A handful of land (revisited)
It all started with an image.
An image I saw of a young man being pulled out of his house; The soldiers who were dragging him were NOT decimating his being (quite unlike the images one is served everyday) even when he was wriggling out their hands and quoting them verses from what looked like a holy book. It was an arresting sight which had so many dimensions to it - One of those images that you want to verbalise and share, an image that you don't dissect and judge but express as a viewer.
A event always has many dimensions and can be viewed through a lot of ways much like a three dimensional object being photographed. The absence of a perspective or a view is not because it was assumed, trivialized, or negated but purely because another perspective was chosen to be showcased. On the same lines, the post on gaza withdrawal did not talk about whether the jews deserved it, or what the palestinians had to go through over the years, or whether palestinians were villains who forced people to leave, or whether what Iraqis suffer is much lesser than what the jews are going through. Each of these topics span posts (or rather books) and are matters that involve a lot of detail and understanding. The post tried to understand what a jewish commoner felt about leaving his home to another land. period. This need to understand is independent of the judgement whether he deserved to do it or not.
To not judge the event was a conscious decision because to make a judgement (or to mention who's to blame) is a responsibility that requires a good understanding of the history that has led to the event. Though I haven't been blind to whatever has happened so far over the years, I am not sure I have the acumen to do so for an international event that has been debated for decades.
However, the important point that I carry from this exchange is - sensitivity factor. Not for a moment did I trivialize the magnitude of the decision or of the dispute that has been raging over the decades. I have utmost respect for the sentiments of both side. However, I realize it's runs much deeper than that. I am not sure how many of us (who commented) are directly related to the events happening there. But such disputes cut deep right through human lives all over the world. Each one takes a personal responsibility towards such problems in his own circle of influence (even if that meant having a strong opinion and keeping himself abreast with updates). So, when someone writes about such issues, it's his responsibility to provide a complete view and weigh events from both sides in the balance of ethics.
I personally still don't judge the youngster who was reading out the holy book to the soldier. I still empathize with his pain. And I will not judge whether what happened was right or wrong. That's me. But glorifying the dream of a promised land and sympathizing with those who leave the land when done in third person implicitly carries a subtext of "Jews being wronged" even when one does not make a ethical judgement about the decision itself. In other words, when I say I sympathize for him, the implicit assumption is I find his stand on the issue justified. And such implicit subtexts in issues as sensitive as this one are louder than the text itself. And that I have realized (do let me know whether my understanding is right).
To reiterate - I usually get my history checked, I feel strongly about the Iraq war, I am DEFINITELY not religiously prejudiced nor do I make emotional judgements when it comes to lives of so many people. This post has been a great learning experience. I hope I have been successful in clarifying what I wanted to convey. I sincerely appreciate all of you who have taken time to let me know what you think.
An image I saw of a young man being pulled out of his house; The soldiers who were dragging him were NOT decimating his being (quite unlike the images one is served everyday) even when he was wriggling out their hands and quoting them verses from what looked like a holy book. It was an arresting sight which had so many dimensions to it - One of those images that you want to verbalise and share, an image that you don't dissect and judge but express as a viewer.
A event always has many dimensions and can be viewed through a lot of ways much like a three dimensional object being photographed. The absence of a perspective or a view is not because it was assumed, trivialized, or negated but purely because another perspective was chosen to be showcased. On the same lines, the post on gaza withdrawal did not talk about whether the jews deserved it, or what the palestinians had to go through over the years, or whether palestinians were villains who forced people to leave, or whether what Iraqis suffer is much lesser than what the jews are going through. Each of these topics span posts (or rather books) and are matters that involve a lot of detail and understanding. The post tried to understand what a jewish commoner felt about leaving his home to another land. period. This need to understand is independent of the judgement whether he deserved to do it or not.
To not judge the event was a conscious decision because to make a judgement (or to mention who's to blame) is a responsibility that requires a good understanding of the history that has led to the event. Though I haven't been blind to whatever has happened so far over the years, I am not sure I have the acumen to do so for an international event that has been debated for decades.
However, the important point that I carry from this exchange is - sensitivity factor. Not for a moment did I trivialize the magnitude of the decision or of the dispute that has been raging over the decades. I have utmost respect for the sentiments of both side. However, I realize it's runs much deeper than that. I am not sure how many of us (who commented) are directly related to the events happening there. But such disputes cut deep right through human lives all over the world. Each one takes a personal responsibility towards such problems in his own circle of influence (even if that meant having a strong opinion and keeping himself abreast with updates). So, when someone writes about such issues, it's his responsibility to provide a complete view and weigh events from both sides in the balance of ethics.
I personally still don't judge the youngster who was reading out the holy book to the soldier. I still empathize with his pain. And I will not judge whether what happened was right or wrong. That's me. But glorifying the dream of a promised land and sympathizing with those who leave the land when done in third person implicitly carries a subtext of "Jews being wronged" even when one does not make a ethical judgement about the decision itself. In other words, when I say I sympathize for him, the implicit assumption is I find his stand on the issue justified. And such implicit subtexts in issues as sensitive as this one are louder than the text itself. And that I have realized (do let me know whether my understanding is right).
To reiterate - I usually get my history checked, I feel strongly about the Iraq war, I am DEFINITELY not religiously prejudiced nor do I make emotional judgements when it comes to lives of so many people. This post has been a great learning experience. I hope I have been successful in clarifying what I wanted to convey. I sincerely appreciate all of you who have taken time to let me know what you think.
posted by Rathish at 1:08 AM
3 Comments:
Either you are getting good or i am losing my touch :) IN any case, nice post (without layers) and yes i did understand your previous post :)
Good one.
Nice writeup. I am the same anonymous who used strong words for your last blog. I am sorry if I had offended you by those strong words. It is just that your obvious, direct, explicit, definite references to Iraq were not visible to my pathetic eyes and I was disappointed.
So let me give myself an identity, so that you can know me whenever I am commenting. Be assured I will be following your blogs with considerable interest.
From your present blog, I understand you were carried away by touching scenes of the jewish evacuation. Such gripping scenes evoke a lot of emotional response rather than plain text stories. A picture is worth a thousand stories. I suggest you visit http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/23/iraq_gallery/index1.html
(you will have to go through some ads to gain access) for some images from Iraq. I hope this atleast will motivate you to write something about the plight of the people there.
@Kopos - thanks man!
@Hani_suleiman - I am really glad we got that out of our ways :) Shall definitely look at the link you have mentioned. But frankly, one doesn't require any EXTRA inspiration for the iraq war.
@Kumari - thanks :) I refrain from saying more (here) :)
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