Monday, July 21, 2014

Ongoing Conflicts: Height of Human Ridiculousness

What a challenging time for humanity! Thousands of people have died, millions are experiencing hell in different parts of the world such as Syria, Nigeria, Iraq, Ukraine, South Sudan and Gaza! Oh, I wish I could blame all this to any one religious or ethnic group; Muslims, Jews or Christians, Russia, Israel or someone else! But the fact is no one group is entirely responsible for this atrocity. Stupidity and irrationality is found across boundaries!

Leaders escalate conflicts in the name of autonomy and well-being of their people and take actions that lead to exactly opposite outcomes. Israel thinks by bombing Gaza, it is making its people safer but common sense says that bombing may not be the best strategy to achieve that goal. Over five hundred people have been killed in Gaza during the latest crisis, most of whom are innocent people that include women and children. Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to CNN's Wolf Blitzer about the current crisis in Gaza and said, "Imagine that 75 percent of the U.S. population is under rocket fire and they have to be in bomb shelters within 60 to 90 seconds.  So, I'm not just talking about New York - New York, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Miami, you name it". This is a really good talking point but what he didn't add was that it would happen to the US if the Americans were starting to settle illegally in Mexico and Canada and were isolating Canada from the rest of the world. By killing innocent people, Israel will not be able to win the trust of Palestinians and reduce tension between the two countries. Prime Minister Netanyahu could be the one who could genuinely broker peace between the two nations and make history but unfortunately, it seems that he is choosing to be just another leader in the region. 

http://cintayati.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/the-4-boys-slaughtered-on-the-gaza-beach-whilst-playing-football/gaza-15-july-death-on-the-beach-boy-3/

On the other hand, Hamas is busy asserting itself as the leader of Gaza but is sacrificing the lives of their women and children again and again! (Update on this conflict can be found by clicking here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28397215). Agreed that the innocent people are dying because of the attacks from across the border but isn't it true that actions of Hamas often provoke those attacks. If Hamas leadership feels that there is injustice then there are other ways to fight it, there are examples of non-violent fights for justice that were won in the end and the benefits were long lasting. Struggles of Mahatma GandhiNelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. come to mind where they didn't ask for sacrifices from the children and youth but made sacrifices for them. They fought the fight persistently and yet non-violently till they embraced victory. Their children didn't have to die to facilitate their victory but are now enjoying the freedom because of their leadership! Hamas leaders are letting their valid arguments for equality get all mixed up and diffused by taking refuge in anger and violence. 

Russia is silent on the violence in Ukraine and hoping to expand its span of control. As a result, it is facing sanctions that will hurt its current jurisdiction (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/21/us-ukraine-crisis-sanctions-idUSKBN0FQ11V20140721). It is a powerful nation and can surely have influence in neighboring countries as well as the rest of the world by showing humanitarian leadership. But President Putin is choosing to support the conflict rather than build peace in the region. Syrian dictator is adamant on retaining power but his so called 'subjects' are slipping away from his control everyday whether due to killings or due to migration. I can go on and on about the lack of wisdom and sometimes even common sense in these leaders. What the heck are they thinking? 

Which of these leaders can, in all honesty, say that their governance has brought their people  in a better place? All of these people are in an excellent position to do the right thing and take their nations as well as their neighboring countries to absence of fear, peace and prosperity. They come and reiterate their talking points to the entire world but no body understands the emptiness of their words than their own hearts. It is OK if they want to look down at the religion of the enemy but they must at least pay attention to their own religious books that tell them to forgive and care for the vulnerable. Even if they don't want to hear the shrieks of the women and men that are being raped or the painful cries of dying children but they must pay attention to the voice of their own conscience and wake up to sanity! 

I am not OK

I am writing this on behalf of thousands of people, particularly the humanitarian workers around the world, who are not perfectly ok. Many o...