Jesus speaks: ‘Peace is hidden from your eyes’

"As Jesus drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, 'If only you knew today what makes for peace. But now it is hidden from your eyes.'" Luke 19:41

Was Jesus referring prophetically to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Jesus was so sad because he was trying to say that peace is an inch away from our noses, but we cannot see it, we refuse to see it, we cannot comprehend it. Is it perhaps beyond our comprehension because our hearts are so immersed in war and vengeance that there is no space for peace?

A Filipino archbishop speaks anonymously, "Conflicts everywhere are proxy wars. The fate of the world is decided in board rooms. Carnage will not end as long as the devil holds sway. Today's gospel passage is so relevant. Peace is not possible as long as the world refuses to accept the Prince of Peace (princeps is Latin for source, principle, origin). 'If this day you only knew what makes for peace… you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'"

The archbishop says peace is possible only through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

Almost everyone on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is talking of war as a form of retribution. The momentum of hatred on both sides is so strong that the peacemakers are drowned out.

At a certain point, there reportedly had been 1,200 Israelis and 12,000 Palestinians killed, a ratio of one is to ten. An eye for an eye has become ten eyes for an eye. The violence has spilled onto the streets of many major cities across America, Europe, the Middle East, and Russia. Peace is "hidden from our eyes." Next will be a hundred eyes for ten eyes. Warmakers are carving out the destiny of Mankind.

The IDF massacred thousands of Palestinian civilians in the 15 years before the Hamas invasion of Israel. Indeed, the brutality of Hamas is vengeance for the accumulated massacres of 15 years. And what is Netanyahu's answer — genocide, more blood?

Many Israelis are blaming Netanyahu for what they believe will happen soon: a total war against all Arabs and Persians combined, which may kill half of the present Israeli population. Their view is based on the Bible.

According to Bible expert Steve Legasto, "Biblical scholars say that Jews more than ever will be killed towards the latter part of the 'seven-year Great Tribulation…. a day of darkness and gloom'" (Zephaniah 1:15–16). "Those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning." (Mark 13:19–20).

After the resounding victory of the Six-Day War — where Israel defeated three Arab armies and gained new territories four times its original size — what next? "Victory" was temporary, a step towards the next war, more prominent, deadlier, which had already begun with the recent lightning invasion by Hamas.

Dilemma of both sides

The dilemma of the Palestinians is how to unlink or disassociate the cause of freedom from Hamas.

They cannot desecrate the cause of a Palestinian nation by associating with a war crime group. Hamas and the IDF are vicious armed forces that have committed crimes against humanity. To link the cause of a Palestinian nation to Hamas is a disaster.

In Toronto, where Palestinians blocked a busy highway and plastered a giant FREE PALESTINE sign on the pavement — that was visible from the air — there was no mention of Hamas because they know their dilemma. More and more Palestinians who are victims of the IDF genocide blame Hamas.

But who will replace Hamas if it is defeated? There may be a power vacuum in a semi-permanent Israel occupation of Gaza. Even Israel does not want to overstay in Gaza. They know the blunder of the US overstaying in Afghanistan and Iraq.

That is the problem — a Palestinian leadership crisis, a power vacuum in governance. Can the PLO move in to take over Gaza? It is a complex question with an elusive answer. Will a new charismatic Palestinian leader possibly emerge from the ruins of Gaza to rebuild the Palestinian nation?

The dilemma of the Israelis is the same as that of the Palestinians. They must unlink or disassociate the survival of the Israeli nation from the IDF, which is just as guilty as Hamas in the ongoing genocide. The armed groups, Hamas and IDF, are pulling down their people into a blood bath beyond imagination.

Let us look up to Jesus for answers to global peace.

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