Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
~ Santayana, “The Life of Reason,” Vol. 1
Although the great Spanish philosopher Santayana wrote these sublime words many years ago about different historical events, today, as I watch Israel attacked by Hamas from the south in Gaza and now in a recent series of savage rocket attacks raining down on Israel out of Lebanon from the north, I hear the visionary words of Santayana ringing in my ears like one of the ancient prophets of Israel: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
All nations and people of goodwill certainly knew that when Israel kicked their own people out of Gaza in 2005 and gave the land totally to the Palestinians that this policy by Olmert’s Kadima Party would only solidify Hamas’ dictatorial power over that area and make it easier for them to launch unmitigated terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens in neighboring cities. I deem Olmert’s policy tantamount to an act of treason by the Israeli government against their own people.
Surely no rational person should be surprised by the new war front Israel no doubt will soon fight again to the north as rockets out of Lebanon, sent by Hezbollah after two years of “peace,” rain down on innocent Jewish civilians in neighboring cities and even inside the kitchen of a senior citizens home.
Where is the rage from the United Nations about these unprovoked atrocities against tiny Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah? There is no mercy or empathy for the Jews, only resentment, jealously and malediction. All Israel desires is to live in peace, to fulfill the words of the prophet Micah:
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. ~ Micah 4:4
Yet, for all of her gestures of peace, conciliation and compromise, the Jewish people in Israel are rewarded with almost incessant rocket and mortar attacks. No other civilized nation on earth would tolerate for one week what Israel has tolerated for eight years since Hamas began to dominate Gaza – over 10,000 rocket attacks against innocent men, women, children and elderly Israeli citizens while the world watches almost in total indifference or gleeful joy regarding the plight of the Jews.
Yet, I hear the words of Santayana ringing in my ears: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Both my people (black Americans) and Jews share an ignominious legacy of slavery, racism, racial hatred and racial discrimination, but we also share in the transcendent redemption of God over our oppressors. It was in this wise that the great civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, at what would be his final sermon on civil rights, on the night of April 3, 1968, said these profound, prophetic words no doubt inspired by Moses and the Jews in Egypt:
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!
Black ministers before and after MLK repeatedly borrowed from the Jews poignant and oftentimes tragic experiences chronicled in the Torah. A favorite Torah story that had striking parallels to the history of black slavery and racial discrimination in America was Israel’s 430 years of slavery to the Pharaohs of Egypt. Yes, in a sense MLK was black people’s modern-day Moses who on the night before his death, with clarity and resolve, stared at his grim destiny and did not flinch. He knew that one of his many assassins would soon find their mark, yet courageously like Moses, who stood pensively at the mountaintop to view the Promised Land, MLK figuratively ascended to the mountaintop and peered off into the great distance.
Indeed, MLK, like his Old Testament counterpart, would not have the honor of getting to the “promised land,” but because of his singular courage, moral authority and faith in God, MLK saw ahead to a better time that my fellow black Americans and I are now blessed to enjoy these 41 years after his untimely death – freedom, liberty, peace, the pursuit of happiness and the possibility to be whatever our minds can conceive … even president of the United States. Only in America!
Regrettably, like Israel, my people have not fully realized King’s dream (or Moses’ dream, for that matter), but many of my people are instead mired in pathology, promiscuity, ignorance, crime and Kafkaesque groupthink. Therefore, I hear the words of Santayana ringing in my ears: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Returning to my subject of Israel and the conflict with Hamas and Gaza in the south and Hezbollah and Lebanon in the north, here is the conclusion of the matter:
- Israel must annex Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem and all of Israel. This isn’t “occupied territory,” but land given to the Jews by God, paid for by Jewish martyrs going back to antiquity;
- Israel must then reoccupy Lebanon and drive Hezbollah into Syria to have a buffer against these renewed terrorist attacks from her northern flank.
Of course, this will take much time and effort by Israel. In the meantime, liberals here in America, corrupt, anti-Semitic bureaucrats of the United Nations and the Muslim nation states all clamor to draft a suitable cease-fire treaty for Gaza. Politics aside, in my view there will never be an adequate and enduring cease-fire treaty for Israel until Israel withdraws its membership from the anti-Semitic United Nations so that they won’t feel obligated to obey any more of their illogical mandates.
Yes, since my unequivocal stand with Israel, I have received a lot of hate mail from Jews, Muslims and gentiles alike all over the world. Nevertheless, this is a small price to pay for the courageous Jews that fall prey to the merciless attacks from Hamas, Fatah and all of the other Palestinian terrorist groups, and yes, with a tinge of irony, Jews who are victims of the secular, socialist policies of their elected Israeli leaders.
My final sentiment to you, Israel, my friend is hesed (hear with the idea of obedience): Hear the words of the philosopher, Santayana: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Hunter’s pardon hits close to home
Lt. Col. James Zumwalt