I often wonder how the ordinary people of Israel feel about all this – those who just want to live a peaceful life in which decency, justice, and inclusivity prevail. I wonder whether they are aware that Israel has become such a pariah state while the world watches agog at the atrocities being committed by the hard liners and their henchmen. I wonder whether they’re aware that these very actions only serve to augment the blossoming of those anti-Semitic attitudes which Netanyahu uses as a disingenuous shield against every criticism.
And I wondered whether Israel is relying too much on American support to keep them safe in their Middle Eastern bubble. As long as Israel remains of strategic benefit to America, no doubt the support will continue. But what if that situation changes in a world growing ever more fluid and volatile in its allegiances. What then?
There was one more wondering to be done when I’d finished with the questions. I wondered whether the future security of Israel should be placed – by consensus rather than design – in the hands of Israeli mothers. Mothers understand the importance of baby milk in the general scheme of things. Mothers are a power to behold when protecting their cubs. Jewish mothers have always had a high reputation in the matter of strength in such situations. Lionesses have been known to gang up on and kill a bigger male which is threatening their offspring. And I’ve come to a more than tentative suspicion that mothers are the most important people in human society.
Maybe there’s a seed to be planted there in hope. I expect to have gone on my merry way before it does or doesn’t come to fruition.
