Jeremy Corbyn Tweet to Israel

Posted on by Opher

Jeremy Corbyn 

2h  · Deliberately provocative attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque and the ongoing home invasions in #SheikhJarrah and other neighbourhoods have led to horrendous violence and loss of life in Jerusalem and most recently Gaza where 25 people including children are reported dead following an Israeli Defence Force Operation codenamed ‘Guardian of the Walls.’ This is a deeply worrying sign of the decision to use air strikes to respond to rockets from the Palestinian side. I am profoundly saddened by the reports of deaths and injuries on both sides. I call on the Israeli government to stop land expropriations and settler expansion. I also call on those responsible for the missile attacks to stop. A cessation of both, crucially, will save lives and should enable negotiations in good faith to begin. As the occupying power, the Israeli government has it in its gift to rectify the current situation and not exacerbate it.

Arriving in Israel via Haifa – photos

Posted on by Opher

We arrived in Haifa at dawn to discover a port that was not exactly the world’s most picturesque.

Israel intrigued me. I am not a religious man. Indeed, I think religion is the cause of many of our problems. But I was aware of the history and could see that Jerusalem was the focus of centuries of conflict between the three Abrahamic religions. It had fought to an uneasy truce. Jerusalem was the powder keg for the whole Middle East. It could go off at any moment. The Palestinian/Jewish situation looked like it would never be resolved.

For the West this presented a great opportunity to benefit from the unrest. The whole Arab world was in conflict.

It was easy to see how this constant state of animosity and fear pushed people to more extreme positions and beliefs.

I was eager to have a look. A lot of history was bound up in this small area.

Boarding a coach we set off for Jerusalem and received our first glimpses of Israel through the window.

We arrived at the walled city and entered in.

We caught our first glimpse of orthodox Jews. We were going to see a lot more religious extremists in the course of the day.

We arrived at the  Abbey of the Dormition.

Garden of Gethsemane – Photos

Posted on by Opher

The garden of Gethsemane was not exactly a huge place. But it had some great old olive trees. I found it interesting to think back to the historical times 2000 years ago when it was probably bigger and Jesus and his followers were hanging out there. What started as a fringe sect of no real import was then made into something else. I bet Jesus would be amazed if he came back. I wonder how much of what he was preaching ended up in the bible and how much was totally misrepresented?

 

The Palestinian situation

Posted on by Opher

From my perspective the Israeli’s were wrong to seize land and displace people whose families had lived there for hundreds of years. They are wrong to continue to expand and set up settlements in occupied territories in which they should not be. The justification that god gave them these lands and this is written in the bible is nonsense. I do not recognise the existence of any such god. As an atheist I do not believe in the existence of any such supernatural entity or the worth of the bible old testament as anything other than a fascinating collection of poetry, historical writing and religious ramblings of a minor middle eastern cult. The writings have many sources and authors. The people they came from were largely ignorant and superstitious. They cannot be used as justification for seizing land and callously displacing other people.

However – two wrongs do not make a right.

As the farmer famously said when asked directions ‘If I was going there I wouldn’t start from here.’

But we do have to start from here.

The Israeli State does exist and will continue to exist. As with most countries its conception was based in blood and crime but it breathes. It cannot be wiped off the map.

The wrongness of Israeli actions cannot justify equally abhorrent reactions. The continuing terrorism of the Palestinians is not just unhelpful; it is creating a worse problem. No sane person can justify firing rockets into civilian areas, sending indoctrinated suicide bombers into civilian markets, or kidnapping three innocent young boys and cruelly, callously and cynically murdering them in cold blood.

Two wrongs can never make a right.

The continuing situation has created vicious, heartless monsters out of people on both sides. Hatred has eaten away their humanity.

The only way forward is for both sides to stop the cycle of hatred and retaliation and reach a settlement in which the State of Israel is recognised, the expansion halted, the Palestinian people are allowed their own State and have adequate compensation and restitution. The alternative is to continue in a vitriolic cycle of violence and retaliation in which all are losers.

Surely it is time for this misery to end?