Ever since the United Nations’ partition plan of 1947, Israel and Arab countries have been at war. We see their conflicts on our TV screens, newspapers, the Internet, etc. We hear of their issues, yet do we actually know that much about them? The question is, why should Marquette students care?
We as a Catholic university care about the values of excellence, faith, leadership and service. Therefore, we care about being the best we can be, striving for a stronger sense of spirituality, leading people to a greater future and caring for humanity throughout the world. Evil prevails when good men fail to act. As a result, we need to act.
The Rev. Ray Helmick, a theology professor at Boston College, hosted a lecture on Sept. 17 at Marquette about the Vatican’s position on the issue. More than 65 U.N. resolutions have been passed either condemning, deeply regretting or strongly deploring Israel’s horrific actions against the Arabs, yet Israel ignores them.
“The resolutions are recommendations, not laws,” Helmick said.
Why doesn’t the Vatican condemn Israel’s policies?
“It criticizes, not condemns Israel’s policies. It’s not a power system, and isn’t supported by government. It’s more of a moral authority. We’re currently a gravely wounded church, and it’s affecting our efficiency,” Helmick said.
He said they aren’t “particularly active about being pro-Palestinian, as the European Union is pro-Palestinian, the U.S. pro-Israeli, and when it comes to the Catholics, most duck, including the bishops.”
Robert Ashmore, a retired professor of ethics from Marquette, contributed to the value of service.
“Sadly, it’s been a steep uphill battle in this country to make a difference in support of justice for the Palestinians,” Ashmore said.
I asked him if there’s been any progress with these efforts.
“(President) Obama is publicly putting his administration on record against the Israeli government. Cracks are developing in the lobbying Jewish community and some, such as J Street, support Obama. Whether I have seen progress, I have a moral obligation; consequences can be beyond your control, yet moral obligations aren’t. The problem is Congress — so many of these members have been bought and paid for. It would be suicidal to oppose the Jewish lobby. We have the best government money can buy,” he said.
Phillip Naylor, associate professor of history at Marquette, when asked what advice he would give to the American public in order to excel, said “Read history, learn different languages. When it comes to the news, look at different sources. We need to start studying these cultures on an elementary level, as we should learn about the world earlier on. It’s in our strategic interest to do so. Let’s wise up. Let’s wake up.”
He continued with the value of leadership.
“Obama has to set up a movement. He’s got to create an atmosphere of change. This has to be an educating process,” Naylor said.
Naylor said publicizing is the way to approach the creation of an atmosphere of change.
“Changes are going on. They might be subtle, but they’re going on. The big question is, can all the parties involved in this issue transcend their recent history? Muslims and Jews haven’t been fighting for thousands of years and the conflict between them has been recent. They’ve been partners in building their civilizations. It’s a tragedy, for both peoples. They’ve suffered greatly, the whole situation has been founded on tragedy,” he said.
Abdul-Hameed Al-Nassar is a freshman in the College of Communication.