Chris McDonnell: Is the cost too high?

The attack by Hamas on the state of Israel is less than a year distant, but the havoc of those weeks and months is immense. Tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and injured including hostages taken on October 7th, countless homes destroyed leaving piles of rubble on the streets, wrecked vehicles twisted and torn by the roadside, their work life over. A huge cost, all for what?

There have been openings of hope, when talking began, times when hostages and prisoners were exchanged, but it was all too little, too late. Recently in a raid to free October 7th captives, the IDF brought out four adults, three men and a young woman. And the cost of their freedom? Over 200 Palestinian lives. And the war drags on. Although the song recorded by Donovon relates to the conflict on Vietnam from the 60s, verse 2 could be applied with equal directness to Gaza city of our present time.

…Found himself involved in a sea of blood and bones
Millions without faces, without hope and without homes
And the guns they grew louder as they made dust out of bones
That the flesh had long since left just as the people had left their homes

What can justify carnage such as this, and the loss of so many lives, the destruction of so many homes? And the war drags on………………

Gaza city is reduced to a state of near famine as promised aid fails to materialize.

What of the future? How do we begin to rebuild after such devastation? Rebuild lives families and homes, shops and markets?

Even hospitals have not been spared the consequence of tank fire. Toleration exercised through the two-state solution is the only realistic option. It is tragic that such violence becomes the regular pattern of life for so many. The words of Christ on the cross apply to both sides.

            “Father forgive them for they know not what they do“

To continue in the present manner offers little hope of realistic resolution. We must ask serious questions about the supply of munitions and hardware, the very substance that fuels this conflict.

Only then can we begin to remake a world that has been so degraded, lives so torn by circumstances not of their own choosing.

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