When the political overshadows the personal. A Guest Post by Marcia Edwards Ford.

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Israel and Hamas

Oct 15, 2023

Over the years, I could not understand why other people, including many who

identify as progressives, didn’t see international and domestic conflict the way I do.

I’m accustomed to being misunderstood, but this divide seemed different. We

agreed on the basics: racism and injustice and war and dozens of other major issues

are bad, right? Still, our frequent discussions and occasional arguments at times

turned testy.

During one civil conversation, I suddenly recognized the problem: I viewed each

conflict, each issue from the perspective of the individual, while others were

arguing from the viewpoint of those in positions of power, like the state, politicians,

systems, institutions, powerful and wealthy people of worldwide influence, and so

forth.

Realizing that helped me to be more judicious about how I approached those

discussions. I tried—unsuccessfully—to expand my perspective. It seems I will

always care more about the guy who is serving an unthinkable prison sentence for

drug possession—or the victims of an airstrike in the Middle East.

Yes, all of the preceding applies to the war between Israel and Hamas, which in

one staggering moment shattered our illusions that the lack of overt conflict

signaled a time when Israeli individuals and Palestinian individuals would remain

on guard but maybe, just maybe, breathe a tiny bit easier. After all, the government

didn’t seem more on edge than usual, right?

And so…many of them flocked to a music festival. A music festival! You don’t do

that in Israel if you feel an attack is imminent.

That was one of the first bits of news I heard, and it broke my heart. The

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atmosphere was no doubt energetic, high-spirited, and optimistic, a day of singing

and dancing and experiencing freedom and joy. The festivalgoers had no idea they

were walking straight into a massacre.

Meanwhile, Israeli and U.S. leaders and intelligence agencies scrambled to swiftly

respond with a justified attack on Hamas militants in Gaza. But I wasn’t in any of

the rooms where those decisions were made, and being inherently distrustful of

governments and the news that emanates from those rooms, I couldn’t waste my

energy on those entities.

Before you start judging me, rest assured that I pray for peace in the Middle East. I

pray for the powerful (mostly) men in those rooms, making those decisions. I pray

that someone, someday will propose a successful resolution to the dispute over who

owns the land.

I reserve my compassion and my heartache for the babies who were slaughtered

and whose families—those who survived—were forced to watch in horror. But I

wince when news outlets report that thousands were killed, “many of them women

and children.” Nice thought, I guess, but I’m not embarrassed to mourn the men

who were also killed. And I have compassion for those soldiers—I realize they are

likely in the minority—who are forced to fight and kill and bury the dead while

they themselves are terrified.

You may be among the majority of people who view this war as a conflict between

entities, and God knows we need people like you whose analytical minds may

discover that elusive resolution to the entangled complications that thwart every

effort to bring peace to the Middle East. But if you find yourself in a heated

discussion with someone who agrees with you in principle but can’t seem to

understand your more refined political perspective, you may be talking to me—or

someone like me, though I think we’re few and far between.

It’s okay. As long as we’re all praying—and doing whatever else we can do— for

peace in the Middle East, we’re on common, and holy, ground. And that ground

should never be in dispute.

Israel and Ham ... 10-15-23.docx

Displaying Israel and Hamas OC sermon 10-15-23.docx.