“For once I saw with my very own eyes the Sibyl at Cumae, hanging in a cage and when the boys said to her, “Sibyl, what do you want?” She answered, “I want to die.” __ T.S. Elliot
The above quote is the opening line to T.S Elliot’s poem “The Waste Land.” I agree that it speaks to the situation in Gaza, however, I believe, in askance to the last word, that the Palestinians want to live rather than die. War is never a thing of joy. The interesting part of war is to be read in books and watched in movies but never to be experienced.
The ongoing war between Palestine and Israel can be said to be usual thing, but none has ever gotten to this aggravated peak. War is never a tale of morality, as such, the current war is devoid of morals. It is seemingly a bastardisation of civilization. Staring at the gory images of hot tears on Palestinians’ faces, their pain, their sorrow, destruction of their land, destitution, dejectedness and lastly, countless deaths; on social media, it provokes a heavy strain of emotions in every human, even robots might shed tear.
However, the question is, how did we get here? By September 7, nobody would believe that a war would break out on October 7 between the two states except, Hamas, the master minder. Their rivalry didn’t start today, but this level is first of its kind. The Hamas on October 7 launched an attack on Israeli civilians who were on holiday. This they did killing hundreds while shouting Allah Akbar.
Neighbouring Islamic states such as Iran heard the news and their parliamentarians went ahead, knelt and worshiped Allah. The bone of contention is that: Israel are dominating their lands. They have pushed them out of their lands.
Again, this is quite a justifiable claim; but is it enough reason to choose the way of arms? Countless referendums and peace resolutions have been proposed and one is the creation of two-state nation. While Israel agreed, the Palestinians rejected this proposition. The question then should be, what else do the Palestinians want? And in this modern age, how best do you go about it?
The map of the Middle East was drawn with ink by the colonial masters, but must it be redrawn with blood after countless blood has been shed, and yet, the ink remains legible?
Hamas did not strike the military; they struck the civilians, breaking the Geneva Convention. While Hamas is a terror group who do not follow the rule of war, the Palestinians bought into their story and saw them as messiah fighting their cause.
What else do you expect from Israeli government whose people had been murdered in numbers? For every action, there is a reaction. Your prayer should be, may the reaction not be more gruesome than the action, because “all is fair in love and in war.”
Israel have the right to protect its citizens from terrorist, practically, that is what they are doing. The only pain is of the innocent souls lost daily, especially the Palestinian children and women. It is tragic. But Hamas called for this tragedy, and the Palestinians cheered them on at first, but now, the table has turned and their tears won’t stop.
All we could plead is that there should be ceasefire even though it is rarely the case. It is already horrible now. An eye for an eye makes the world blind. Every child regardless of religion, tribe, or colour deserves the right to life. If you must blame a party, look in the direction of Hamas.
- Samuel Ameh is a researcher and journalist
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