In the Eyes of the Believer column of the Catholic Times, a former journalist gives the readers some thoughts on War as the 'Failure of Humanity'.
Young people enjoying a music festival in a southern Israeli village when Hamas (Palestinian armed political faction) swooped in by paraglider and opened fire, people were instantly left dead, people desperately seeking shelter, hundreds were taken hostage, and then Israel's massive counterattack on the Gaza Strip— Palestinians screaming as they suddenly lost their families and homes, the screams of the bloody wounded, hundreds of thousands of people evacuating to the south, people driven into living hell due to water and power outages amid a total blockade...
On the 10th day of the war, the death toll on both sides exceeded 4,000. With the Israeli military facing a ground war, the number of casualties is sure to increase like a snowball. We are speaking about a massacre. Due to evacuation orders, one in four of the 2.3 million residents left. However, even if they go south, they have nowhere to go due to the border blockade. It’s literally like a 'rat in the earthen pot'.
Sparks of war are being emitted all over the world. The unusual movements of neighboring countries such as Hezbollah and Iran cast a dark cloud of escalation. Amid the Jewish-Arab confrontation, pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protests are spreading all over the world. Even hate crimes are rampant. In the United States, a landlord in his 70s stabbed his tenant, a six-year-old Palestinian boy, to death and seriously injured the boy's mother. "I hate Arabs" and the murderous frenzy leaves us speechless.
Is war an unavoidable and necessary evil of human society? Just looking at the word's appearance in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, war is in line with human history. War theorist Clausewitz once preached: "War is a continuation of politics through violent actions that force the enemy to submit in order to realize our will". When he thinks of the horrors of war, the title of Osamu Dazai’s novel ‘No Longer Human’ comes to mind. Although the story and context are different, the subtitle 'No Longer Human' is similar to 'The Defeat of Humanity'.
"War doesn’t solve problems. It only sows death and destruction and increases hatred and revenge. War erases the future and is the defeat of all humanity." Pope Francis' appeal to stop war and establish peace is ringing in his ears. At the beginning of the year, the Pope condemned terrorism and extremism, targeting the war between Russia and Ukraine as it continues. At that time, he cited 'the heart of man corrupted by sin' (see Mark 7:17-23) as the cause of the war. Whatever the reason, violence leads to violence and blood leads to blood. It is truly a vicious cycle and a humanitarian crisis.
Students at Catholic Theological Seminary, where he studies, gathered in small groups and opened discussion on the conflict and Britain's part in the present situation. This present confrontation between the two sides of different ethnicities and religions, and the Palestinian people trapped in a small area of land behind a huge wall were hot topics. Moreover, there are suspicions of bias in the presentations and materials released by both sides. A representative example is the passing of responsibility to Israel and Hamas for the Gaza City hospital disaster that killed hundreds of people on the 17th. When it came to the war, both parties said it was wrong, and they seemed to feel more sympathy for the persecuted Palestinians.
Can I feel relieved or say that it doesn’t matter because the war didn’t break out in my country? In times like these, it is more appropriate to become a 'Good Samaritan'. First of all, we must be heartbroken by the pain and tragedy of Palestinians and Israelis. We must pray with repentant desperation for a speedy end to the war. Let us stand in solidarity with people around the world and raise our voices against war and violence. Humanitarian support must also be provided. Aren't the innocent victims and their families, regardless of one side or the other, the image of God and human beings just like us?
