Dysfunctional Death Instinct; Israel's addiction to violence.

For the longest time, the Jewish people were constantly trying to survive in the midst of Christian Europeans who wanted to kill them. Moving from place to place, keeping their wealth portable, being vigilant against anti semitism.

With the founding of Israel, they finally came out of fight or flight mode and had the space to think about death, even pursue it, on their own terms .

They had all the money and powerful friends in the world. And they chose that power and freedom to wage war, to become the ones dealing death and seeking it in places of their choosing at last.

They had so far focused on surviving only, out of spite if for no other reason; teach the anti semites of the world a lesson. 

But survival is a burden. I get it. 

They never had the freedom to choose to die, to volunteer for death. 

And I think it captivated them.

Ours is to act on God's word, not simply claim bragging points for having received it first. 

We know that God doesn't need our tribes to survive to ensure his Word and his Will stay are exalted on earth until it's end. We know that if we displease him, then he will replace us with another people. 

We do not, therefore, carry the burden of divine selection on our backs. 

Our Lord has been much kinder and more merciful to us, especially in the unwavering faith he has put in our hearts. That allows us, if needed, to destroy our most dearly held worldly ambitions and aspirations with our own hands, as Abraham was ready to sacrifice his first born son.

Perhaps, if instead of coming out of the trauma of the Holocaust straight into becoming a cruel tyrant itself, it had began it's existence somewhere peaceful, somewhere that it's mere existence would not require injustice and destruction and exil of Muslims, it could have spent some time in collective self reflection. 

Take the time to sit and ponder. To heal.

 

Sadly...trauma sometimes takes many cycles before its effects can fully dissipate. What is history if not the song of human suffering and cruelty resonating as echoes across time? 

Right now, Israel and the OPT are a Newtons cradle of suffering. Murderous energy traped in a closed system bouncing back and forth between oppressor and oppressed. 

Hopefully, the oscillating violence will gradually subside. And then Israel can do some thinking. 

Assuming it has not yielded to its intense desire to penetrate its heart with the knife in its own hand to gain the illusion of having gained mastery over death.