Older and Wiser?
What's that funny old line? "We get too soon old and too late smart". How about that other one "older and wiser"? Well, somehow there's a general feeling in society at large that people as they age become wiser. Presumably because they've lived longer and experienced more. Presumably because they've been given the opportunity to learn by witnessing events, by behaving in a manner acceptable to their culture, social standing, religion.
So what on earth can you say about a woman, mature in years, who seeks to murder to avenge what she perceives as a wrong against her culture, her religion? Is this cultural relativism at work? Or is this a kind of prehistoric tribal madness? Actually, there was a story out of Atlanta today too, that of a 92-year-old woman shot dead by narcotics police who had advanced on the building in which she lived for the purpose of making a drug arrest in a run-down area of the city.
Weren't they surprised when they were shot at, and three police wounded. Perhaps not surprised, since law-breakers like those who feel selling narcotics is a business whose pursuit shouldn't be interfered with by policing and law agencies are often armed and lethal. Their real surprise came when they entered the building, were shot at, shot back, then discovered they'd shot a 92-year-old woman wielding a very lethal instrument of death. So much for age and wisdom going hand in hand.
Well, what I'm writing about is a different story, no less shocking, but rather more so, in that this was a 57-year-old Palestinian woman who set out to become a martyr for her cause in avenging the IDF's accidental bombing of 18 Gazans in Beit Hanoun in response to rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. Logic there is none. Reasoning absent. Hatred aplenty.
This exemplary Palestinian mother of nine children, grandmother of 41 approached Israeli soldiers near her village carrying an explosive device. She blew herself up, managing for her efforts to lightly wound three Israeli soldiers. It took several minutes before the armed wing of Hamas took ownership of the event. Exulting that Fatima Omar Mahmud al-Najar carried out her "martyr operation" on behalf of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
There was the obligatory taped video message shown on television stations, with this hate-filled grandmother in a Hamas bandana and a white veil, cradling a Kalashnikov. From babies of her own to cradling grandchildren, to babying a Kalashnikov, the better to murder someone else's children with. She "sacrificed" herself, she stated for god, the nation the Al-Aqsa mosque. Her relatives glow with pride. Relatives converged on the family home to congratulate the woman's children.
So wisdom may come to some, but severely elude others. It's a culture thing, one supposes, where an older woman can find salvation and joy in the deliberate murder of other human beings, convinced that she will be rewarded by her god for the deed done on his behalf. She has left her family pleased and proud.
Top that one.
So what on earth can you say about a woman, mature in years, who seeks to murder to avenge what she perceives as a wrong against her culture, her religion? Is this cultural relativism at work? Or is this a kind of prehistoric tribal madness? Actually, there was a story out of Atlanta today too, that of a 92-year-old woman shot dead by narcotics police who had advanced on the building in which she lived for the purpose of making a drug arrest in a run-down area of the city.
Weren't they surprised when they were shot at, and three police wounded. Perhaps not surprised, since law-breakers like those who feel selling narcotics is a business whose pursuit shouldn't be interfered with by policing and law agencies are often armed and lethal. Their real surprise came when they entered the building, were shot at, shot back, then discovered they'd shot a 92-year-old woman wielding a very lethal instrument of death. So much for age and wisdom going hand in hand.
Well, what I'm writing about is a different story, no less shocking, but rather more so, in that this was a 57-year-old Palestinian woman who set out to become a martyr for her cause in avenging the IDF's accidental bombing of 18 Gazans in Beit Hanoun in response to rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. Logic there is none. Reasoning absent. Hatred aplenty.
This exemplary Palestinian mother of nine children, grandmother of 41 approached Israeli soldiers near her village carrying an explosive device. She blew herself up, managing for her efforts to lightly wound three Israeli soldiers. It took several minutes before the armed wing of Hamas took ownership of the event. Exulting that Fatima Omar Mahmud al-Najar carried out her "martyr operation" on behalf of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
There was the obligatory taped video message shown on television stations, with this hate-filled grandmother in a Hamas bandana and a white veil, cradling a Kalashnikov. From babies of her own to cradling grandchildren, to babying a Kalashnikov, the better to murder someone else's children with. She "sacrificed" herself, she stated for god, the nation the Al-Aqsa mosque. Her relatives glow with pride. Relatives converged on the family home to congratulate the woman's children.
So wisdom may come to some, but severely elude others. It's a culture thing, one supposes, where an older woman can find salvation and joy in the deliberate murder of other human beings, convinced that she will be rewarded by her god for the deed done on his behalf. She has left her family pleased and proud.
Top that one.
posted by Pieface | 6:18 PM
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