It's in my heart to say something about what's happening in Gaza. I am - praying, if you will - for the people of Israel at this time because I'm afraid that they've lost their way and that they're amassing some really horrible karma.
I think I can see their frustration with the terrorists blindly firing rockets over the fence into Israel, but it's Israel's fence and I think they have a responsibility for the custody of the people confined within it. I try to imagine circumstances - levels of gang activity, etc. - that would justify putting walls around an entire population and then directing fire on them with bombs and artillery, and I can't get there. We don't do this in prison riots where everybody in there is presumably guilty of something.
What is Israel's objective? The Hamas militants firing those rockets are criminals whose objective is to destabilize the relationship between Israel and the Arab world. As with our response to 9/11, certainly Israel has been provoked; but will their response advance their objectives or Hamas'. What is being created inside that fence? Peace?
L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa, whose sincerity on any topic is open to question, spoke today of the fear in the eyes of Israeli children. Children within the Gaza perimeter have reportedly stopped reacting to incoming strikes because there is no break. Will these children be able to live together when this is finished?
There's an expression I remember from my younger days: "Kill them all and let God sort them out." I understand where that comes from, but it has never, ever led to lasting peace.
