THE sufferings of Auschwitz were not mere happenings. They were moral enactments. They were part of a plan. They confirmed the glory to come. Moreover, God was not merely angry with the Jews.
He was also sorrowful. He wept with them. He went with them into gas chambers as he had gone with them into exile.”
These are the poetic but tragic lines that Arthur A Cohen, American scholar, theologian, publisher, and author wrote while talking about Jews and their enormous capacity to bear suffering. Even Paul Johnson, offering religious justification for the creation of the state of Israel, writes, “The Holocaust and the new Zion were organically connected.
The murder of six million Jews was a prime causative factor in the creation of the state of Israel… redemption through sufferings.” Religion is about faith. Its corridors, most of the time, are not embedded with rationality.
Religious answers are for common people. It is a creative urge, it is therapy, and it gives followers the courage to face the worst of sufferings and terrible injustices. Any attempt to understand religion through the window of reason will lead to confusion and chaos. Religious history is not necessarily based on facts. But at times, it is more powerful than the realities of the historical processes.
I am sure that a large section of Jews will find an answer in their religion to the question of why they had to go through the horrific incident of October 7, the massacre of 1 400 Jews by Hamas terrorists, and they are likely to hope that this suffering will lead to some kind of redemption soon.
The counterattack by the Israeli state on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has also caused massive death and destruction. As I write, more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 60 per cent women and children, as claimed by Gaza authorities.
Western countries, including America, have stood firmly with Israel. US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have all visited Tel Aviv to extend their support to the Jews and are trying to find a solution.
But what has been the most stunning is the muted response of the Arab countries. Except for Iran and Turkey, none of the countries have shown the resolve to openly defend Hamas. If Iran has threatened a “pre-emptive strike if killing in Gaza does not stop”, then Turkey has called Hamas “mujahideen, a liberator who has been fighting to protect the land and people of Palestine”.
The UAE and Bahrain have condemned the Hamas massacre. In this context, is it fi ne for Jews to console themselves through their religious belief system, that October 7 will lead to some kind of redemption? There is a reason for this question.
Middle East Asia has been going through a churn for some time and there are serious signs of change in the Arab world. There are two factors behind this desire for change. The Arab Spring movement in 2011 jolted the rulers of the Arab world out of their slumber.
That movement reflected the change rippling through Arab society for decades but not acknowledged by their authoritarian rulers. One fi ne morning, many of them, having ruled for decades, found themselves out of power and crushed by the people’s yearning for a better and free world. Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt were some examples.
The iconic picture of Hosni Mubarak, the dictator of Egypt, in a cage, would have shaken the dictators of the world over. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi , the strong man of Libya, was caught hiding in a drainage pipe while fleeing from rebels and died a coward’s death. That movement forced rulers to think afresh and look toward reform. The second factor is the realization that oil, which fundamentally changed the face of the Middle East since the 1970s, will not remain for eternity. Oil has brought unprecedented prosperity and affluence to the region, but unless other avenues of economic enterprise are discovered and tapped, the future is bleak. Political stability in the region is the first guarantee of economic boom and diversification. — NDTV