Paula R. Stern – A World Devoid of … of Everything
There are moments when a word can truly describe the world. Today is one of them. Hours ago, I heard that the United Nations had, yet again, voted to condemn Israel. As I listened to the vote tallies, a single word came to mind, “devoid”. That’s it. The world is devoid of truth, of honor, of respect. Devoid. As the sun shines and temperatures rise, there is a blackness that surrounds this day.
For the last few months, the Palestinians have been rioting and protesting. Does it matter what they are protesting against this time? What latest thing they blame to enable their violence? They too are devoid – devoid of humanity towards their own people by using them as human shields. Devoid of truth, as they build a world of lies so deep that at times I wonder whether even they can remember truth.
In a few weeks, I will celebrate 25 years of living in this country. Without question, I came with hopes and prayers and dreams. Before coming here, my life was filled with three young children, a wonderful husband, a small house, friends. I had everything but my life was devoid of one of the most important things…home. And so we got on a plane (actually to be honest, back then, we got on three planes to come home).
Without hesitation, I can say that my dreams have all come true – perhaps more than I even could have thought. Home and husband and children have been combined with grandchildren, a meaningful career, an amazing community, friends and more.
With such gratitude, I can say that my prayers continue on a daily basis and are answered always. God and I have a running dialog. I don’t always agree with Him even as I know that there can be no room for doubt. Even in disagreement, I know that I am blessed. So dreams and prayers have triumphed, and that leaves hope. Have my hopes been fulfilled? Well, the answer is that it’s complicated.
Perhaps I can no longer remember what I hoped for when I first came here. Maybe I hoped for something as simple as finding friends, which we have. Or, maybe it was the hope that we would be financally successful…successful enough to stay and raise our children here. My youngest is 18 and this week she finishes her last test in her last year in high school. Three are married and have given us sweet and smart and beautiful grandchildren. My youngest son, like his brothers, has now finished his service in a much respected combat unit.
But if I hoped for peace, prayed for it, dreamed of it, that remains beyond my reach. As full as my life is, that is how empty the world has become. So today, we are as far from peace as we have ever been. More, I return to my first thoughts today upon hearing of the latest UN resolution condemning Israel (and Israel alone). We live in a world devoid of honesty, devoid of respect, devoid of peace. There is no honor – that too has been lost.
What is left are the contradictions. Here, I live in a land constantly condemned for violence, for racism, for discrimination. Regularly, they accuse my land of committing genocide, uncountable horrors. Ironically, it is Arabs in this world who are discriminating against Christians and Jews, and even against fellow Muslims.
Pathetically, genocide is happening in Syria, but Israel is condemned. It is in Gaza and the Arab countries where homosexuals are regularly attacked while they parade freely and with pride down the streets of Tel Aviv. It is in Arab countries that women are murdered in cold blood simply for being seen talking or walking with a man; while in Israel we celebrate the wonder of women.
In Israel, we create miracles of growth, our deserts are blooming and the trees are ripe with fruit. They grow in Arson is being committed daily – by untold numbers of Palestinians launching explosive kites that have burned thousands of acres of fields. Not a word from the United Nations on the rockets fired at Israel, including one that hit a kindergarten. Nothing is said of the fires, the bombs planted on the fence that we guard to protect our people.
Yesterday, 120 nations of the world voted. They voted against Israel. No, they did not vote against what Israel did for the last few weeks in Gaza. That’s a lie, another “devoid of truth” thing. The vote had absolutely NOTHING to do with Gaza and everything to do with Israel. Had they voted to condemn Israel because our flag is blue and white, the voting would have gone the same way. The same 120 nations would have condemned us.
Had we sent forces to help after the Guatemala volcano erupted…and we did…they would STILL have condemned us. Gaza is the flavor of the poison but really, it isn’t about Gaza. Abu Mazen and the Palestinians are so very pleased with themselves. But the befuddled fools don’t realize that this isn’t about them. It never was and it never will be.
The world does not care about the Palestinians. If they did, they’d be condemning Syria, where, according to Khaled Abu Toameh reports that approximately “3,420 Palestinians (455 of them females) have been killed since the beginning of the war.” More, writes Abu Toameh, “54 Palestinian minors have died under torture in Syrian prisons.”
According to today’s resolution, the nations condemned Israel for “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate” force. According to the Gazans 123 people were killed. Hamas admits that 54 of those killed on May 14 were Hamas operatives. Israel proved that at least another 20 who died in other instances were terrorists as well. So excessive translates as killing 59 people out of about 100,000 fire-setting, bomb planting, stone throwing rioters?
Disproportionate translates to the world condemning Israel for not being able to parade bodies of dead Jews through the media. Were their arson attacks disproportional because they burned thousands of fields while we burned nothing? And indiscriminate? That’s the biggest joke of all. There was nothing indiscriminate about Israeli attacks on Gaza and the rioters. Had there been, 59 would have survived and 100,000 could have been eliminated with a few well-placed bombs.
Indiscriminate and yet of 120 people, we can already confirm more than half were Hamas operatives. A medic, an angel to her people and to the world, was killed during the riots. For this, Israel was condemned. But the angel isn’t an angel. She was not a non-combatant desperately trying to save lives. …only the angel was caught on camera throwing a gas grenade moments before she rushed towards the security fence. The angel admits on camera to being a human shield. Not an angel. Devoid of truth. Dishonest.
Ironically, indiscriminate best describes the rocket attacks on Israel – including the one in which they indiscriminately targeted tens of thousands of Israeli civilians and damaged a kindergarten. Excessive is the use of flaming kites that have damaged the lives of tens of thousands of Israelis. Disproportionate is a world that votes to condemn Israel but refused to indict Hamas for starting the violence, for bribing people to go to the border and riot.
Devoid of honesty. Devoid of truth. And most of all, we live in a world nearly devoid of honor.
Nikki Haley at the UN
“There are many terrible things happening in the world today,” says UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. True words. Honest words. Honorable words.
