By Rabi Raj Thapa Israel is not Bangladesh. Even after a nationwide strike and protest, neither a civilian nor one police personnel have died in Israel. But when the six hostages were out of Israel’s control, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to beg forgiveness. It shows Israel has democracy inside the country however under the dictatorial rule of Benjamin Netanyahu.     The word forgiveness in peace and reconciliation first appeared in South African Apartheid autocratic rule where the White European minority segregated the majority of native black South Africans from 1948 to 1994. The major mantras in the South African Peace Process were “peace and reconciliation” and“Forgive and Forget” in which the main architect of the peace process was the Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. When asked about “Forgive and Forget” he had firmly said, “We may Forgive but may never Forget”. Here, the context of forgiveness sought by Nelson Mandela and black South Africans cannot be equated with Netanyahu’s plea for forgiveness out of blind fury, use of force and killing of civilians.    Because there are few leaders even today that fit Archbishop Tutu’s description of “Human but not quite as Human as others”. If Desmond Tutu was alive today what would he say about a leader like Benjamin Netanyahu with his blind, adamant behavior in the indiscriminate killing of children, women and elderly Palestinians? While South Africa was about to get its freedom from White supremacist rule, Archbishop Tutu had said, "One day Nelson Mandela is in prison, next day, he is out; then it is Freedom and Democracy". While addressing at the University of California Television, he said “Imagine if we had chosen the path of retribution and revenge, our country would have been in ashes by now. When you nurture a grudge, your blood pressure sooth-up; and...when you forgive, your blood pressure goes down...Physical well-being reflects your spiritual well-being. So forgiving is good for your health”. Now compare his inner feeling of “reflections of a wounded healer” of leaders like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu to Benjamin Netanyahu’s hounding demeanor. The question now is: Will the Israelis and the Palestinians ever be able to forge the hatred and differences that they brew for such a long time?   It is surprising that Isreal's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked forgiveness for killing six hostages by Hamas but will he ever repent and ask for forgiveness for killing forty thousand plus women, children and elderly Palestinians who may have nothing to do with Hamas and Hezbollah?

Israeli strikes across Gaza. Photo: AP

Seeing all these tragedies, the first ceasefire was certainly a great relief to the aggrieved parties and even to the people all over the world. Now, US Secretary Anthony Blinken’s untiring shuttle diplomacy and the US Government’s efforts to bring ceasefire and peace fall flat. But there is a paradox in how world communities are forced to believe that whatever the Hamas and Hezbollah or Houthis do, there is Iran all over. But when the Israelis use all money and weapons, tanks and bombs supplied and supported by the US and the West, they are nowhere to be seen or mentioned. All this cannot be done by Israel only. The paradox is the surprising appeasement of the US to Israel’s wired magical thinking of eliminating Hamas physically and in principle and ideas. Benjamin Netanyahu does not care what America thinks as much as what the Israeli citizens think. It is also a pity to see the failure and helplessness of the international communities; especially international organizations like the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Today, the International Court of Justice’s failure to save and protect Palestinian lives is appalling.   Today, there is no more hope and aspiration for a moral universe as envisioned by great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Let’s Hope, things will change for the better.    LET PEACE AND HARMONY PREVAIL ALL OVER THE WORLD.