All too human

By Rabi Raj Thapa

After the October 7 HAMAS attack on Israel and the hostage saga, everyday TV news covered only destruction, killings, bombing and bad news. People who had little to do with the Middle East conflict and war just watched from inside their room judging, praising and condemning Israel, Iran, the United States and other nations directly or indirectly connected to it. But the world just continued analyzing and talking about Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Khomeini, and HAMAS leaders while thousands of unarmed Palestinian women and children were dying from aerial dumb bombs, drones, missiles, tanks and bullets. Most Western TV showed the fear and anger of hostages’ families in Israel. Al-Jazeera showed pictures of devastated buildings, hospitals, refugee camps into rubbles and the killing of journalists and civilians. The world got divided to rejoice or mourn the killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders all around the world.

Contemporary world events have made world leaders too familiar to their own neighbors and national leaders. Now, US President Donald Trump has replaced Joe Biden and Kamala Harris who is moving and shaking the world events in a supersonic mode. His magic has worked in the Middle East to bring a ceasefire within no time. Now Israeli Street has seen happiness and smiles on the faces of all Israelis and relatives of the released hostages. On the other side, there was a transitory relief and happiness of the prisoners realized from Israeli prisons. For the first time after October 7, people could see the same positive emotional reactions from both hostile foes.

The news tempted me to pick up the book from my book rack “Why Men Fight” written by Bertrand Russell. In that book, he writes, “The supreme principle, both in politics and in private life, should be to promote all that is creative, and so to diminish the impulses and desires that center around possession.” This is exactly what I find in leaders like Netanyahu and Donald Trump.

Every dumb leader cultivates blind arrogance whether it is any Nepali supreme leader, Putin Benjamin Netanyahu or the latest Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s proud proclamation to be the first foreign visitor to meet Donald Trump is just an example. Instead, he should think of the ongoing ceasefire, and successful completion of the fourth prisoner-captive exchange, and think of stop bombing and killing and think of the second stage of negotiation during the ceasefire period.  

It was Russell who had written an essay in 1914 October titled “Why Nations Love War” in the periodical, War and Peace. I wonder, how many of today’s contemporary world leaders pay any attention and value to what he had then suggested? You can start from Putin, Zelensky, Donald Trump, Netanyahu, NATO and EU leaders to African Warlords! Today, it is painful to see hundreds and thousands of civilians and non-combatants suffering in their war games. When will they read and listen to leaders like Gandhi and Russell?   

Scanning all these war-mongering world leaders from my Oriental head, I see all these leaders just likewise Ravana and powerful Duryodhana and Karna; who are extremely powerful, there is no doubt, but they have more destructive energies; malicious and hostile.

Leaving the world events apart, when I compare these leaders to our new Nepali Republican leaders, I feel pity and see them just engrossed in petty political infighting just like little kids fighting in a trivial game of marbles. (guchha ko khel) 

To summarize, I wish and pray that it would have been so good if both warring parties could cease hostilities to save lives in the Middle East whether Palestinians or the Israelis; Jews or Muslims.

Because, after all, Both Israelis and Palestinians; Russians and Ukrainians are all too human.