A Sublime Irony

I watched a TV report tonight, on the clearance of Palestinian dwellings in and around east Jerusalem. Men, women and children were in tears as they were evicted from houses their families had lived in since 1948. They watched helpless as their homes were bulldozed. The talk was all of ‘rights,’ ‘ownership,’ and an ‘eviction budget’ that had to be met. I know little of Israeli politics, but I have to wonder why the talk should have to be about rights and ownership, instead of compassion and justice. Some might accuse me of being naïve and unrealistic. No, I’m not; I’m just being human. It fills me with dread when I see young Israelis waving the Star of David triumphantly, while their ethnic inferiors suffer. There is a sublime irony in seeing the Israeli police behaving like the SS. Sometimes I lose faith in the human race.