Pope Francis and Jake Sullivan Statements

The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not wait long to respond harshly to the Pope's statements in which he described the killing of children in an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip, saying that "this bombing is not war but brutality," adding in a low tone with a lot of emotion: "I want to say this because it touches my heart."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry was not pleased that the Pope expressed what was in his heart or conscience, so it issued a shocking and terrifying statement, describing the Pope’s statements as “particularly disappointing, because they are disconnected from the real and realistic context of Israel’s war against jihadist terrorism, a multi-front war imposed on it since October 7.” Then the Foreign Ministry concluded its shocking and terrifying statement with a strict and decisive warning: “Enough with the double standards and targeting of the Jewish state and its people.”

In confirmation of this position or any Israeli positions that fall under it, the occupation forces prevented the Patriarch of Jerusalem from entering the Gaza Strip on Christmas Eve, as part of an Israeli policy that has been in place since October 7 to prevent the press, international bodies and figures from visiting the Strip and seeing the atrocities taking place there.

This swift, aggressive and shocking Israeli position was preceded by the position of the Israeli Minister of Diaspora, Amichai Chikli, which he presented in an article he published in Italian newspapers, attacking the Pope because of a book the latter had published in which he stated that international experts indicated the possibility that the atrocities taking place in Gaza might bear the features of genocide. The aforementioned minister confirmed that what was mentioned in the book was a disregard for the concept of genocide, as if this minister wanted to say that there is no genocide except that which befell the Jewish groups, and that there is no pain that can be understood and felt except by the Jewish groups alone.

It goes without saying that the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the statements of the Minister are nothing but an assault on reality, and a re-presentation of it with religious and cultural concepts that find receptive ears in certain Western circles. Saying that the conflict is religious and that the Jewish groups are the most deserving of life and that they monopolize history, its making and its narration, and take on the roles of victim and hero in it at the same time, and that what is happening in Palestine is a conflict between the stray light and the prevailing terrorism, is nothing but a confusion of the cards and a frightening of the media platforms, people of opinion and the elite. The important thing in all of this is that Israel has reached the point of attacking the Pope, belittling his opinion, correcting his words, and responding to him without the slightest deterrent or restraint. Why not, when it had desecrated the Church of the Nativity in 2002, and directed many insults and humiliations at various Christian places and symbols? Although I personally am cautious about giving the conflict a religious character, Israeli madness and extremism are pushing things to that. The bankruptcy of secular, socialist, and leftist Zionism in general has pushed new generations of Israelis to throw themselves into the arms of religious narratives that provide extremely seditious answers to people who have created extremely bad conditions for them and for other peoples of the region. They are fueled in this by another Western madness that sees in returning to literal interpretations of the Old and New Testaments better final answers than in the versions of secularism and its multiple layers from the fifteenth century to the present day.

On the other hand, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan gave us a surprise statement about two weeks ago during his recent visit to Tel Aviv, in which he said that Americans and Jews sanctify human life, and therefore he believes that Israel’s killing of Palestinian civilians is justified because Hamas is using them as human shields, and therefore Hamas is responsible for their killing.

Thus, Jake Sullivan was able to simply satisfy his conscience and the Western and American conscience in particular by saying that killing civilians is justified as long as they are dependent on terrorism, and that they lose their right to protection as long as they have accepted to be transformed into human shields, meaning that they bear responsibility for their killing or torture, but Americans and Jews sanctify human life, a statement that reflects a great deal of confusion, ignorance, and a desire for cheap courtesy, selling positions, and providing free services. It is clear that Sullivan desires or is paving the way for him to assume a new and important position after leaving this administration. The man's ignorance stems from the fact that Americans are a mixture of different races and cultures, and do not have a single identity. The idea of "Americanization" has not been able to dissolve these nationalities or cultures, which explains the large number of lobbies and pressure groups. Americans have a common interest, not a common nationality, on the one hand. On the other hand, Jews are also multiple groups and conflicting cultures, but Sullivan, for legitimate reasons of interest, brings all of this together to decide that all of these sanctify human life. It is clear that if we put this statement on the historical and moral standard, we would find that it is a blatant lie. The Pope's statements and Sullivan's statements reflect this harsh and difficult test that Western civilization faces with all its claims and statements, and explain to us many of the manifestations and Western reactions that fall into a deep abyss not only of moral deterioration, but also of potential security risks.

There is a huge difference between the Pope’s statements and Sullivan’s statements, and despite that, we Palestinians who are suffering from all this madness, extremism, double standards, and weak and absent positions continue to live. We have no choice but to continue to live, certain that there is a God who manages the universe, and that neither Israel nor anyone else manages this vast universe.