Wisdom from Beyond the Grave
Christopher Hitchens observations on the ongoing crisis in Gaza
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During the past few days I have been turning over in my head the nexus between my outrage over Isreal’s current genocidal treatment of the residents of Gaza, especially the Palestinian people and the reaction of comedian Bill Maher who issued a blistering diatribe in support of Isreal’s behavior - that has inspired the ire of the left.
Maher’s rant put me in mind of a common quote from the late Christopher Hitchens who was fond of pointing out that many of the world’s ills could be overcome through policies that were embodied in three “three simple words: The empowerment of women.” Giving women power over their own destinys and giving them authority over their own bodies would make all the difference.
Though Christopher Hitchens has been gone since 2011, his observations in an Intelligence Squared discussion thoughtfully shed some light on the questions that still dog us as we cogitate about the seemingly intractable problems that continue to trouble the Middle East - serving as a bridge that joins the ire of Maher and the disturbed reactions of many Americans to the death of more than 68,000 Palestinian men, women and children.
They also serve as a powerful, present-day reminder of why the American Founders insisted that our founding documents specifically create a nation without a specific religion. A nation where Americans were granted both freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion; where all religions were welcome but none was supreme.
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Hitchens was particularly fond of remonstrating those who saw, especially their own religion, as a genteel and peaceful communitarian effort in these days where their power has been substantially diminished by a growing secular public consensus among Americans; and, reminding them that they must never forget the days when the power of “the church” enforced a much darker influence over the population: when young men and especially women, were hanged, drowned, burned and tortured for having a mental illness or simply a set of beliefs that ran contrary to prevailing myth.
Today, we are faced with a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that most Americans find confusing and, for many, simply beyond comprehension.
Something in the back of their minds reminds them that all too often in this world the sins of the mothers and fathers are visited upon the children. That those who are the victims of trauma and unspeakable acts of brutality and evil too often become the perpetrators.
Yet, still, many find it beyond the pale to imagine that a people so deeply traumatized by the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust could then become the agents of those very same horrific impulses, fed by vengeance, sadness, fear and impulses that completely overwhelm what should be at a minimum a understanding that a measure of proportionality should be sought and an empathy for the people who have been caught in the crossfire of these raging rivers of hate, especially the children.
The natural reaction for most, and an understandable reason that many decent people have shied away from taking a position on this quagmire is that it is so complex and the roots of the problem are so twisted by the winds of time, history and context that the result is a conundrum that to take any position is a no-win proposition.
Where others have chosen to speak out, especially the young people who have taken to the streets and campuses, There has often been a genuine effort to recognize the moral ambiguity of the moment. Many of the most strongly held editorials from people on both sides have at least some element of truth. Parsing those truths and their contradictions can easily give one a feeling of hopelessness, but without the effort to parse them, we cannot hope to find a light at the end of this dark tunnel.
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These observations do not provide a path forward - or at least an easy path forward, but they do serve to roll back the curtain on the complexity of the issues that divide us and - for that reason - allow us to see more deeply into the issue in ways that may ultimately help us find a path.
So, I offer these observations into the nature of the crisis, which come from the mind of one of our greatest public intellectuals of the past 100 years, Christopher Hitchens.
Say what you want about Hitchens, but he was never driven by the need to embrace a predictable, tribal, knee-jerk point of view. He was one of the very first writers to write a book critical of the treatment of Palestinians at the hands of Israel, yet he was also a powerful vocal critic of the second-class status of women in countries where religious fundamentalism and theocracy were the dominant means of controlling people. His biting criticisms were leveled at any theology guilty of such behavior, whether it was the Mullahs of Iran or Mother Teresa of Calcutta who hid behind a thinly veiled shroud of humanitarianism while opposing the very public policies that would liberate women to make choices in their lives that would help them throw off the shackles of chattel and shed the yoke of poverty. He was unafraid and eloquent even to the point of taking a position in support of our incursion into Iraq, which, in retrospect, was a policy blunder that cost both the US and the Iraqi people dearly in my opinion, yet I admired his reasoning and never doubted his motives.
I hope that Hitchens is wrong about the ultimate end of the Middle East troubles. Yet, his assessment has a powerful ring of truth and may, in fact, hold the only hope for resolution, as difficult as the path may be.
Hitchens asks, somewhat rhetorically: “Everyone agrees that there should be enough room for two states, for two peoples, in the same area. Why can’t we get it?”
He answers the question thus:
“Because the parties of God have a veto on it. And everybody knows that this is true. Because of the “divine” promises that each side claims have been made about this territory, there will never be peace, there will never be compromise. Instead, there will be misery and tyranny, and people will kill each other’s children and grandchildren over ancient caves and books and relics.”
Two groups of people have made up two different “myths” (stories) about their God and their entitlements from that God. Until a day comes when both the lands of the Israelis and the Palestinians are under the control of governments more committed to secular rights and freedom than they are to their fictional “Celestial Dictator,” peace is not attainable.
Americans can thank the Founders of our Republic for helping to provide a bulwark against theocracy, but if the folks who created Project 2025 have their way, we may be headed down the same road.
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