You know, it doesn’t have to be like this. I recently returned from a trip that included Rwanda, which just a couple of decades ago was in the middle of a horrible genocide. Now, only a few years later, Rwanda has become one of the most progressive countries in Africa, the civil war is over, and the problems that caused the genocide are virtually gone.
If they could solve this hatred in Rwanda, there must be a way to solve it between Jews and Palestinians. And similar things have happened in other places, such as South Africa and Northern Ireland. I believe that what is needed is leadership that wants to solve problems, rather than use problems (and even create new problems) to keep themselves in power. And yes, I’m looking at both Hamas and the current leaders of Israel.
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The shame is ours (i.e., humans), and the guilt will remain for centuries, because, let’s face it, humans are not exactly the the most clever of animals when it come to behavior self-modification. We’ve been killing each other since we made that first tool by sharpening a stick and then poking it into something and killing it. What’s that? A couple million years?
Between the genicide in Rwanda and now there was terrible corruption that had to be taken care of.
After the many many many books I’ve read about World War II, I see what is happening in this country exactly what happened in the early 1930s with Hitler. He was a God to the German people. Just like the ex President. I watch interviewed by various people. Trump is their God.
It’s been said the Middle East has one too many religions to absorb. That may or may not be the case, but Arabs and Jews have been at each other’s throats since Biblical times, maybe longer. Sadly, that doesn’t appear to be changing for the better anytime in the foreseeable future and has gotten even worse in past few weeks as the innocent and defenseless are caught in the crossfire.
Good resources:
https://ifamericansknew.org/history/
https://youtu.be/-8M0mYzD8ZY?
https://www.youtube.com/live/1OcjOP8iUCU
“I believe that what is needed is leadership that wants to solve problems, rather than use problems (and even create new problems) to keep themselves in power.”
It’s by coldhearted pragmatism that you solve such problems; and it’s by hotheaded moralism that you gain by such problems.
So sometimes pragmatism is more moral than moralism, but moralism is more pragmatic than pragmatism.
Greg, your take on history is off. Jews and Islamists have lived in harmony in many locations for millennia.
I absolutely agree with NoTycoon22. I have a close friend of Jewish/Christian descent who married a Muslim, and each kept their respective religions.
Indeed, Islam is an offshoot of Christianity (Muslims even revere Jesus), just like Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism.
And just like Christians splintered into Catholics and Protestants, Muslims splintered into Sunnis and Shiites.
All of these groups at various times may have fought against each other (like Catholics v. Protestants in Northern Ireland, or Sunnis v. Shiites in the Middle East. But likewise they have lived in harmony in other places and/or at other times.
Just two decades ago in Rwanda, the Hutus committed genocide against the Tutsis, but now they live in harmony and peace.
Remember that most people want to live in peace. It is the governments that I worry about, especially the current governments of Gaza (Hamas) and Israel (Netanyahu).