By Babatunde Jose

Where science ends, philosophy starts. Stephen Hawking was perfectly in line with the ancient philosophers when he acknowledged that physics points to the deeper questions of metaphysics. Indeed, when questions stop becoming scientific, they start becoming philosophical.

The mystery of death is a subject that has fascinated human beings for millennia. Although death is inevitable, it remains a mysterious and frightening phenomenon for many. Religions and beliefs have attempted to provide answers to this question, but death remains an unfathomable mystery.

What precisely happens at the time of death is a question that theologians have struggled over for centuries but have never answered satisfactorily.

Whether there is life after death is a mystery that remains unanswered, and the belief in an afterlife varies widely across cultures and religions. Some people believe that death is the end of existence, while others believe that it is a transition to another form of life or consciousness.

Transmigration of souls, also known as reincarnation or rebirth, is the idea that a soul lives on after death and takes on a new body. The term comes from ancient Greek philosophy, and is a central tenet of many religions and belief systems. This is a topic for another day which would also include the Yoruba concept of ‘Akudaya’ (Akudaya is a supernatural phenomenon in Yoruba culture that involves the dead coming back to life, often after burial, and in places where they were not known in life). The name Akudaya is also used to describe the transmigrated souls. In Yoruba culture, Akudaya is a central part of beliefs about reincarnation and mysterious sightings. It is also known as “Abarameji” in Yoruba culture.

There is however a concept which the Abrahamic religions agree upon; that of Resurrection, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment and what have you. There are however debates about the nature of the resurrection: Will it be only of the soul or bodily resurrection?

In the history of religion, the term eschatology refers to conceptions of the last things: Immortality of the soul, rebirth, resurrection, migration of the soul, and the end of time.

The concept of Qiyamah, or the Day of Resurrection, is a central theme in the Quran and Islamic eschatology: The dead will be resurrected and will be judged for their deeds and faith. The Quran describes how Allah will resurrect people in the same shape, size, and state they were created in, including their fingerprints.

Surah Al-Qiyamah, Quran 75, is devoted to the subject of resurrection. It refutes doubts about the possibility of resurrection and includes themes such as God’s ability to raise the dead bodily.

On the Day of Judgment the (trumpet) will be sounded twice. The result of the first sound will be that everything – the earth, the skies and every living thing in between will perish and when the second sound is given, every dead thing will come back to life.

This therefore alludes to the fact that after death, there would be a bodily resurrection. This is clearly mentioned in the Qur’an: Does man think that We will not assemble his bones?  Yes. [We are] Able [even] to proportion his fingertips.(Quran 75:3-4)

To exemplify the powers to resurrect man bodily for Judgment on the Day of Qiyamah, Allah used the story of the ‘People of the Cave in Surah Al Kahf as an example, See Surah Kahf 9-26.

The story includes lessons, signs, and evidence that testify to the great Power of Allah, ta`ala, and His Wisdom in managing His creations. As narrated, the details of the story proceed as follows:

A king named “Duqyanus”( Roman Emperor Decius 249-251 AD) ordered the people in his territory “Afsus” (Ephesus near the modern village of Selcuk western Turkey) to worship idols. There were some young men who refused to worship the idols having been recent converts to the one true God. Christian legend also speaks about a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus (modern-day Selçuk, Turkey) around AD 250.

The king was informed about them and was told, “Those people left your religion, and mocked and defied your idols.” The king called them to his court and ordered them to leave Islam. He threatened them with death if they declined. Then he sent them back to their homes.

In the meantime, King Duqyanus traveled. Those young men took advantage of his departure and consulted each other about running away to rescue their faith.

One of them said, “I know a cave in the mountain. My father used to secure the sheep in it. Let us go there and hide until Allah grants us victory.” They all agreed and fled to the cave.

There were seven of them: Makaslamin, Amlikha, MaraTonis, Yanyunis, Sazamunis, Dawanawanis, and KashfiTiT. Eastern Christian tradition names them Maximilian, Jamblichus, Martin, John, Dionysius, Antonius, and Constantine.

The story is recounted in the Quran’s 18^th Surah, eponymously called the “Surah of the Cave” (Surah al-Kahf). A barking dog named “QiTmir” also followed them.

In the cave, they found fruits and water. They ate and drank. And a few moments later, they slept off on the floor and were in slumber; they were prevented from hearing anything.

Their eyes were wide open, because it was better for them to be exposed to the air so that they would not get impaired with lengthy closure.

It was also narrated that an honorable angel was in charge of turning them around, to avoid sore. After three hundred and nine years of sleep, Allah woke them up.

However, King Duqyanus had long passed away. A pious king was on the throne. The people of the city at that time were engaged in a hot debate over the true nature of resurrection. The king was distressed over the issue. So he made a supplication to ask Allah to make the truth known.

Amlikha, one of the men in the cave who was sent in search of food, reached the city of “Afsus” and looked confused and hesitant. Someone asked him, “Are you a stranger to this city, and what are you looking for?” He said, “I am not a stranger and I am looking for food to buy. I did not find the place where I used to buy food.”

The man led him to the owner of a restaurant. Amlikha took his money out and gave it to the seller. The seller wondered, because the coin had the picture of King Duqyanus on it. That king died three hundred years ago. He thought Amlikha had discovered a treasure and had a wealth of money in his possession. People gathered around Amlikha and took him to the righteous king.

The news of Amlikha reached the king before his own arrival. The king was in fact waiting for him eagerly, because he had heard the story of the youngsters from his grandfather. When Amlikha came, the king asked him about his story. So Amlikha told him what happened to him and his friends.

The king was pleased and said to his people, “Certainly, Allah sent you a sign to show the truth about what you differ.”

The king, along with the people of the city, walked with Amlikha to the cave. After that, Allah concealed the cave and its trace from the sight of the people.

Allah made the story a lesson and reminder to the people of His awesome powers.

Say: “Allah knows best how long they stayed: with Him is (the knowledge of) the secrets of the heavens and the earth: how clearly He sees, how finely He hears (everything)! They have no protector other than Him; nor does He share His Command with any person whatsoever. (Quran 18:26)

The second story that exemplifies the doctrine of bodily resurrection is that of Prophet Uzair (AS). Uzair is considered a righteous prophet in Islam who was sent to guide the Israelites. He is thought to have lived between the time of Suleiman and Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist.

Almighty Allah said: Or are you not aware of the one who passed by a city which was in ruins. He wondered, “How could Allah bring this back to life after its destruction?” So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years then brought him back to life. Allah asked, “How long have you remained ˹in this state?” He replied, “Perhaps a day or part of a day.” Allah said, “No! You have remained here for a hundred years! Just look at your food and drink—they have not spoiled. But now look at the remains of your donkey! And so We have made you into a sign for humanity. And look at the bones of the donkey, how We bring them together then clothe them with flesh!” When this was made clear to him, he declared, “Now I know that Allah is Most Capable of everything.” (Quran 2: 259)

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

By Babatunde Jose

“The state of man is exemplified in a flower: The flower falls and perishes, so shall man also become ashes. If thou couldst know who thou art, and whence thou comest, Thou wouldst never smile, but ever weep. There are three things which often make me lament : First, it is a hard thing to know that I must die ; Secondly, I fear because I do not know when I shall die ; Thirdly, I weep because I do not know what will become of me hereafter.” George Corfe-Man and His Many Changes

Death is the most profound and mysterious aspect of life for most of us because no matter what stories we have heard, we cannot figure out what it is. Neither science nor philosophy is able to figure out what death is. The spiritual process is not about death as you are seeking something which is deeper than death. There is however a contending mystery; that of life itself.

To approach life as a mystery invites us to adopt a mindset of curiosity and wonder. Instead of seeking rigid answers and conclusive explanations, we become open to the possibilities that unfold before us.

For many living beings on this planet, death is the greatest mystery of them all. Through artifacts, specimens, interactive and immersive media experiences, discover amazing animal adaptations for survival and learn how various cultures commemorate life.

Mysteries surround us all; they are there for the looking and the finding. It is crucial for us to accept that mystery exists in all our lives. This takes humility and a realization that we cannot, ever, know everything. Mystery even resides in the ordinary and the mundane.

The secret of life is to see everything with a non-serious eye, but to be absolutely involved. This approach to life is very important because your life has a beginning and an end. It is not an eternity.

Science tells us a lot about how things are, but does little if anything to tell us why things are. And the study of metaphysics, as interesting as it is, is peripheral to the art of living in the now and finding peace among the challenges of day-to-day life.

 Life is full of tough questions. Some of which we can answer, others we can’t. We shouldn’t shrink from facing these questions, but after a while it’s okay to let them go — to make peace with them. At some point we have to get on with living the life that’s in front of us each day and let some of the mysteries remain mysteries.

The Quran says:  Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. (Quran 5:101)

There is however, no doubt, the world is full of inexplicable happenings that boggle our mind and which science cannot explain especially as they relate to life.

The only rational explanation of the great mysteries of nature, is the one that has commended itself not only to theologians, but to many of the greatest scientific thinkers and philosophers, who have found themselves compelled to see, the more deeply they have studied the universe, that from beginning to end, from the primordial electrons of the Atom to the circling Planet, from the structureless Bioplast, to Man, through all, in all, there is, “A Manifestation of Creative Power, a Directive Mind, and an Ultimate Purpose.”

There are vast differences pointed out between Life and the physical forces which we can measure by their manifestations. We cannot measure Life; we can measure heat, electricity, magnetism, mechanical power but we cannot thus measure Life. We can convert the modes of energy into each other, as we do with our steam engines, our electric light and power stations, but who can transform any of those into Life? We can destroy Life, but we cannot convert it.

Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) says “Mathematics and Dynamics fail us when we contemplate the earth, fitted for life, but lifeless, and try to imagine the commencement of life upon it. This certainly did not take place by any action of chemistry, or electricity, or crystalline grouping of molecules under the influence of Force, or by any possible kind of fortuitous concourse of atoms. We must pause face to face with the mystery and miracles of the creation of living creatures.”  Lord Kelvin, T.V.I., Vol. 31

There is no gradation from one condition to another. This wonderful Life-power cannot have spring up spontaneously on the earth; as Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) says: “an honest and unswerving scrutiny of nature forces upon the mind this certain truth, that at some period of the earth’s history, there was an act of Creation, a giving to the earth of something which before it had not possessed, and from that gift, the gift of Life, has come the infinite and wonderful population of living forms.” Incidentally, Wallace was an evolutionist.

No rational explanation of the origin of primeval protoplasm has ever been given, except the creative action of an ‘Outside Power’. Still less is any rational explanation of the endowment of primeval protoplasm with evolutionary capacity conceivable, except by the action of an Outside Power.

Looking at Man himself: “the living matter of the embryo of Man and that of animals is we are told, undistinguishable the one from the other; and yet in each we see from the first development of the germ, that it must have been endowed with its own special properties, according to which it became Man, or brute-beast, or plant and how can we fail to see the unceasing operation of infinite power through the whole world of Life, enabling the living particles to grow and produce others; the Vital powers of each series being different from and more advanced than those of their predecessors.” Wallace

Again, look at the marvels wrapped up in each minute particle: Living Matter consists of innumerable minute structureless particles, called Bioplasts, which are to be seen in the tissues of living creatures, all varying in size, and proximity to one another in different species.

No one can tell from any given particle what will be the structure or properties of the tissues and substances to be formed by it. But how marvelous it is that these apparently homogeneous Bioplasts should be so constituted that each should do its own special work in building up the organism: Some build up muscle, others nerves, and brain, some are engaged in forming bone, others hair, feathers or nails; each has its own special work. Are all these mere chances, the fortuitous concourse of the Atoms?

Must there be Creating, Directing Force determining what shall be the different forms of bioplasmic life, and which has caused those myriads of cells to work harmoniously together, each doing its own particular work?

What Power gave the living Protoplasm Life? What Power determines the Cell-mass to this or other well-defined shapes? Who or What guides or determines the Atoms of the Protoplasmic molecules into new combinations chemically and new structures mechanically, which all the Chemists and Physicists of the World are powerless to produce, even when they have the ready-formed Protoplasm given them to start with? Yet all these marvelous processes take place in Nature, and do build up the living body of each organism.

This orderly process is quite unintelligible without some Directive Organizing Power constantly at work in, or upon every chemical atom, or physical molecule of the whole structure, as one after another they are brought to their places, and built in, as it were, to the structure of every tissue of every organ, as it takes form and substance in the fabric of the living, moving, and in the case of animals, sensitive creation.

What we must assume is, not merely a force, but some agency which can and does so apply and guide, direct and coordinate a great variety of forces, mechanical, chemical, and vital, so as to build up that infinitely complex machine, the Living Organism.

What we absolutely require, and must postulate is a mind far higher, greater, more powerful than any of the fragmentary minds we see around us, a mind not only adequate to direct and regulate all the forces at work in living organism, but, which is itself the source of all those forces and energies, as well as of the more fundamental forces of the whole material Universe.  Without this, Life, as we know it is altogether unthinkable; an eternal material Universe under blind laws is an impossibility.

Everything but the absolute and unconditioned must have had a beginning. A beginning for all finite things in time is demonstrable, and this beginning implies an antecedent cause and it is impossible to conceive of that cause as other than an all-pervading mind, which both dominates and transcends Matter.

Life, says Thomas Beale (c. 1775–1841), “depends not upon any forces of non-living Nature, but upon the Almighty; and there is not a particle of living matter of any kind which can be explained except on the view that it depends upon God.”

Professor Huxley, Biologist and Anthropologist, with all his agnosticism felt compelled to acknowledge that “Life is the cause of Organization, so it must be antecedent to it, and can only be conceived as  connected with Spirit, and Thought, with the cause of the directive energy everywhere seen in the growth of living  things.”

If Life is the cause and not the consequence of Organization, we may believe that Mind is the cause and not the consequence of brain-development. We cannot then reasonably explain the phenomena and development of Life, without postulating some Guiding Power over the forces which have brought about the result.

We might want to consider the wonderful adaptation to the environment, the fitness of special organs for special purposes, which are seen everywhere, and which, by whatever means or process of change they may have brought into existence, are clear evidence of Thought” and therefore of Design.

There are some who may sneer at what they term the “Carpenter Theory” of the Universe but is that which it implies less true? If we could see the adaptation of means to an end in Man’s work, we do not say “0, that is a mere matter of chance,” but we at once recognize underlying the complicated machine, or the simple tool, the previously existing plan, the evidence in them of a set purpose, and from this we rightly assume that not Thinking Mind, not Personal Thought, not blind unreasoning forces, must have been the ultimate cause of what we see. Does it not stand to reason that you cannot bring out of a thing that has not been first placed in it? In other words “you cannot evolve that which was not first involved.” Period!!!

“We created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape…” (Quran 15:26). And, “He began the creation of man from clay, and made his progeny from a quintessence of fluid” (Quran 32:7-8).

 Subhana Rabbika Rabbil ‘izzati ‘amma yasifun, Wa salamun ‘alal-Mursalin, Wal hamdu lillahi Rabbil ‘alamin. Thy Lord is Holy and clear of all that is alleged against Him (by the non-believers); and He is Exalted. (Quran 37:180-182)

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

By Babatunde Jose

“Not a Conflict, Not a  War, But Genocide” – A protester

According to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the land known as Canaan was situated in the territory of the southern Levant, which today encompasses Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan and the southern portions of Syria and Lebanon.

One year ago, 7^th October 2023, Hamas, the Palestine nationalist movement of Gaza Strip, carried out a daring Blitzkrieg. The term is German for “lightning war” developed by Heinz Guderian (1888-1954).

The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas, is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist political organization with a military wing called the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades. It has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007. Founded by Ahmad Yasin, Hassan Yousef, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, it has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007.  The United States designated Hamas a foreign terrorist organization, rather than seeing them as representatives of the people.

On the morning of October 7, Israel admitted to the greatest intelligence breach in its history, they were caught off guard. During the operation which was carried out like a scene from a James Bond movie, 1,139 people were killed, 251 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage and carted away to Gaza in anticipation of being exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, 11,000 of whom were incarcerated in Israeli jails.

By the following day, the much dreaded and anticipated biblical Armageddon descended on the people of Gaza. It was marked by an orgy of unprecedented killing and infrastructural destruction not witnessed since the Nazis unleashed terror on Poland during the Second World War. What followed has been given various connotations, but the most apt description is Genocide! One year on, 75% of  Gaza has been destroyed.

365 days of unrelenting Israeli attacks has resulted in one of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century. This has been a war of many firsts, breaking records in scale and brutality.’ Israel placed a complete siege on Gaza; no food, no water, no fuel, no electricity, no medical supplies. In short, no nothing, the perfect hallmark of genocide.

One year on, we begin to wonder, why the genocide? Hamas infiltrated Israel and killed less than 1,500 people, and took 250 hostages. The quantum of destruction, deaths and dislocations caused by the Israeli invasion has been defined as overreaction and out of proportion. Why? Why? Why? The answer lies in the historical antecedent of that piece of real-estate referred to as Palestine. It has all along been a fight for lebensraum, or a place in the sun. It is not religious or ideological, neither is it ethnic or tribal. Here are two peoples descended from a common patriarch, Abraham. They are both Semites, going by racial nomenclature. The problem is, simply put, a dispute over real estate.

The struggle for control over some or all of the territory of Palestine pits two nationalist movements against each other. In spite of their claims to uniqueness, all nationalist movements bear a remarkable resemblance to one another.

The Jewish claim to Palestine comes from their ancient habitation in Palestine. The Zionist narrative of Jewish history begins with Abraham and his descendants, who immigrated to Palestine in the second millennium BC, possibly from the territory that is now Iraq. The tenth-century BC reigns of King David and King Solomon being the highpoint of the Jewish presence in Palestine. Archaeologists are divided on just how glorious the kingdom actually was and in any event, this was also a short-lived period, lasting a little less than seventy years.

Following the death of King Solomon, the Jewish community fragmented politically, save for eighty years under the rule of the Maccabees. In 63 BC, the Romans conquered Jerusalem, and in AD 135, after a series of revolts, they destroyed Jerusalem, enslaved or slaughtered its inhabitants, and dispersed most of the Jewish community. The Romans renamed the province “Palestina” (from which we get the names “Palestine” and its Arabic equivalent, “Filastin”).

The hub of Jewish life shifted to the Diaspora – Jewish communities outside Palestine, until the emergence of the Zionist movement. Palestine was, after all, recalled in Jewish texts and rituals for centuries, and for centuries Jews proclaimed at their yearly Passover Seders, “Next year in Jerusalem.”

But what Zionists did, as all nationalist movements before and since have done, was to read their history selectively and draw conclusions from it that would not have been understandable to their ancestors before the advent of the modern era.

The narrative of the Jewish people, as recounted by Zionists, situates periods of Jewish exile from Palestine gives pride of place to ancient periods of political unity and dominance within Palestine. As the nineteenth-century French philosopher Ernest Renan once put it, “Getting history wrong is part of being a nation.”

The town of Hebron lies in an area that most observers call “the occupied West Bank” but that Israelis officially designate “Judea and Samaria” after the territory’s Biblical names. By calling the territory “Judea and Samaria,” Israelis are calling attention to their Biblical roots in the land and their right to inhabit or control it.

On the other hand “the occupied West Bank,” of course, presumes the Palestinianness of the territory and the foreignness of the Israeli occupation. It thus serves to justify Palestinian aspirations to establish an independent entity there.

Like the Zionist narrative, the Palestinian narrative commonly begins in ancient times. Whereas Zionists begin their narrative with the migration of Abraham and his family to Palestine, the Palestinian narrative begins with the peoples he encountered there. Before the arrival of the Israelites, the ancient inhabitants of the land were of two types. First, there were the Canaanites, who spoke a northern Semitic language similar to Arabic and Hebrew. Palestine was hardly a “land without a people.”

Another group, the Philistines, came to Palestine in the twelfth century BC. As a matter of fact, the Philistines united themselves into a “league of five cities” – Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza – in the territory of present-day Palestine.

The evolution of the question of Palestine from its beginning up to today has been dealt with in several studies. The question has remained in the forefront of United Nations attention. Its political and humanitarian aspects in particular have recently  reverted to the centre of international attention as never before.

It has become evident that the overwhelming majority of the members of the international community are convinced that the attainment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people is a sine qua non for peace in the Middle East.

Certain basic considerations have also emerged which have the acceptance of the majority among the international community. These are that:

(a)   The question of Palestine is at the heart of the problem of the Middle East and consequently no solution to the Middle East problem can be envisaged without taking into account the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people;

(b)   The realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to return to their homes and to self-determination, and the right to establish their own independent State in Palestine will contribute to a solution of the crisis in the Middle East;

(c)    The participation of the representative of the Palestinian people, on an equal footing with all other parties on the basis of General Assembly resolutions 3236 (XXIX) and 3375 (XXX), is indispensable in all efforts, deliberations and conferences on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations;(branding the nationalists terrorists will not solve the problem).

(d)   The acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible and hence the obligation which devolves on Israel to withdraw completely and unconditionally from all territory so occupied.

Unfortunately, the patron saints of Zionist apartheid and genocide in Palestine will never allow this to happen. Until the United States and Germany, the suppliers of arms to Israel and its backers at the UN relent in their intransigence, Palestine, nay, Canaan will never know peace

In the last year alone, the US have given over $21 Billion to Israel. 500 aircrafts and 107 Ships delivered the weapons Israel used in its genocide in Gaza. 4 955 Artillery shells, 14,000 90 kg Bombs , 6,500 226 kg bombs, 3000 Hellfire Missiles, 1,000 Bunker Buster Bombs, 2,600 Air dropped Small Diameter Bombs were used in destroying Gaza; All courtesy of the United States. Gaza was destroyed using 85,OOO tonnes of explosives compared to 56,210 tonnes of explosives dropped on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, Hamburg and Tokyo during WW2.

Israel’s wars mean ‘massive’ returns for US arms company investors. It’s hard to see the past year in the Middle East as anything other than an unmitigated disaster. But not everyone has been harmed in the rapidly spiraling conflict. Investors in weapons stocks have enjoyed record gains over the past year.

The war has now spread to Lebanon, which Israel invaded last week, and Iran, where Israel assassinated leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, actions that Iran retaliated against with massive strikes against targets inside Israel.

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons firm and the manufacturer of the F-35 aircraft that Israel uses in its regular bombings of Gaza, at the close of trading on October 4, has produced a 54.86% percent total return in the one year following the October 7th attacks, outperforming the S&P 500 by about 18%.

After a year of genocide it has dawned on Israel that there would not be another nakba.  Palestinians are now wiser. They are not leaving their land. They can run from northern Gaza to Rafah and back, but they would not leave Gaza, they would not leave their land like it happened in 1948, when Israel refused to allow émigrés to return till today.

Secondly, Israel must come to the realization it is not invincible any longer. The so-called missiles of Hama’s and Hezbollah are finding their targets inside Israel, despite its Iron Dome. Therefore, Israel can no longer sleep with two eyes closed.  The chicken is coming home to roost.

However, both Israel and Hamas need to face some home truths. Sooner rather than later, Palestinians will come to resent Hamas’s brutal recklessness, which has led to more Palestinian bloodshed even than the catastrophe of 1948. Israeli leaders, too, could reap the whirlwind if the war should escalate into a wider conflagration.

Military might alone cannot change the politics of the Middle East. In the past, even hawkish Israeli leaders have been forced to choose diplomacy over conflict.

Israel’s ambitious goals—of destroying Hamas completely in Gaza and of incapacitating Hezbollah in southern Lebanon—likely ensure war will continue.

As Dalia Dassa Kaye, of Foreign Affairs wrote, Israel’s battlefield success, “appears uncoupled from any serious momentum toward peace with the Palestinians—Israel’s most serious existential challenge. After a year of war, there is a real possibility of no better ‘day after’ in Gaza or the rest of the region.  … Without a change in the current Israeli government, Israel and its neighbors could be moving toward a very different day after: Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and potentially even of southern Lebanon, as well as reinforced control over, if not annexation of, the West Bank. This is a recipe not for victory but for perpetual war.”

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend