Dear Christians,
I received a letter from one reader who told me to tone down my rhetoric about Barack Obama and Israel. (It was noted in the letter that Obama is being harassed enough by racists--so we should have his back as he promotes more war, more war budgets, and fails to get our economy on social justice road.) The reader also noted that we should be thankful that Thanksgiving Day saw a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel this year.
Finally, I was told that since I lived in the Middle East myself, I should not say anything critical about the USA in the region or it might endanger my family. My thoughts are as follows concerning Israel's recent aggressive war on Gaza.
First, I agree that it is a gift for many peoples that the war in Gaza/Israel had a ceasefire this 2012 on Thanksgiving. YES, I AM THANKFUL but the underlying issues have not been ended. USA full-financing of Israel's military is done with too many tax-payers in the USA's acquiescence. (I say full-financing because Americans send a lot of private money to Israel each year--as do other Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others from around the world. However, American-sent dollars are enough to finance endless wars for Israel's state.)
Second, let me tell you about the reality in Gaza using as an example of a 3rd party connection I have here in the Middle East. My colleague, who sits next to me in my office in Oman, is a Palestinian from the West Bank. I asked him yesterday whether he had family or friends in Gaza .
My Palestinian neighbor replied, "Luckily, I have no family there. I do have a friend---a former good colleague at work in the West Bank--and whom I have known for years. This friend had reported this weekend that 6 members in his family were killed in the most recent war (i.e. as last week) in Gaza."
In short, living in the Middle East as an American, I easily have colleagues who are directly effected by wars. This is exactly why we Americans must speak up against our homeland support endless wars. Here is the way the majority of people on planet earth see the situation: "They refer to what they're doing now in Gaza as mowing the lawn. The bombardment of a largely civilian population, most of whom are refugees, they refer to with the callous idiom of mowing the lawn. A periodic bombardment that they have to do to set back the capacity of the factions there. That's not strategic thinking. What morality is there an a war whose repetition is planned? There is none. And there is no strategic thinking in Israel about how to move the situation forward. The answer from them has always been to respond to Palestinians with force. You simply cannot think mowing the lawn is going to succeed if you sow seed of hate."
Until logic dominates a bit more in the USA capital and in the region of Israel. American Christians need to speak up until progress on peace, human rights, and social justice is achieved. (It has been reported that actually the coming elections in Israel are the real reasons for the Israeli escalation in November 2012.)
Yours,
Kevin A. Stoda
Oman
