be the end of Sharon's political career." – NAMAKANDO NALIKANDO SINYAMA
These was my immediate reaction when the incident happened. In some quarters it was hailed as a resounding successful strick. Who in their right minds can honestly call what just happened in Beer Sheba a resounding success? May be I was exaggerating a little bit as there was relative calm after this incident. The killing of Dr. Abdul Aziz Rantissi was another show of targeted violence or self-defence as it is called now. What should be realized and accepted is that you do not need a PhD in Psycho-Analysis to discern that ,”Violence BREEDS violence the cycle is endless. The gun wielding masked Palestinians would do well to accept is that it is even worse when they march the savagery by killing defenseless children. What if one of the children would have grown up to be an architect of a lasting peace deal.The israeli army kills Palestinian boys as they are viewed as future suicide bombers what can be more nonsensical than this. What I know is that if by isolation brought about by the erection of the wall, the socio-economic conditions become unbearable these boys now men will see no reason to live but blowing themselves and others (Jews) with them as the only way out of their misery! It is therefore expected that when land is politicized each group will stand it out and fight to the death, the reason…
“Land is power without it life has No worth.”-Mutabaruka
The Jew will fight for what they see as rightfully belonging to them and the Palestinian too, yes until the very last fibre their being they shall also fight. The explanation is, it is the same land they fight for! To me sharing it equally seems to be a sensible option but then what do I know? The politician thinks by killing more opponents he gets support and gains political mileage, by disadvantaging one group of people,by wanting all the Holy cities for yourself you win over the electorates. What if all the electorates are all killed then what? These two people share the same Holy cities. Greed should be fought from its source and called by its ugly name,chopped off when it raises its goblin head. Let divisive interpretation of religious or political literature be discouraged at all costs. Never be cheated NO one group of people on Earth now is more special than any other group in GodÂ’s eyes regardless of what you read in some book. In his own optune time GOD will make this revelation to us all and we will be shamed.When this conflict rages on,where is the famed Jewish intellectual genius and renown mathematical brilliance of the Arab?Doesn't the Arab realise the deleting Destructive potential of subtruction when they blow up their brothers(jews)and fellow Moslems.Is the Jewish intellect only active in Nuclear Physics to come up with more bombs and high-Tech weaponry employed by The PENTAGON and NASA? There is obviously no geniuses in sociology and Proffesors of Practical Logic at Arab/Israeli Universities like probably there is at OXFORD and CAMBRIDGE to teach their people a new consciousness of tolerance and unity? The attitudes of most people on the conflict has been to just view it with detached indifference , a good idea maybe! But when you love peace you can not help it but grieve hence need to express righteous indignation at the whole turn of events in the middle east.
RELIGION
When the spiral of violence is fueled and seemingly justified, supported by fanatical bureaucratic zealots and augmented by some fabled inequitable patriachical land tenure allocation that disadvantages the majority or spurred on by illogical illusion of martyrdom of a paradise of 72 virgins that have probably all been taken up by now considering the number of people who have blown themselves up already it just saddens me. For instance is it true that some people in bible times were actually instructed to kill another group of people on account of their style of worship? I’m a Christian but I think and know that it is not right. Talk about ‘aggressive coercion’! Do people know what the Fascist Mussolini and the Nazis were really after in the ragged mountains of abbyssynia(ETHIOPIA) when they invaded it but were conquered thankfully? No attempt at world domination (ARYAN DREAM) was would have been complete let alone successful without the most powerful historical religious relic....The Ark of the Convenant!! It's a pity the Israeli Government is still in denial about its were abouts.Do you think the all powerful JEHOVAH was powerless in preventing its transfer,'stealing' or relocation to different place,unless he was not against the idea!When the Jewish were favoured as God's chosen people does it still hold to talk about the impartiality of God written about in the Bible?I will be branded Anti-sematic,what ever that means.I think especially post-9/11 there has been an air of anti-arabic sentiments as well.I am obviously not an expert in conflict resolution or on the subject in general but if the conflict is about land, the two brothers i.e the descendants Jacob and of Ishmael should realistically realize and accept that ;
1. The land they fight over is actually for the descendants of Canaan originally. Therefore non of them has the moral right to have it all. Sorry, that is just the truth .No book should justify the domination of one race by another. Truth sometimes has a piecing sensation to the ear. Religious literature should be read with new spiritual eyes that address the needs of a new progressive race where fairness and progressive peaceful conflict resolution abounds.
2. The lasting solution to the whole conflict lies entirely in ordinary people i.e Israelis and Palestinians alike with a changed mindset where they accept their brotherhood; This can only be achieved if they Totally ignore what is written in their religious ‘Holy’ scriptures that seems to perpetuate the conflict.
3. The era of vengeful reprisals from which ever side SHOULD STOP as it will not solve the conflict but drag it further.
4. A unified protracted demonstration akin to the U.S HIPPY movement in the ‘60s against Vietnam by ordinary people from both sides can and will end this middle east conflict. It does not help to have blinded religious fanatics of Christendom bellowing out on the pulpit that the whole conflict was prophesied thus is a necessary evil for prophesy to be fulfilled and thus making humanity powerless in bringing a stop to the utter stupidity in the middle east, why don’t they see it?
5. Hypocritical Political support from any quarter does more harm than good as it has hidden ulterior motives and should be seen for what it is biased and very divisive.
6. Politics and Religion should be pushed aside, committed to the trash bin and individuals should instead reach out to their humane good nature to love their neighbours and become members of a new Palestinian and Israeli civilization with bilateral relations corporating in fair trade and cultural integration.
7. The KNESSET (Likud especially) and The P.L.O should finally accept co-existence as the only way forward. IÂ’m sure this is what JEHOÂ’VAH ,Abraham and ALLAH, Mohammed would want to see more than anything.
Seven is a number that symbolizes perfection so how about this for a
7-Point Plan.
All this has obviously been said before and suggested you may say.So what is so special about it all? As simple as the 7-Point Plan may seem IT- HAS- NOT- BEEN-TRIED yet. The helicopter gun ships, TNT, dynamite, seclusion walls-whose underlying sensible purpose of construction I totally support albeit (Berlin-style) I shed tears of joy when the berlin wall came crushing down!!) indoctrination of teenagers to blow themselves up and Targeted assassinations( Hamas now has no targetable leaders),now what? Each deranged Palestinian or Israeli will individually be inspired to commit atrocities .But all these will never work, IÂ’m sorry to disappoint the perpetrators of these acts! I could have written about Daffodils and the rediance of the lotus flower but how can write about the beauty of nature when the land is drenched with the blood of innocent civilians?
“Peace , Love and Kindness to ALL men and women.”
-Gauttama Siddatha BuddhaÂ’s name be praised.
And let there be Peace on Earth
Let there be
And let there be no sorrow.
For all of GODÂ’S children
NAMAKANDO NALIKANDO SINYAMA
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