Photo courtesy: gov.il
There is today a truly alarming war between two nations whose diametrically opposing worldview resembles a Gordian knot no one can ever hope to unshackle: Israel against its avowed nemesis, Iran engendered by what is now known as ‘Operation Rising Lion.’
If left unchecked by those who have the moral courage, political savvy and ascendancy and the military wherewithal to mediate such as Washington, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar or Jordan, this current war may unfortunately turn out to be an extended conflict of major proportion with the tendency to further escalate to other regions or spheres of influence such as their respective
military bases of support or the presence of their allies in what could be another scenario of more proxy wars to be waged by Israeli allies versus pro-Iranian militants like the Hezbollah, Hamas and the new kid in town: The Houthi rebels sending ballistic missiles and drone attacks at US personnel and interests abroad.
If not reversed by way of innovative diplomatic brinkmanship and new modes of negotiation by voices of reason and moderation in both camps, this squabble has the delicate tendency to be another war of attrition and zero sum theater of mutual annihilation where none of the conflicting parties can claim full victory in the end, a grim scenario transforming our world into a highly volatile tinderbox in our modern world.
One unambiguous truth that all students of history and geopolitics in the region know is that this newest battle is deeply rooted in various antecedents in the past, not just a mere war to prevent one party from obtaining nuclear capabilities nor the redrawing of the political landscape in the Middle East to ensure the continued viable and secured existence of another state by force of arms.
One has to understand that the wellspring of this instant conflict stretches very deep: The 1979 Iranian Revolution led by well-known cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini giving birth to a new Islamic Republic, a theocracy directly in contravention with everything the West stands for, an ideological fight in which anti-Zionist Iran views Israel as an illegitimate setup while the latter believes it is their birthright too to settle in this cherished land of their forefathers especially by Palestinians who occupied the soil before there was a State of Israel in 1948 thru the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917.
Lastly, this present war is, in effect, the materialization of the great geopolitical challenge obtaining in the area today: How could a Jewish state co-exist in a region surrounded by Islamic nations who are likewise very earnestly convinced that they are on the right side of history? Can two divergent and clashing ideologies, highly contrasting religious core values and an irreconcilable cultural makeup co-exist in a genuine state of peace, mutual understanding and intentional toleration? Can one peacefully exist knowing one has cancelled out another human thereby subsuming their Identity and their fate?
Can there be a workable modus vivendi, one that gives primacy to the value of human life over and above our myriad differences in foundational beliefs such as our philosophies of governance, core religious views and cultural makeup?
It behooves us to look far beyond the present conflict so that we will find the strength to find and weigh in the middle ground aided by our many lessons of humanity’s past wars: That though the victors may succeed in reconfiguring the landscape, one must realize the huge Pyrrhic cost of obliterating one’s enemy in terms of the loss of lives of soldiers and non-combatants alike on both sides, the eventual destruction of properties and treasured legacies, of the great humanitarian cost and worse, the deep wound caused by psychological trauma which no amount of remorse nor pecuniary restitution and physical reconstruction can ever hope to recompense our damaged psyche.
Let us remember that all wars are intrinsically complex and multi-faceted, each loss a serious blow to our sense of humanity, bringing us back to that ignominious age where only raw, brute force aggravated by wanton hubris determines who survives and who does not, where the doctrine ‘might is right’ reigns supreme over reason, logic and tolerance.
