This article covers two aspects:
1. The impossibility of a political solution to the Judeo-Palestinian conflict (this text was written in 2015 and is still as relevant today)
2. A religious solution (Saturday, May 15, 2021)
1. The impossibility of a political solution (2015)
Israel is now under severe criticism for its excessive violence in the Gaza Strip. This violence will end tomorrow if Hamas stops rocket attacks and attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in Israeli territory. However, the Palestinians in Gaza are in a hopeless situation and have nowhere to go. They have to keep a low profile because without financial support from other countries they will fall into even deeper and dire poverty. The situation is also not very rosy in the West Bank. Fatah is corrupt and can only survive by asking for more money. The Palestinians have become beggars.
What solution is possible here? Should we follow Hamas that wants to destroy the State of Israel? What does Fatah want: a democratic state, but that is a Western model that does not fit the Islamic culture. Should there be a new Palestine where free speech reigns, where there are various political parties, where women have equal rights, where the inhabitants have freedom of religion,…? Or not? But what then? Which state does Hamas and Fatah want? What plan can they put forward to get rid of the status of beggars?
Right next to Gaza and the West Bank, there is a very prosperous state, which is democratic, where science and culture flourish, where life is good despite the threatening neighbors. The surrealistic point here is that the war situation of the past fifty years was a strong incentive for the Israelis to develop themselves technically and scientifically phenomenally, so that the whole world can benefit from their achievements (defensive weapons, medicines and medical equipment, communication, etc.).
Should that land be destroyed? What will replace it? Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Libya: failed states that the Palestinians will certainly not want to imitate.
I refuse to take sides between Jews and Muslims or between Israelis and Palestinians. I just want to know what the ordinary Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank itself want. Most likely the good life like the Israelis now in Israel. Well, if this is the case, then the solution is obvious: together form a Greater Israel, a democratic and prosperous constitutional state where minorities know themselves to be protected.
Sadly, Hamas is terrorizing its own people and Fatah has no vision. Unfortunately, my logic is unacceptable for someone from another civilization. Someone who does not belong to Western culture does not understand me, does not want to understand me, hears only the things he wants to hear and immediately reacts defensive or furious when I say something that he does not like. I have experienced this several times when I had to consult with mosque boards or other Islamic organizations. It remains a conversation between the deaf and the European is blamed for everything. In a discussion with Muslims you can agree with them on 99 points out of 100; but on that one point where you have a different opinion, the whole discussion continues, until to get rid of it you agree with them. This is the recipe for eternal conflict.
Self-criticism and critical reflection is impossible for someone who grew up in a civilization in which no Descartes has arisen, no Pascal, no Montaigne, no Kant, no Hegel, no Kierkegaard, no Heidegger, no Levinas. That is why integration of non-western immigrants is impossible and democracy is an unacceptable model in the Middle East and other regions where those thinkers are lacking. Those other civilizations are therefore not inferior. They are just different.
What is the solution: Europe must propagate its Christian identity as strongly as possible. Anyone who wants to work with us must accept our values. If not, they have to go their separate ways.
tweet: If we are to tackle the challenges of the 21st century in a purely rational way, it will be a biological war of all against all. The solution is offered by taking spirituality as the guiding principle for reason.
2. A religious solution (2021)
A political solution is not possible here, because it is a religious problem. A religious solution is obvious. European civilization has reached heights thanks to its Judeo-Christian foundation. The whole world is watching us and taking Europe as an example. Terrible things have also happened in Europe, but that has always been a gross violation of Judeo-Christian morality. Thanks to that morality, we have always been able to overcome sin. Germany is a good example of this. Hardly any country is more generous than Germany at the moment. This also applies to the United States. This country was built up after the genocide of the indigenous population. Today the US is the most generous country in history.
I want to say that we should take the Bible very seriously. That is where the road to the Kingdom of God is described, that is the phase in which Judeo-Christian ethics will inspire the whole world or the entire human race. In the Bible it is said that Israel is the land promised by God for the Jews. Once this is fully realized, mankind will be better able to realize the Kingdom of God. Israel is therefore only intended for the Jewish people. We also know that when all the Jews of the Diaspora have returned to Israel, it will be the end of time. The Muslims still residing in Israel are going to Lebanon, the West Bank and Jordan. Israel and the western world will built villages and settlements there for the Muslims; jobs will be created in agriculture and industry; an infrastructure will be built; schools and hospitals will be established.
This proposal is a hard message, but there is no other way. Judaism and Christianity represent the only two aspects of absolute truth. Only when mankind will be enlightened by this truth will the Salvation come out of all our misery.
If this religious solution is not chosen, the fate of the Palestinian people will become increasingly dire and the Middle East will be on fire. It is a choice between a world where Satan rules or a world where the Revelation of God is accepted by the people. Either we act in accordance with the wisdom of the Bible, or we live in a purely rational world where money and power revolve. In the latter case it becomes a war of all against all in the whole world. Homo homini lupus. Sorry, there is no other choice. This religious solution has been ordered by God Himself. It is not for man to challenge God. Every missile fired at Israel is a missile in the heart of God.
The futility of violence in Israel and Gaza
No one reads and studies the Torah and prays to Yahweh more than the Jewish people. Muslims also pray five times a day, go to the mosque every Friday to listen to verses from the Koran and every year there is Ramadan. None of this seems to help stop the violence in the world, especially in the Middle East. Violence continues to flare up in Israel and Gaza. Is all that study and that praying therefore pointless? I think we need to look at the situation differently. It is certain that the vast majority of Jews and Muslims want the good for their neighbors, regardless of their origin, religion or ethnicity. This applies to all peoples, all ethnic groups and races. Since my stay in Congo, I have been convinced of this, despite the fact that untold atrocities have been committed in Congo for decades.
The blame for all this violence does not lie with the vast majority, but with a small group that gives absolute priority to self-interest. For them it is about power and wealth. Everything else must give way to it, if necessary with corruption and terror. These people are greedy, envious, dishonest, corrupt and insensitive to the needs and feelings of others. These qualities are opposite to what was proclaimed on Mount Sinai. These people are said to worship mammon; it is more correct to see them as possessed by Satan.
The vast majority could put an end to this situation, this continuous spiral of violence. The remedy is simple, but its application seems unfeasible for the time being. The remedy is a different lifestyle: living frugally, buying only what is necessary, limiting travel to neighboring countries, paying attention to the family and grandparents, taking care of each other in the neighborhood or the village. social activities and sports competitions in their own region, buying only regional products as far as possible, not bying anything online from foreign webshops, eating meat only once a week, and what can still be useful in living a human life centered around good relationships with the loved ones. With this lifestyle, the multinationals and the rich have nothing or very little to earn. Exercising power, exploiting people and plundering nature no longer make sense or stand a chance.
Most of the people in Gaza are very poor. The appeal for a different lifestyle is not an issue there. Most of the Jews in Israel are relatively wealthy. If the people of goodwill on both sides - this is the vast majority - were to show solidarity with each other, a new Garden of Eden will arise in the Middle East. The Jewish diaspora would certainly be willing to cooperate, as would the Muslims who have become prosperous in the West.
Who will inspire the masses for this different lifestyle? Who will incite the people of goodwill in Gaza and Israel to take concerted action for solidarity rather than violence? How can the Jews and Muslims in the Western world set a good example for the people of the Middle East? If a lifestyle change and a global solidarity movement succeed, people will become truly happy, live meaningful lives and the violence will virtually disappear. What are we actually waiting for?
Europe and Israel together can bring peace, well-being and prosperity to the Middle East and Black Africa. That is the essence of my articles and essays from the past years. Europe must therefore retain its identity, this is the values of the Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian ethics. Israel with Jerusalem as its capital is the spiritual center of the world that offers wisdom to all mankind