There is a beautiful apocryphal story I heard shortly after the Twin Towers were attacked in New York. A Native American lawyer was asked by her elderly great-uncle to take him to see the cavernous site where the buildings once stood. The old uncle stood there for several minutes, tears rolling down his cheeks. The lawyer asked her uncle what he was feeling. The uncle answered:
‘I feel that there are two wolves fighting in my heart. One is the wolf of anger, revenge, war and hatred. The other is the wolf of forgiveness, reflection, peace and love’.
‘Which wolf will win Uncle?’ asks the lawyer.
He answers ‘the one I feed’.
And that is how I felt after the attack on southern Israel where friends of friends and family of family were mercilessly mutilated, tortured, killed, raped or taken. I was aghast and appalled at the horror and loss of life, especially of the kibbutznics, many of who were in turn aghast and appalled at their own government’s right-wing religious fanaticism and treatment of the Palestinians.
And we can see which wolf the Israeli government fed immediately after the terrorist violence – and it wasn’t the second. Feasting on Nazi references and dehumanising language there was not a hint of taking stock, securing the borders and giving some space to think ‘where to from here?’, or ‘how did we get here?’.
There was no deep breath. And as I watched the retribution or self-defence killing, bombing, starvation and banishment of civilians in Gaza – many no doubt utterly opposed to the zealotry and oppression of Hamas – I ruminated at the mess of blood and arrogance and eye-for-an-eye that the Middle East had become. I felt blessed that our First Nations people have reacted so peacefully to the latest stab in the eye that we meted out to them. (It was just a fucking advisory group that somehow the Dutton/Murdoch machine turned into a misclaim of racism and division).
America reacted to the twin towers with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. More US soldiers died in those wars of retribution than all victims of 9/11 and for what – the Taliban are back in control in Afghanistan and Iraq is a despotic democracy-free basket case. Let alone the hundreds of thousands of civilian and enemy military deaths.
How have others reacted to terrorism? Well, the English in Ireland, in retrospect, did not do too badly, and resisted for example carpet bombing the Catholic areas of Belfast to smithereens to remove the ‘terrorists’ from there. Largely (and not without blemish) they used the criminal justice system and the rule of law. My favourite-accented people have achieved peace where few thought it would ever come.
The Dali Lama appeals to his followers regarding Chinese repression of Tibetans – teaching that ‘they should practise non-violence and not waiver from that path, however serious the situation might be’.
Christians promote (and before them the Buddha promoted) turning the other cheek, but there is not much of that in the Middle East right now.
And what happens if Israel invades and removes the key personnel from Hamas? What will fill that vacuum in a nursery of hatred and bile? What choice does Israel have but to invade?
Can we really expect them to do nothing while missiles still rain down? Of course the letter writers to The Echo have all the answers, choosing sides with their PhDs in international law.
But these questions are very challenging for we merely mortal, uncertain, disconnected, irreligious North Coasters of Jewish heritage right now, although even that statement feels like a self-indulgence in the face of the terror felt by civilians on both sides.
Most of us long ago gave up critiquing Israel on anything, even as it staggered toward the extreme because of the barrage of commentary, letters and abuse from Zionists who labelled us ‘self-hating Jews’ and ‘internalised anti-Semites’. Of course, I believe in Israel’s right to exist, many of us just think that in the long run it is more likely to survive by complying with international law, cutting out the repression and treating Palestinians decently. And we reckon that there will be less Jewish world-rule conspiracy garbage here, there and everywhere if they stop conflating any criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism.
Just now I am capable of feeling great aching sorrow for the loss of innocent life and suffering on both sides. If I were a better person I’d be finding space in my heart for the slain Hamas boy terrorists and their families too. It is not a question of moral equivalence, it is a question of blood, sweat and tears. We all bleed, perspire and cry just the same whatever our religion or flag. I don’t care who fired the first, or the worst shot, or who was there before others 2,000 or 200 years ago. I just pray it will stop. Please stop killing children.
In the name of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and God, just stop.
Each night the wolves in my heart are fighting too, but I am drip feeding the one of forgiveness, reflection, peace and love. I hope it will prevail.
David Heilpern is Dean of Law at Southern Cross University
Unfortunately Israel can not stop until Hamas is removed from the face of the earth. Israelis have a right to exist, to have a land they can live safely in without fear of murder and rape. They will prevail, they will endure as they always have. Strength to each and every soul in Israel.
Every innocent civilian soul period Greg.
Otherwise we feed the endless hatred and associated conflicts.
Unfortunately, I fear Israel cannot remove Hamas from the face of the earth. That is simply impossible because they extend beyond Gaza.
Israel also started bombing the Syrians on the same day.
What Hamas (and supporters) did in Israel was surely an act of revenge. Doing so was essentially a declaration of war against Israel. Is Israel inflicting a war of revenge on the Gazan population, or is it a war to make sure Hamas can never act against Israel again? I prefer the latter, which also means it could be called a justified war.
‘the one I feed’.
Thank you for this… so true. We all must take responsibility for this one.
Of course, what the Hamas fighters did when it attacked Southern Israel last month was wrong. Barbaric, cruel & so wrong. But Israel’s eye-for-an-eye reaction won’t solve the impasse. I believe it’s important to go back to where all this started – the British walking away from their mandate in 1947 and flicking it to the UN to resolve.
A bit like 1788, I would’ve thought, when the English took the land off the First Nations people. No questions asked. The actions of 1948 are very similar. Sure, the Arab world started that war but could you blame them, when the Israelis take your land from you like that? From a historical aspect, Israel has a lot to answer for and would do well to really try to solve the problem. It’s within their power. Where’s there a will, there’s a way.
Eye for an eye? It seems more a thousand eyes for one. Israel has been terrorising Palestinians for 75 years. They are clear in stating that they will not stop until they have ALL of Palestine and Lebanon. Pathetic excuse of “defending” Israel? No, this is brutal violent invasion.
“And what happens if Israel invades and removes the key personnel from Hamas? What will fill that vacuum in a nursery of hatred and bile? ”
The Palestinian Authority.
“Of course the letter writers to The Echo have all the answers, choosing sides with their PhDs in international law.”
Way to go mocking your most engaged readers David 🙄
Lawyers, by their very profession, tend to be anti-democratic. They learn to hate juries, and collective conversation/decision-making. Their job is far easier if they only have to deal with an expert dictator. They call them ‘Judges’. So contempt for the public should be expected.
“In the name of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and God, just stop.”
Please no more invoking of deities. It’s the parties of god that are standing in the way of peace.
“Each night the wolves in my heart are fighting too, but I am drip feeding the one of forgiveness, reflection, peace and love. I hope it will prevail.”
Nicely put. I hope so too.
David, thank you, a reminder to feed the second wolf in my heart
Or don’t feed either. Neither is useful.
You and Gregrr have blinkered vision on this. Israel’s disproportionate response, as in 2014, will not make Israeli’s safer. Terrorist acts against non perpetrators of evil, just like killing and injuring thousands, will make some want revenge, but that only increases the hatred and perpetuates the conflict.
Just as some decisionmakers opposed the firestorm bombing of Dresden, many are showing leadership, rather than making inflammatory statements like the malapropism prone lawyer, Daniel Rod, and the Israeli Ambassador.
Israel could do everyone a favour by ensuring Palestinians have medicines, clean water and bread. Don’t need a PhD in anything to realise that is the way forward
Very true. The path to coexistence, is to win hearts and minds. But that’s not what this is about.
Brilliant piece
Put into words the emotional pain so many of us are feeling right now about this issue
Then become unemotional so that you can think straight. Look at the questions being unanswered.
The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since October 7. Is this a war crime, yes of course it is! Hundreds of thousands of Israel’s citizens have been protesting against Netanyahu’s extremist “Coalition” Govt for months prior to this latest escalation of violence everyone knew would happen, it always does when Netanyahu is re-elected. The UN has had an order for Israel to remove themselves from the illegal occupied area’s of Palestine, they have ignored for decades. Don’t be surprised that this doesn’t increase Islamic terrorism world wide again. Remember the Bali Bombing, the result of the US Senate and Congress voting on the illegal invasion of Iraq. That bomb was detonated that same night in response. We must remember that what Israel, USA and others do has repercussions world wide, on people just as innocent as the 8,796 already murdered in Gaza! 3,648 children have been murdered by Netanyahu, that is a war crime make no mistake. Netanyahu is not fit to be a leader of anything, thats why there have been protests in the streets of Israel for months since his election prior to this. There was a vote in the UN against what Netanyahu was inflicting, of over 170 countries, only 12 other countries supported that vote, mostly little countries Israel has bribed, Australia abstained.
You are under playing it. Israel was on the brink of a civil war. Netanyahu was about to undermine their Judiciary, that acts as their upper house, so that they couldn’t put him in jail for his crimes. Then suddenly, an unexpected attack, from one of the most heavily monitored places on Earth, through one of the most heavily defended borders on Earth, and it took 3-6 hours for the IDFs ready response troops to respond, so lots of Israeli got killed first. Suddenly they can’t put Netanyahu in jail, instead he is made PM again. Such an amazingly improbable rescue for him. Conspiracy theorists may point out that intelligence agencies pull this kinda crap all the time. It’s called a coup.
One day, when humanity has removed its head from its tailpipe, this will be seen for what it is, orchestrated tyranny, and will cease, only to reappear in a new format. It’s ever been thus in what has been described by our betters (Goethe, Voltaire, Shaw et al) as the lunatic asylum of the universe. When we can finally rouse from our torpor and realize what’s going on, things will be different, but no better. One shouldn’t teach pigs how to sing. It annoys the pigs and wastes your time and energy.
Actually, it’s much the same as children being confused about the motives of adults. They can understand what we are physically doing, and even some of the abstractions, but not the greater reasoning. An ignorant population, mystified by events, can easily be controlled by emotion. If they were informed, they would have a multiplicity of conflicting policy concepts, which would result in endless debate, and nothing would get done, and they would have endless moral dilemmas about some of the expediencies required in governance.
However, if you are not in power and wish to alter the system structure, you can either feed them a more compelling counter-narrative, or simply explain the actual reasoning being used. With enough traction, the populace becomes non-compliant, and you can force compromise from the power brokers, lest you increase your rhetoric.
The children don’t really want to understand, they wish to play their games. They just want the adults to keep things running for them.
How the hell can this madness happen? Here’s the latest escalation? The USA House passed a bill on Thursday to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel as it fights a war against Hamas – a move that sets up a clash with the Democratic-led Senate in an early leadership test for Speaker Mike Johnson.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called the House GOP bill a “deeply flawed proposal” that the Senate will not take it up. Democrats are objecting to the fact that the bill does not include aid to Ukraine and would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service.
As per usual, when this escalates, our money and young people will be expended for the benefit of foreign interests. Happens every time.
Hamas have declared often that they will kill every Jew in Israel. October 7th showed that they are capable of doing so, in the most brutal, savage, barbaric and cruel manner possible, murdering, raping, torturing and beheading. They almost exclusively targeted civilians. They have since declared that they will continue to inflict many more “October the 7ths” on Israel. They have declared war on Israel. Israel can no longer exist with Hamas living right next door. After October 7th there was only one possible outcome for this; Israel will eliminate Hamas. It might take a year, but they will do it. Hamas started this, Israel will finish it. Do you seriously think they have any choice? There will be a ceasefire David, but only when the Israeli army have finished their job. Of course Hamas could end the war tomorrow if they surrendered and released the hostages. That would save many lives in Gaza. Lives that Hamas have put in harms way. Strange how the world isn’t calling for that.
Or Israel will be destroyed. Do you really think that everyone in Israel is a Jew?
Not so strange. Terrorists usually believe they are right and if Islamic look forward to rewards after death. Surrender is not an option.
But we could surrender – our beliefs that we are right, superior, top dog; admit we are all human, with our own vices and virtues, and work on learning to live together.
Thanks Geoffrey for your thoughts. “Hamas started this, Israel will finish it.”. Do you really think it is that simple? It was started long before this. If going to war means bombing and killing 4000 children I cannot support that. It smacks of retribution, not self defence. There are better ways to secure the border and make Israelis safe, surely. The PLO were terrorists too, but have morphed. Nelson Mandela bombed too. The IRA personnel are now part of the process. There are other ways.