Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

Are you fed up with the whole “Israel has the right to self-defense” cliché or its excuse to refuse condemnation of the mass murder of Palestinians by the official Israeli killer machine? Small kids writing messages on bombs to be dropped on Palestinian homes or crowds sheering as bombs fall on Gaza cannot reflect a psychologically healthy society. Is there any difference between the Israeli or Palestinian pain? Is Palestinian blood shed ruthlessly by aerial and land bombardments different in color than the Jewish blood?

Israelis don’t deserve such an image. An overwhelming majority of Israelis cannot be happy with the brutality that borders barbarism or, as Turkish officials repeatedly accuse, genocidal undertakings by their government. There might be some fanatics. Youngsters might be held hostage of euphoria by those fanatics who cheer while the Israeli army pounds Palestinian settlements from land and air.

However, most Israelis – I know from my talks during many trips to Israel – must be pretty well aware that only more violence can be harvested if insisted on sawing such brutality. After all, “sow the wind, reap the whirlwind” is not a proverb of an alien culture to this geography.

The Palestinian death toll was bordering 400 on Sunday afternoon and will probably exceed it by the time this article is published. It is nonsense to look at the Israeli death toll in search of legitimizing Palestinian mass killing. Yes, the death of even one person is a calamity for mankind, but somehow Israeli leadership has been attempting to turn Palestinian killing into a pastime sport activity for itself. It should be aware, however, that annihilating all Palestinian people and their lands is impossible...