Speaking Freely

                                                                               

 I generally sleep soundly. But a few nights ago, I found myself awake in the dark hours, agonizing over the situation in Gaza and the West bank, as well as in Israel.

(I am distressed by the assumption some make that any criticism of Israel's government or Zionism in general is anti -semitic, shutting down in advance legitimate discourse. Myself, I distinguish between the Jewish people in general and the current government of Israel. And between the Palestinians, in general, and Hamas.)

The situation is dreadful. There are no easy answers--perhaps there are no answers. 

Of course, the murder and hostage taking of Israeli civilians was terrible. Of course, the Israeli government responded.

But the response is looking increasingly like genocide, ethnic cleansing. 

As I told a Jewish friend, early in this struggle, a time machine would be helpful--if we could revisit the Balfour Declaration which sought to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine, partially in sympathy for what the Holocaust had done to the Jewish people and partially to avoid taking in all the refugees. (Boatloads had already been turned away.)                                                                         

And I find myself wondering. What recourse do the Palestinians have? Forced from most of their homeland, living in mandated areas under military occupation and the steady, government-encouraged encroachment of settlers.  Would Hamas have flourished had a two-state solution been worked out? 

Another question that troubles me. Do Bible-believing evangelicals see this conflict as the necessary prelude to the Apocalypse and the Second Coming?  Those same Bible believers who say God gave Israel to the Jews? Are they quietly cheering things on?

Yet another example of the harm religion does. No wonder I stay awake.