Abraham’s children are at it again. The hatred between Palestinian Arabs and Jews caused by the intractable problem of living in the same land has again boiled over to the point that makes the Holy Land a killing zone.
Abraham is the father of three great religions as the Jewish, Arab and Christian traditions identify him as the progenitor of the one-God formula that unified their belief systems. Abraham is also the progenitor of a family descendance that is characterized as a duality embodied in his two sons Ishmael (the ancestor of the Arabs) and Isaac (the ancestor of the Jews).
This duality has behaved very much like the breaking up of humanity’s original “wholeness” into two pieces that stand as the basis for building all civilizations. The paradox that we use to achieve perspective and order comes from that original unity that broke apart and in time became opposites.
The same kind of situation overtook Abraham’s children. In this case however, there is an added ingredient that has been the source of contention throughout the 4,000 years since Abraham made his appearance. Scripture says that Abraham and Sarah his wife were not able to have children and so they chose for Abraham to have a child with Hagar, their Egyptian slave.
Abraham’s child with Hagar was Ishmael. Ishmael was in fact the first son and in line to have for the exclusive rights and privileges to be awarded to the first born. But then, Sarah finally got pregnant and had Isaac, an event that created complications in the household.
The Bible says that God got involved and elected Isaac as the father of his chosen people. As a result, Hagar and their son were banished to the desert and took with them God’s promise that Ishmael would also be the father of a great nation.
That decision however, broke the unity of Abraham’s family into 2 parts and caused estrangement to the point that the 2 cultures cannot see themselves living together in the same space. On top of that, in 1948, World War II allies helped to establish the State of Israel in Palestine as a Jewish homeland.
Over the years, lot of work has been done to bring the two sides together under a variety of formulas designed to bring peace and prosperity to the region. However, establishing order in that troubled area has been an elusive goal as both sides want the same territory for their own.
The attack on Israel by Hamas and others on one of the Jewish holy weekends, repeats the cycle of violence. That has been a reoccurring theme for 75 years. For Israel, going to war appears to be the only option because much consideration has to be given to geography, size of its national territory and the intentions of other potential enemies in the region.
As in the past, the United States is obliged to support the defense of Israel in this critical moment. That should not mean that we look the other way when it comes to the plight of the Palestinian people. But like with Ukraine, maximum effort needs to be made to support the existence of Israel as well as seek to rescue the hostages that appear to include Americans.
It is ironic that the “land of milk and honey” is an unforgiving killing field. One can say that the grievances that created it go a long way back. Abraham’s children are at war again. That is not a solution.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of la Voz bilingüe. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
