Tutu: God is crying that God's children can do this to one another

Posted August 9, 2006 in News

Wise Tutu is quoted as saying "...South Africans had learned there would never be true security from the barrel of a gun... It was only when everyone felt their human rights were recognised and acknowledged that there would be a peaceful Middle East."

There needs to be a divine vision that transcends the existing paradims, for example Isaiah 5:8 which cautions: "Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land."Isaiah also shares God's vision for reconciliation and peace in the Middle East: "The LORD will strike... and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them..." (Isaiah 19:22-25)

Such a vision transcends the current squabbling. It implores us to each get our own house in order and not to make peace or justice dependant on others' perfection. It reminds us that there are limits to this world and boundaries to be respected. It reminds us of the need to leave space for "the other" and to learn to make the most of what God has bequeathed us.

Finally, there is the question that it is possible to exterminate the Jews or evict them from Israel. But what is the price of that victory? And would that victory be enough? When does it end with the destruction of "unsuitable" branches e.g. sufi's, sunnis or shi'ites.

Finally, if the Israelis want others to respect their boundaries, then they need to learn to live within limits, as do the Palestinians, as does all humanity as we come to a global reality that there are no new frontiers where we can dump our excess populations.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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