Avertible
There's as good a reason as any, amply demonstrated by nature's intervention, perhaps and perhaps not accelerated by a little help from a human touch, why nations at war should find it necessary to seek and consolidate a mutually-agreed-upon settlement of their conflict. Nations will always find it necessary to arm themselves against the potential of conflict. But countries that have been actively at war for far too long must come to the realization that there must be an end to it.Expending national treasury on acquiring and manufacturing the latest in arms-technology may seem attractive and may give those countries using a disproportionate share of their national wealth to acquire them, a sense of accomplishment and security, but it does little to advance the living standards, the social-economic, educational and vocational opportunities of the residents of those countries.
Yes, a country that finds itself under the bombardment of enemies whose entrenched guiding purpose is that of destroying that country, must of necessity be capable of defending itself and its citizens. But where the option exists of suing for peace - not surrender, but reasonable and dependable peace - it should be vigorously and rigorously pursued. This applies not only to Israel but to the Palestinian Authority.
The conundrum here is of course that the Palestinian Authority has been emboldened by its supporters in the Middle East to insist on ever greater concessions from Israel. And the fact that world opinion appears to settle in around the Palestinians as a 'displaced people in perpetuity', overlooking the reality of incessant Palestinian refusals and their determination among themselves to accept nothing less than the entire geography complicates the issue.
The truth should not be hidden; that just as there are families living in poverty and children living in fear and without adequate nutrition in Gaza and the West Bank, a similar number of Jewish children live in Israel. All three governments are heavily involved on arming themselves, but with less of a perceived need to do so, attention could be diverted where it rightfully belongs.
The capability of Israel to battle the recent wildfire that began on Mount Carmel, resulting in 42 deaths of Israelis and the destruction of homes and businesses, along with historical forests consumed in a paroxysm of ravenous wildfire appears a fairly interesting metaphor for the ongoing conflict between Jews and Arabs. And Israel would have been in a better position to battle the blaze unassisted if adequate fire-fighting equipment had been acquired, in place of armaments.
That Israel's bitter adversaries responded to her desperate plea for assistance amply illustrates that enemies can become friends when adversarial belligerence is apprehended.
And as though to demonstrate that fanatics share much in common irrespective of what religion or ideology they believe in, the chief rabbi representing Shas reflected the mindset of Hamas when they each claimed that God was punishing Israel, albeit each from their separate perspective.
The conclusion of this unfortunate catastrophe should serve as a lesson that when human need is great the solution is that humans work together to surmount the seemingly insurmountable. Bulgaria, Croatia, Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Switzerland, Greece, and other countries responded to Israel's plea.
The goodwill that the crisis engendered should not be wasted. Yet it will likely be soon laid away in fond memory and the currency of blame, anger, grievance and intractable refusals will re-commence to no one's advantage.
Labels: Environment, Israel, Nature, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Monday, December 06, 2010
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