Stuck in Quicksand...Sinkly Slowly

     Francisco Goya’s painting, of two men fighting with clubs, up to their knees in the mire/quicksand, clubbing each other, slowly sinking, in a duel to the death( fig 1-a)….. They are Israelis and the Palestinians. There seems to be no end to this conflict (Abraham’s betrayal/rejection of Hagar and Ishmael of biblical lore, this blood feud, replaying itself over and over again, ad infinitum, becoming bloodier and bloodier.

     Freud opined that there is no conflict bloodier than that between close relatives, and it   is so true in this case. For the past 42 years, they have been going at it and any and all excuses are used to justify it. There seems to be an insatiable blood lust, and this most recent senseless brutality, just feeds the appetite for more. Massive destruction, hundreds of dead and thousands of injuries are par for the course.

     War is the failure of politics, and as Sherman noted, it is hell. Hell has come to the Gazans and there will be hell to pay. In the meantime the world rings its hands like a frail maiden and so called leaders (Bush, Brown, and Harper etc), stand by impotently like castrated eunuchs

                   

                                                   Ishwar Prashad (www.retiredprof .com)