Baby Jesus, lying in the middle of a rubble in Jerusalem, epitomises the destruction wrecked on Palestine by the sanguinary Israeli army as well as the feelings of the Christians refusing to celebrate Christmas as some families have lost some or all their members. Their present situation is an extreme tragedy but alas, the future has no promise of hope as Israel is hellbent on effacing all signs of Christianity by converting all churches or edifices associated with Christianity into parks for tourist attraction. The 20,000 deaths and counting are not results of collateral damage but of targets of the Israeli F16s and Apache’s.
20,000 people killed have each a unique story to tell about the circumstances of their fate; their families, if members are still alive, have documented the sad event and recorded it for remembrance and posterity. That record will form a formidable library that will dictate the course of the future History of Palestine and its region. One fact that stands out is that Israel has created an industry of hate and its product will haunt it for posterity.
One sufferer talked about the unforgettable wailing of his father over the death of his uncle – his nights have become sleepless and his heart for ever wounded and that could never heal. He concluded by saying that Israel had planted hatred in the hearts of his family. Victims of cruelty will hate as they have been hated. This craving for vengeance is universal. W. H. Auden wrote “Those to whom evil is done do evil in return”.
The behaviour of humans exposed to atrocity and humiliation is well documented. One person Engel believes that it becomes an instinct to take revenge; he went to a German office and stabbed the officer and with every jab, he shouted “this is for my father, for my mother, for all the Jews you killed”. Taken out of context, each cruel act cannot be explained or justified. But it does make sense in the context of the fodder of the gas chambers or the open prison of Gaza and the wanton bombing of civilians – children, the old and women. This beastly human behaviour is not an excuse and it cannot be condoned, but it can be explained because no human being becomes immune to the craving of vengeance. Marguerite Duras in her book “The War: A Memoir” recounts how members of the Resistance tortured a “collaborateur” and with every stab, they shouted “bastard, traitor, scum”. Her feeling during the punishment was that the more the traitor was beaten and was bleeding, the more he deserved his fate. She concludes that there will never be justice in the world until you yourself do it as courts and judges do role playing and not justice. The reality is: to the enraged victim of inhuman brutality, vengeance would be manifold.
Resistance movements thrive on the energy provided by the blood of martyrs. Israel has created an unending supply of Middle Eastern Che Guevaras who will probably follow in the footsteps of the GMUL, the Jewish Brigade, and chase the perpetrators of the holocaust of Palestine.
By Dawood Auleear
