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by B.Raman
(
November 18, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian)
What
we are seeing in Israel and Gaza is not just a war.
It
is not just a ruthless exchange of fire.
It
is not just missiles, air strikes and naval barrages.
People
are dying on both sides.
It
is a struggle for survival.
One
is dying in order to assert one’s right to live.
One
is dying in order to assert one’s right to land.
It
may be just a piece of graveyard.
Or
just a place of worship.
One
is prepared to die for that.
To
assert one’s right to live,
One
is prepared to kill.
With
missiles, air strikes and naval barrages.
To
assert one’s right to land, one is prepared to destroy.
Anything
and everything.
With
missiles, air strikes and naval barrages.
It
is a struggle sans victory.
One
had seen such struggles before.
One
is seeing one more now.
More
ferocious than in the past.
It
is not going to be the end of ferocity.
It
is never-ending ferocity.
To
assert one’s right to live.
To
assert one’s right to land.
If
more ferocity could establish the right to live and the right to land,
It
should have been there by now.
Has
the time to think not arrived?
Can
both live together----the Israelis and the Palestinians?
Can
both live together---the Muslims and the Jewish people?
The
time for escalating ferocity is over.
It
is time for dawning wisdom.
One
sees no sign of it, though.
The
need for wisdom---that is what one has to address.
Not
the need for more missiles, more air strikes, more naval barrages.
Let
us search for wisdom and admire it.
The
time for admiring Israelis’ prowess and the Palestinians’ courage and
resistance is over.
It
is time to look for wisdom in both.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For
China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com
Twitter @SORBONNE75)
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