Yes, I get it. Israel is not a state without flaws. There are nuances to questions regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state, the treatment of Palestinian people by Israel in Gaza and historical disagreements that span millennia. But, there is no possible argument to support the slaughter of innocent civilians. Hamas, Hezbollah, the rogue state of Iran exist in an environment of hate that has no explanation.
What I was a university student studying abroad, I had the privilege of sharing my life with students from Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, China, countries of Europe and Turks. As students we realized that what we had in common was humanity in an imperfect world. The year was 1979. The student in Iran occupied the US embassy in Tehran. It was painful for Americans and for the Iranian students who could not contact their loved ones.
Since that tenuous time, Iran has morphed into a rogue state that denigrates women, kills dissidents, holds foreigners hostage for political gain, actively supports terrorists that seek to eradicate Israel and the west, tries to disrupt political alliances, and subjugates its citizens in the misguided name of Allah.
Studies of world religions will show that the higher power of the world’s great religions advocate peace, kindness, and acceptance of our fellow human beings rather than hate, oppression, war, abuse of power, murder and fomenting discontent. I do not believe that the Koran teaches followers to murder in the name of God anymore than I believe the God of Christianity would have encouraged the Crusaders of the Middle Ages to eradicate those with different beliefs ap during that era.
People have too often employed, wrongly, their religious beliefs throughout human existence to vilify, eradicate, torture, enslave, crush, destroy, marginalize, martyr, eliminate or otherwise erase those with differing beliefs instead of seeking common ground.
The biggest disappointment for me is understanding that we are allegedly enlightened citizens of the 21st century. Apparently we have, as a people, learned nothing from our collective history. How can that be?
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