Wake Up World! Is this How the Aquarian Age will Enfold?

 

Wake up, World!

 Is this how the Aquarian Age will unfold?

The article was written in November 2023

Some readers may find this article uncomfortable as I attempt to look beyond the limitations of a geographical area. I am trying to encapsulate the meaning of this devastating war I am witnessing on the human collective consciousness, which I believe is all connected in its sensitivity to such colossal loss and injustice, regardless of how remote or insignificant Gaza seems to some. I am attempting to portray the tragedy of a group of people, the Palestinians, as symbolic of the potential this tragedy holds to uplift humanity rather than the endless repetition of history, its blind prejudices, and powerful fantasies of how things should be or who should prevail.     

Please take a moment to imagine the gravity of some of these facts about this war that were true in November 2023; I included only three. You may have already heard of some of these:

* According to several resources, more than 25,000 tons of explosives have been dropped on Gaza, which is the equivalent of two nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima in Japan in 1945. This was done over a very short period of 28 days as a tactic to pave the road for the next phase of real fighting on the ground.  

* In Ukraine, around 9000 civilians were killed in 500 days, including 500 children. In Gaza, more than 9,000 civilians, including 3760 children, have died in just 28 days. Over 2000 women and children are still under the rubble because Gazans lack the equipment needed to remove heavy pieces of cement. So many people still haven’t mourned their deaths yet.

* Imagine this one incident as an example: people described the apocalyptic scene in the Yarmouk neighborhood in Gaza two days before the ground incursion: “30 to 40 rockets were fired simultaneously, hitting several residential towers at once. The buildings collapsed instantly and simultaneously, killing several hundred and drowning the residential area in a sea of grey and black ashes. In less than one minute, a complete neighborhood and its people were melted out of existence, turned into ashes.

Personally, I am haunted by certain images. The image of men falling into a crying tantrum over the loss of all members of their family; children calling out for their dead mothers, fathers, or brothers to wake up; and children looking for their mothers, fathers, or siblings among the dead bodies.  Children in the hospital with fear drawn on their faces, mixed with tears, as they shout, “Where is my mom? I want my Mom. I want my dad,” and we, the viewers, know that they have no one left to take care of them.

The size of Gaza is just a fraction of Ukraine or Hiroshima, incrementing the effect of this catastrophe. The fact that it was hidden or that lies were spun to veil the truth will only add to the level of trauma inflicted on both sides as a result of fantasies forged of how evil the other side is.   The trauma that was and is still being imposed on the Palestinians in Gaza surmounts many atrocities that preceded it across history, paramount to only a few that history still recalls. The size of the place, the scale of bombing, the modern weaponry used, and the frequency of wars waged on Gaza in a time of history where everyone, a few clicks away, is capable of watching or at least educating themselves. This has never happened before in history.

Modern warfare can potentially annihilate entire neighborhoods and the people living in them into ashes in less than a minute. This is no longer a scene in a futuristic horror movie but a reality that is actually taking place. Any narrative can be constructed to cover these modern warfare apocalyptic events. But an important question, in my view, that haunts humanity today is: What is the guarantee that any part of the world is immune to such catastrophic scenes? If humanity keeps ignoring these incidents for any constructed reason in their minds, whether separate, irrelevant, or happening far away, what is the guarantee that they can’t happen where you are? Why can’t Russia, under any pretext that is convincing for its logic, not copy Israel’s tactics in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe as an example, or vice versa? If the world generally tolerates this behavior, then why not try it again?

These questions are pressing more than ever because the point in time we live in as a collective is sensitive or potentially different. We are possibly living in transformative times. Some may argue that these issues belong to third-world countries.  The countries with the strongest armies believe they probably will not go through this as they can defend themselves but inflict these scenes on others and can prevent their own people, who are not evil nor savage, from enduring them. This might be true. But as an observer on the ground of the annihilated thousands, these times, as I said, are transformative: the dichotomy of power is no longer stable as it used to be.

Technology, for example, works double-fold and isn’t allegiant to any human side, culture, ideology, or fantasy. Under illusory assumptions, technology strengthens, and yet it weakens at the same time. In the war on Gaza, for example, the weaker side was able to obtain the technology to hack the defense systems despite the fact they were living under the surveillance of the most depriving and cruel siege, protected by sophisticated technological defenses. We, the weaker side, can create or obtain simpler yet decisive weapons that work in favor of the weaker side. The point is the dichotomy of power is no longer the same. The dichotomy of the East as a developing part of the world and the West as developed is no longer relevant to the issue of power and hegemony. This is just from a military perspective as an observant of the current war. This principle can also be applied to the economy, using many examples.  

Back to my question above, the only reason Russia, for example, is not adopting Israel’s tactics in war is one possible reason, in my opinion, a reason linked to a collective consciousness: deterrence. This means that the only reason this is not happening in Europe is that Russia does not want such nihilistic measures to be used against its own people, similar to the governments in Europe. “This can’t and must not happen to me, and so it can’t or must not happen to others.” If it weren’t for mutual deterrence, it could happen. But what if this element of fear and its underlying moral compass disappears? Then, such incidents and facts mentioned above can occur anywhere in the world precisely because we are in transformative times, and the shift or instability in hegemony is the molecule carrying these changes. “This can’t and must not happen to me, and so it can’t or must not happen to others.”  Suppose this element of the collective consciousness, this sensitivity to pain and loss, continues to be abused in these transformative times where the lines of power are no longer clear. In that case, we will indeed see apocalyptic times.

Added to the fantasy of what constitutes power, thinking it lies in technology or the military, for example, is the issue of faith.  After all, the most vital driving force for Gazans is their nuclear-burning hearts fueled by projected prejudices, worldwide neglect, and eagerness to live freely and in dignity, and above all, their faith in their righteousness as Muslims mirroring that same blind faith in Judaism that exists in Israelis, and their colonial settlers. That same blind fantasy or faith also exists in Christianity.

Faith can be divisive and inflict apocalyptic wars, as in Gaza, or faith can hold the seeds of deterrence when rooted in the necessity of mutual coexistence, respect, understanding, and responsibility.  I think faith is the currency of consciousness paid in these devastating wars. Human experience in Gaza suggests one direction or one choice over the other. We can shift the gear towards the other choice of moral deterrence, not just military. “If this must not happen to me, then it must not happen to others,” the oneness of our humanity.

“Is it too soon to expect these histories of blind prejudice and powerful fantasy to be balanced and perhaps resolved by a more enduring history of ordinary lives of reconciliation and recognition?” Edward Said, in the film “The Shadow of the West”. Edwrad Said's question nicely summarizes the two potent molecules that carry this destruction we see in Gaza today and have also happened throughout the colonial history of many empires: 'blind prejudice' and 'powerful fantasy'. Can we ever upscale to mutual reconciliation and recognition of our human rights.