Holy Land Report
A 19 year-old official of the German Foreign Office mounts the Lufthansa plane to Athens.
His Name,Hans-Guenter Pahl, his destination: - German Embassy Tel Aviv - Israel.
He is flying for the first time, he senses the unfolding of a world new to him ...
The flight is calm and the sensation of flying above the clouds is indescribably beautiful, freedom and challenge at the same time, very strong and very impressive ...
He is flying towards a new future and he senses a strange,deep inner feeling which excites him, as this first flight seems special and fateful.
His assignment is to last 3 months according to his " Marching Order ",he is to perfect his English language skills, his superiors in Bonn demand of him.
After a short transit-stop in Athen the last phase of the journey commences, an Air France plane delivers him and the other passengers savely to Tel Aviv.. The excitement is great, he trembles and gets goose bubbles. It's 19:00 the sky is red and purple colored, nightfall starts swift without any interim, an unusual,fascinating phenomina.
Tel Aviv was his choice, the first overseas assignment.
The suffering and dying, the sytematic genocide of the Jewish people was deeply engraved in his soul, the holocaust kept him pre-occupied since childhood.
The henchmen and monsters with the scull ensignia were Germans, spoke his mother-tongue, sang the same songs ....
Everyday during his training he looked up to the Star of David in the new synagogue in Bonn, just opposite the Foreign Office.
June 1967, the six-day war, just a few months back....
The worries over Israel's existence was great
Nasser had loudmouthed the annihalition of Israel,wiping Israel off the map, and driving the Jews into the sea.
But with God's help the Israeli Army could turn the tide.
The heavy burden lifted,the drunkness with victory, the invinsibilty of the Israeli Army,Euphoria and Optimism marked the new Israel after 1967.
An Euphoria with a bitter aftertaste,Occupation - KIBUSH
Refugees,new suffering,a heavy fate.The shadow-side of Palestine.
The Palestinians had hoped for victory,now much greater suffering than ever before awaited them.
New Refugee-Camps,the trauma of 1948 reached a new peak with the new trauma of 1967. The number of refugees swell,the suffering became unbearable, the number of camps grew, the tragedy further unfolded ...
The 3 months stay was extended by another 3 months.
I already have new orders to proceed to my next station abroad " Strassburg ", but fate decided differently.
39 years have passed since, 3 months turned into 39 years ....
My God where have YOU send me ? YOU, not the German Foreign Service in Bonn
YOU let me go this path alone,with new ideas,not belonging to any camp,not following the call of other movements,alone yet not quite alone,for YOU are with me, and liftest me up from the dust when I want to utterly dispair, want to run, as the burden seems too heavy .....
The only thing this person wants is - PEACE MAKING, EASING SUFFERING, a voice of peace and reconciliation in the desert of ignorance,despise and increasing violence
THAT is his mission which he has received from the highest authority !
Simply stupid and naiiv according to some, brave and praiseworthy to others.
And around me a seemingly intact world, but the dispair is everywhere present
Within a 100 kilometer radius daily dramas are taken place. Dramas we want nothing to know about, because we are living our seemingly carefree life.
The 39 years old occupation is unbearable and unsustainable for both sides.
Violence and counter-violence, terror, blood and tears.
And nobody really wants to give in, or is uncapable of giving in, in order not to jeopardize the own existence. Surrender means losing and certain death, suicide ...
We condem all forms of violence, especially the Islamic Extremists' suicide bombings against the civilian population !
On the one hand terrorists kill in cold blood little,innocent Jewish children in their beds, on the other hand Israeli tanks fire their heavy grenades into the cities, bomb from the air, which also hit innocent civilians.
The Army makes too many mistakes and apologizes, but no apology and regret will make the victims come alive again ....
And from the towns and camps too many raids and rocket firing aimed in the direction of Israel, hoping for a moderate response since the civilians serve as human shields
The retaliation follows promptly and new victims are bemourned .....
Civilians must never be misused as human shields !
Every day new graves are being dug, every day, somewhere in the Holy Land the soil is soaked with blood. A land devours its children. The mutual,inhuman gridlock is so terrible for all concerned, the suffering and dispair is gigantically big.
Both sides sacrifice their children and sons,like raging wolves, with teeth in deadly gridlock into each others throats.
Oh Lord have Mercy ! My God whereto have YOU sent me ?
I hate senseless killing and slaughter, the children drop so quietly and motionlessly to the ground,fatally wounded ...
PEACE ? - Where is this peace ? Only on the grave-yard Holy Land ?
NO - We must not dispair and must continue to find a peaceful solution. we must !
Unable to ease the suffering I drop beside the dead bodies,embrace them a last time, wet them with my hot tears,
bemourning the dead of this holy but war-torn land.
We all only want the ONE thing - to live in Peace,some Happiness,some Security,some Love ....but everybody just wants it only for themselves, instead of sharing. Two People and one Land, how can that only continue ??? Nobody really has an answer to this question, not Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,not Ramallah and Gaza,not Washington and New York,not Berlin and Strassburg, and not even Moscow.
And the Fallen ? They all are our children, whether Jews or Muslims or Christians, how small,helpless and shivering we stand bevor the deathbeds,unable to look into one anothers' eyes.
Our Children,our Mothers, our Fathers, our Brothers, our Sisters often unregocnizable bodies wrapped in colorful flag-cloth. Red - Black - White - Green on the one hand, Blue - White - Blue with the Star of David the others ...
Shots,Shouting Ralleys, unleashed hatred and calls for revenge outnoice the mournings of the grieving families
So more hatred and more violence after each funeral !
A vicious circle growing bigger and bigger
Dreams and Illusions turn to dust
Most of them are still much too young, havening barely started to live their lives, our poor deads, some were blinded and full of hatred, some only acted out of fear, many ,much too many were just caught in the firing lines between the fronts.
And on all sides just empty talk without resolve ...Yet,
Lord have mercy on them and us !