Riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma

THE EDITOR, Madam:

At the beginning of the Second World War, Winston Churchill described the actions of Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”, describing something extremely difficult to understand or explain. That famous phrase could be used today when referring to the behaviour of Israel, a small country in both size and population that is synonymous with death and destruction in the Middle East, ever since its declaration as a state in 1948.

So many religions and ethnicities are intertwined and constantly clashing with each other, amid so many sanctimonious myths, fake news and downright lies circulating from all concerned. Western governments steadfastly affirm Israel’s right to defend itself, believing that the War in Gaza that has destroyed the Palestinian enclave and so many thousands of its people with American-supplied weaponry, is because Hamas fighters killed Israeli citizens living in neighbouring kibbutzes, and took prisoners on October 7, 2023. Those governments often deny the inconvenient truth that the Levant region has been a festering morass of religious hatred and tribalism for thousands of years with one holy war after another.

A three-part documentary The Big Picture: How Israel Won The West produced by Jewish academics with extensive archival footage, and is available online. This 90-minute production may allow a few beams of light into the dark spaces of a closed mind, even as the latest headlines are that Israel has bombed Damascus on the pretext of defending Druze citizens being mistreated by the new Syrian regime. There are less than a million Druze spread between Israel, Syria and Lebanon; their religion incorporating elements of Ismailism, Christianity, Hinduism and other beliefs, worshipping many prophets including Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, and others. Their most respected prophet is Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Druze support Israel against fellow Arabs, and serve with distinction in the Israeli Defence Force.

A couple of days after the Damascus attack, Israel bombed the only Catholic Church in Gaza, killing three elderly people sheltering there, wounding the parish priest and several others. Silver-tongued and slick-talking Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly told a protesting President Trump that it was a mistake, saying it was caused by stray ammunition. Another obvious mistruth, playing the president like the proverbial fiddle as the tail wags the dog again, so very typical of the riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada