Another Red Sea has Parted

Yoni Freeman ^ | April 26, 2003 | Yoni Freeman

[yonif]

Passover is a Jewish holiday that many non-Jewish people are able to identify with. This year the holiday began during the culmination of major fighting in Iraq. The events and circumstances surrounding the war parallel some of the characteristics that Passover, retold from its biblical history, bases its roots.

The first instance is the way the United States and its coalition went about liberating the Iraqi people. It did all it possibly could to spare civilian deaths, because after all, these are the civilians that were to be freed. It primarily targeted military and government structures. In a similar way, God went about freeing the Israelites by giving the Egyptian Pharaoh nine chances to allow the Israelites to leave the dreadful land of Egypt. During the ten plagues, no Jew was hurt. God passed over the Jews as the U.S. passed over Iraqi civilians. Unfortunately, the Iraqi military located many operations in civilian areas, and placed many targets in schools and hospitals, which added to increased civilian casualties.

Next is the overall theme of bringing freedom to an oppressed people. Reminding us of biblical times, Passover tells of the great compassion and love God gave to the Israelites who were living in Egypt under Pharaoh's bondage and slavery. Passover also told us how God aided their vast exodus, which was led by the chosen one to do so, Moses. Most Iraqi people were also living under a "modern pharaoh," by the name of Saddam Hussein. They lived in dungeon-like conditions for decades and were not allowed to express themselves. "Operation Iraqi Freedom," removed this blockage, just as God did thousands of years ago for the Jews. The freedom of the Iraqi people does parallel, in my opinion, the freedom of the Israelites so long ago.

Finally, there is a similarity in the results of our action. The freedom of the Israelites from Egypt led to their migration to the land of Israel. Their settlement was a sort-of remake of the Middle East in ancient times. They were the ancestors of those Jews who worked to create Israel in the 1940s. After Israel, a new democracy, was created in 1948, the Middle East changed once more. It is currently the free world's hope that a new Iraqi democracy also will emerge. I believe it will. This new democratic state will be built in a far shorter time then it took the Israelites to form theirs. And when it finally does emerge, the Middle East will get yet another makeover. Democracy will spread, as Arab citizens in that region will finally realize that democracy can be possible for them as well. This will not be accomplished overnight, however, as ancient cultures and changes in lifestyles come slowly.

It is great for me to see pictures of Iraqi citizens dancing and singing in the streets of Baghdad. I feel connected to them, as my grandparents, on my mother's side, are Iraqi (making me a quarter Iraqi). It is also just as great to hear year after year of the miracles God brought to the Israelites who were in Egypt. Passover is not only a Jewish holiday. It is a festival which celebrates freedom. And as the events of the last few weeks show, freedom has indeed began to ring once again.

Until next time,

YF

[yonif]

This column will be published this week in the College Voice of Connecticut College.

[Torie]

Nice piece. I like you spare writing style (alas mine is rarely spare). I hope your optimism pans out. It certainly is worth a try, and if we get lucky, then as you suggest, the dividends to the planet, and the ME and the US in particular, will be huge.