“Rachel Weeping for Her Children”

By Geoffrey Cook, TMO

Ashland (Ore.)–In this my third opinion piece in a row, I take my title from my own translation into English of the (poetic) Twelfth Hymn of the Latin Church Father, Aurelius Prudentius’ (Fourth Century [C.E.]), Liber Catemerinon.  I choose to do so to emphasize the impact of the past few weeks over the sacred space of the three religions of the Patriarch/ Prophet Abraham (as) has had upon our consciousness and emotions.  It describes the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents (toddlers) by the king over the Jews, Herod, — who had been imposed by the Romans — at Bethlehem at the birth of that Common Era (C.E.).  For me, it is one of the most beautiful passages of all literature.  It begins with a graphic description of the gruesome slaughter of the mere (metaphorical) “babes” of Rachel (the wife of the Prophet Abraham (as)) and ends in a paen of joy that the Prophet Issa (as) was able to escape the carnage to Egypt.

These thoughts were, also, engendered my correspondence with a quite forward-thinking Rabbi and publisher of the progressive Jewish-American publication Tikkun, Michael Lerner, of Berkeley (Calif.).  Before and after the three Israeli boys had gone missing the Rabbi had published some very soul-searching dialog in his magazine from within and  without the Jewish tradition and after the situation had unfolded, questioning of why it had all gone awry.

Below are my positions on the events that have evolved: 

1.    Any crime against a child is despicable and should be decried!

2.    Although the magnitude of the crimes against the children in Occupied Territory, unfortunately, for the Jews of the Diaspora, rest squarely upon the shoulder of the Jewish State.

3.  Under International law, those children should not have been on Palestinian land.  This only emphasizes the need to come to an agreement on the conundrum, and, if in proposed swaps of turf, their Settlement was within the Hebrew State — that would settle the legal question.

3.    I doubt Hamas has any responsibility to do with this although rogue elements of  that Party may have been involved, but that Party is a Democratic one as the (former) U.S. President James Carter has attested. The Israeli State is using this incident to purposely destroy the Hamas-Fatah technocratic unity government, and, I sense, therefore, that there is a likelihood that the Mossad or Shin Bet or another rogue element of that alien sectarian entity may have been  aroused by Tel Aviv’ irresponsible rhetoric.

4.    The Israeli government policy of collective punishment in reaction to this presumption of Palestinian criminality is a Crime against Humanity which was delineated as reaction to Nazi occupations during the Second World War which is part and parcel of the Zionist Raison d’Etre for their Rogue State!

What has followed has shown the deepest criminality of the Israeli State and her citizens.  Before the Israeli boys were found dead, a (Christian) Palestinian Professor at the University of Bethlehem, Mazin Qumsiyeh, reported that the search for the Israeli youth had indiscriminately killed one hundred and fifty Palestinian souls – many of whom were children…the Israeli Prime Minister himself has become the second (“King” [of infanticide ]“) Herod!

Then, a rampant mob of ravening “religious” Jews in their apostasy tortured/tore a young Arab boy burning him to death, and beat his young cousin, an American citizen, so badly that he may never fully recover.  Israel should never be left unpunished by the U.S. government!  Washington has engendered a monster it must contain!

Further, this lynch violence has morphed into War Crimes against the Innocents of Gaza!  Myriads more blameless children have been massacred to the rapid Zionist Moloch!

Rachael still wails for her children!

16-30