Dear God,
It’s me once again discussing war and suffering in the Middle East.
Saint Matthew, who once loved money more than he loved You, wrote in Chapter 18 of his Gospel that Christ taught us that being like a child is a key to life with You. “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish,” Jesus says further in Matthew 18:14 (NIV).
I find it hard to fathom that more than 13,000 children have perished in Gaza and famine could take thousands more as reported by UNICEF. Last month the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN agency mandated to save lives from hunger, warned that it ran out of food stocks in Gaza.
The shortage of food and medical supplies is due to Israel’s two-month blockade of Gaza. Now, according to The Post, Israel has plans to use U.S. security contractors to distribute aid in Gaza as a condition to lifting its blockade. This is troublesome. Militarization of food aid is not just counter to humanitarian spirit, it also has the potential to endanger more lives in Gaza.
Remember God, the time I did humanitarian work, during the final years of Angola’s civil war? Organizations such as WFP were allowed to operate not just in government-controlled areas, but also in areas controlled by rebel forces. Everyone – including the rebels – understood we were there not for war but to help lessen human suffering.
God, what happened in Israel on Oct. 7 was horrible. It must have hurt Your heart that nearly 1,200 humans lost their lives that day. Some of the hostages taken perished while in Hamas’ hands. It’s understandable that Israel would be angry, but the disproportionate military response is why “Gaza has become a mass grave for Palestinians and those helping them,” as Doctors Without Borders warned last month.
Not just members of Hamas have been killed. Those who have died include children, women, journalists, aid workers and medics. Media organizations, including CBS News, NBC News, Reuters and BBC News, said the war in Gaza has left more than 50,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health officials. And those U.S.-made 2,000-pound bombs dropped by Israel also add to the fear that more than 10,000 people are buried under the rubble.
The war against Hamas, God, is also decimating civilians. The effort to eradicate Hamas, God, is threatening more innocent lives, including the Palestinian child in a video by Reuters. Before the war, the child was a well-nourished, joyful child. In the present, the child is skin and bones, ribs appearing like rungs across his upper torso, arms appearing like bamboo sticks, eyes sunken behind his forehead. Since the year started, there have been thousands of cases of acute to severe malnutrition among Gaza children.
My speaking against the war in Gaza is my making it clear that I do not condone the use of violence to end violence. I believe as Gandhi believed, God, that an eye for an eye makes humanity less able to see human suffering.
How can we help this government realize that it is disingenuous to label those who are calling for an end to the war in Gaza anti-Semitic? How can we help this government realize the harm in arresting and detaining students for exercising their constitutional rights to petition the government? How can we help this government realize that it is unconstitutional to deny people in these United States their right to free speech, including sharing opinions in the press? What can we do to help this government respect the First Amendment, which protects all people in the United States?
Please give us wisdom, God, to help sow lasting peace in the Middle East and everlasting well-being of Jews as well as Palestinians.
A kind wisdom reported in the Bible in legends such as king Solomon. In a dream, Solomon asked from You not wealth, not might, not youth, but wisdom. In return, You granted him immense wisdom, which he used in administering justice to his people.
God, our leaders, especially those who claim to follow Christ, ought to refrain from militarism that includes supporting the use of weapons of mass destruction on children, denying children food, denying children medicines, denying children shelter, denying children peace.
The world does not need hate. The world needs kindness. “If you show kindness to all men and win their friendship, you need fear no one,” as written in the Letter of Aristeas, a document from the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible.
Christ taught us that a person’s actions can show Your nature is kindness. And Jesus asked us to put this kindness into action by creating safe and welcoming spaces for children – in Jerusalem, in Gaza, in the West Bank, all over the world.
Christ taught us You are love, which Jesus commanded we give to our friends as well as those we label our enemies.
Tolerance, goodness, patience, empathy, sympathy, mercy, are also Your nature.
All make the “bread of life.”
Sadly, God, life is made dead in Gaza.
Walter Suza of Ames writes frequently on the intersections of spirituality, anti-racism and social justice. He can be contacted at wsuza2020@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Suza: All children deserve love – Palestinian and Jewish alike
Reporting by Walter Suza / Ames Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
