The Sacrifice: Two Fronts. The Trojan Horse of Gaza: A Red Heifer?

 

The Sacrifice: Two Fronts  

The Trojan Horse of Gaza:  A Red Heifer?

Even though the assault on Gaza is such an obvious and openly displayed horror, the level of silence and the seeming paralysis to act can be understood as terrifying and puzzling unless the role of religion is examined and understood along with the political and economic interests. The role of religion is rarely discussed openly because faith cannot be nudged in any direction. Its believers do not compromise; astonishingly, the leaders of the three religions in the region ask for hardship as a necessary ingredient for salvation. This religious component is present in the ongoing slaughter in Gaza.  Religion is the unexplored terrain, the steep fall into a 2000-year-old conversation. It acts as the hidden ink with which the social contract is written between the political state and cultural identity. In my opinion, this part perpetuates the silence and exposes the unspoken supremacy that the three major religions in the Middle East view themselves as having. This part of the confrontation, if or when it is revealed, which might be soon, is the deferred conversation for over two thousand years and a conversation missing from the public debate. This is what I am trying to touch upon in this article: just hinting at what might be hidden in this Trojan horse of the Gaza war. 

The Political Battle: No one in the region imagined this war could last this long. From day one, it was clear to many that the underlying plan for the Israeli government and army has always been and still is ethnic cleansing to seize the land from Palestinians. The aim they seek is to drive two and a half million non-Jewish residences out of their responsibility, calculations, and out of Gaza into the Sinai desert or maybe somewhere else. However, Palestinians normally, like all people, don’t want to leave their land. This is a sentence not heard a lot on news channels. 

 However, a plan to establish a land corridor going through the North of Gaza and bypassing the current marine route in the Red Sea is crucial for the future of Israel’s existence, prosperity, and peace treaties between Arab countries in the region and Israel based on economics rather than political rights. The corridor or the trade route, if such a plan is to succeed, will ensure the continuation of control for Western powers over world trade, secure Israel’s existence, and empower its political and military role. The Palestinian existence, especially if resistance ideology persists, stands in the way.

 In short, the ethnic cleansing plan is still in the making, mainly through the use of starvation and destruction of life-related facilities to drive Palestinians out of Northern Gaza in particular. This is the core issue now: The ethnic cleansing hasn’t happened yet, even from northern Gaza, but it is not off the table. This is the political and military standoff today presented in a nutshell.

The Religious Battle: However, another front is brewing under the radar: a religious confrontation culminating in the burning of a red heifer—yes, the burning of a red cow!

Israel has always needed a political and military alliance of the mighty West. So, the state of Israel was portrayed as secular and democratic, and for a long time, it was, but only for its Jewish citizens. Slowly, religious groups became more influential in Israeli politics and the army. As a result, the Jewish state began allocating a large amount of its budget to religious schools that indoctrinated their constituents about the biblical rights of the Jews to this land. Naturally, this increased financial investment coincided with a rise in settlement building in the West Bank in the eighties and nineties for biblical reasons as well as economic reasons, of course. Due to this policy that reflects a rising commitment to certain biblical beliefs, the political conflict increased with the Palestinians as we were being constantly dispossessed of the land despite the signing of the Peace Accords. The role of Israel in the Jewish religion and the increased influence of various religious groups in political life in Israel constituted a big part of the hidden forces that prevented the peace process from succeeding.

In my view, this religious factor has become evident ever since the election of the current Israeli government in November 2022, which is very religious and messianic oriented. Certain current Israeli parliament members and ministers, like the minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gavier, minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and many in the Likud party, are in touch with Rabbis who have been preparing for the revival of a two-thousand-year-old ritual in the Jewish religion and are strongly affiliated with the Third Jewish Temple Institute. This is no longer a marginal issue for those on the fringes of society; it is now mainstream. Having a secular or atheist view of life would undermine a religious view of what is happening. I myself used to argue that religion had nothing to do with the conflict. Yet now, it is becoming more apparent to me that a battlefield of faith coincides with the political battle. It can be argued that the establishment of Israel in 1948 had biblical motivations from the beginning. Some in the British government during the British Mandate of Palestine were Christian zealots as well as, it can be said, anti-Semites. For example, the British Lloyd Goerge, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922, believed that ‘gathering the Jewish people in Palestine will bring Jesus Christ back to earth.’ Others, like Lord Balfour, who issued the Balfour Declaration of 1917, believed that ‘getting the Jews out of Europe and into their own country would be a good thing.’ Back in the times and still today, some of the political elite do believe in the role of Israel's establishment from a religious perspective. The religious alliance or connection between the Jewish and the Christian faith cannot be disentangled.

What is the story of the red heifer? I need to emphasize three points regarding the story of these five red heifers: one is the speculative nature of such prophecies. What is true or not? No one Knows. The second point that I find interesting is the different versions each religion has concerning this prophecy. However, some similarities seem to indicate a similar origin, hence the confusion of many. Nonetheless, each version of the prophecy sees itself as the only truth and disregards the other two versions, and that is why I see the entanglement of the three religions in fulfilling such prophecy ironic.  This blindness to the other side unconsciously contributes to the fulfillment of the prophecies, which, in turn, whether it is true or not, has the potential to reshape the relationship between the three religions in the Middle East. Imagine this, and this is my third point: If there is any truth to these prophecies, then according to these prophecies, this will change our world forever. If not, if nothing occurs as the prophecies predict, despite the attempt on the part of the Jewish Rabbis to meticulously and wholeheartedly for over forty years to fulfill each word in their scriptures, then this will also change millions of people’s relationship to these prophecies, to their religion, to their lives, and Israel’s role in history. 

The timeline of the prophecy: The most crucial point to understand is that even in Christianity and Islam, the timeline of this prophecy is based on the Jewish religious calendar.  Based on Tanakh texts and according to certain Rabbis, the timeline is now. The beginning of prophecy happens in this generation and will probably begin soon, and it is the Jews in Israel who will initiate the application of this prophecy. Institutions were established that have been painstakingly researching and preparing everything there is to think about concerning this prophecy, like preparing the priests, the texture of their clothing, the crimson dye, persimmon oil, aromatic spices, the golden Menorah, and buying the piece of land at Mount Olives where the sacrifice will take place. 

In September 2022, five red heifers arrived in Israel and are now in a large settlement in the West Bank called Shilo, and one of them will be sacrificed on the Mount of Olives. They were bought from a farmer in Texas in 2020. COVID quarantine measures back then prevented these heifers from being tagged as soon as they were born, which is a rare occurrence because tagging any newborn cow as soon as they are born is a well-known procedure. Any tagged cow is considered blemished and does not qualify for this religious Mitzvah or commandment of sacrificing this cow. The fact that untagged young red heifers were found was considered a powerful indication that the time to fulfill this Jewish ritual was near. The sacrifice of the red heifer allows millions of Jews around the world to purify themselves with its ashes when mixed with water and perform more sacrifices in what they consider Temple Mount, which is for Muslims, the same vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.

The prophecy in Judaism: This Mitzvah or commandment of sacrificing the cow allows for more sacrifices to be performed in what they consider the Temple Mount. The more sacrifice is offered, the closer it is for their Messiah to appear. Some Jewish rabbis would dispute the connection between this atonement event and the coming of the Jewish Messiah and explain that this ritual is vital to fulfill in and by itself, regardless of what comes next. In Judaism, no one knows for sure if the Messiah will appear or when he will appear. Whether this temple needs to be built for the Messiah to sit in or the Messiah is the one who will build the temple is a controversial matter in both the Christian and Jewish faiths. Whether the messiah or the temple must exist physically or metaphysically is also contentious in Judaism. Many Rabbis agree that purity exists in the heart but still believe this commandment needs to happen as well in a physical form.    

I am not sure how many are aware that according to the Jewish religion, Jesus is a Jewish messiah who has yet to come. Jesus of Nazareth is not a true Messiah. Millions of Jews pray daily for the coming of their Messiah. But for the messiah to appear, there must be war, famine, and sacrifice before he comes. Unfortunately, as a Palestinian, I find it disturbing and scary to hear that we are classified as ‘gentiles’ who can be sacrificed and enslaved. It is appalling for me to consider the fact that Palestinians in Gaza are being slaughtered and that such slaughter can be justified as a sacrifice for the sake of fulfilling this prophecy. As much as this sounds insensitive, I am voicing this fear, and I hope it is not true.

In contrast to the haunting scenery that we all see in Gaza and adding to the state of psychotic mentality that I hear from Biblical Jewish enthusiasts and even some Israelis is that according to the Jewish faith, when their Messiah comes, there will be times of peace and redemption, times of infinite pleasure and Godly revelation; it is

the times when we see the enlightenment of God's presence in our lives, a time of spirituality. So, in the Jewish faith and mind, the coming of this figure is linked to a different vision of the world, different from what we know. Completing this commandment (Mitzvah) of burning the heifer is the first step, and it is what they need to do as Jews in Israel.

The story of the red cow is mentioned in the three religions. However, in both the Christian and Muslim scriptures, the event is linked to end-times prophecies.  

In the Christian faith, the Jewish Messiah, in which the Jews see their own salvation, is a figure mentioned in this same prophecy in the Bible as an antichrist.  The appearance of this antichrist will accelerate certain events such as wars, a period of tribulation, and an ascension phenomenon called the Rapture, which is vague, and barely anyone knows what that is. This sacrifice also hastens Jesus' return as a physical figure.  In Christianity, when the Jews claim the appearance of their messiah, this will bring a turbulent period in history but will, ultimately, bring their salvation as Christians. Ever since the establishment of Israel, which many Christians around the world supported, they have been waiting and watching the fulfillment of this biblical prophecy.

From my perspective, despite many speculations of how such events will unfold after the burning of the red cow, whether they will take place soon, in a few years, or in the coming decades, many questions arise just from the idea of having conflicting and antagonizing views about one figure. How will this two-thousand-year entangled relationship play out between these two faiths? This has never existed before. Will everything just stay the same? Will this be insignificant? During these past two years, there have been several incidents in Jerusalem where churches were attacked by Jewish religious students and sculptures of Jesus were destroyed. There were incidents as well where Christian gatherings were attacked, and Christian pastors and pilgrims were spat on. Unfortunately, these incidents can be found on YouTube.  Personally, I anticipate a very unsettling relationship between these two faiths despite the current apparent unwavering support of some churches and Christian organizations for Israel. My central question is how or will this relationship change?  

In the Muslim faith, the problem is that the so-called Third Temple is the Dome of the Rock and is the third holiest place in Islam. It is connected to the most sacred place, which is Mecca. After the pilgrimage to Mecca, it is amiable to bless this pilgrimage by visiting the Dome or the shrine and praying in the adjacent mosque, Al-Aqsa. Since the establishment of Israel, due to political reasons, many Muslims have not been able to fulfill this part of their religion.

The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque are under Muslim Jurisdiction, and non-Muslims are allowed to visit during non-prayer times but are not allowed to pray inside. What I find intriguing is that if it weren’t for the contested location of the Third Temple Mount in place of the Dome of the Rock, then Islam would have nothing to do with the coming event of burning the red heifer. The sacrifice of the cow wouldn’t have affected Muslims in any way, which highlights my point of this entanglement between the three religions regarding the execution of this sacrifice. It is significant to ask on this note whether any archeological evidence will be presented to Muslim countries like Jordan, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia about the truth of this belief that the Dome of the Rock is the Temple Mount. On what basis and how did the Jews come to believe this? Archeology is the only available scientific link to what, in essence, can be described as sacred religious stories.

A previous heifer was mentioned in the Koran in Surat, ‘AL-Baqara,’ which refers to a story about a dispute over a dead person and a cow. The Sura is mainly about Moses and his exodus from Egypt. The rest of the prophecy is found in other texts called Al-Hadith and not in the Quran. Al-Hadith is a bulk of knowledge about what the prophet Mohammad said and did during his lifetime and is considered very important but not sacred. The prophecy in Islam reiterates the same events as in the Bible with a slightly interesting twist. In Islam, the figure who will appear is called Al-Mahdi and will pray next to Jesus in Jerusalem. Those times will be times of peace following times of war and tribulation, but there isn’t any mention of rapture. Each religion and each version of the prophecy claims salvation and redemption for their own followers mainly and maybe for others who need to follow their suit. The prophecy is also about who will finally control Jerusalem and this holy land from which peace emanates.   

The 7^th of October attack was named the Al-Aqsa Flood. Hamas’ spokesman mentioned the red heifer as one motive among other political motives for the attack. Palestinians fear the destruction of their shrine and Al-Aqsa mosque for religious claims. The sacrifice event could also lead, in a better scenario of future events, to the division of this historic place between Muslims and Jews. The 7^th of October attack constituted enough claims to extinguish Palestinian existence in Gaza totally, and Jewish biblical groups and believers saw it as a sign to accelerate the execution of this prophecy.

It is difficult to know whether these prophecies are true, man-made, or if there is God's hand in them. Will such a figure appear? What if the divine intervention looks very different from the prophetic speculations in these scriptures? How will that change millions of people’s relationship to their religion?  These are some of the questions that come to my mind. But I find it undoubtful that this event of burning the heifer symbolizes a paradigm shift, a change in the relationship between the three religions. It is difficult to anticipate what will happen next.

Religion and dehumanization: Each religion is understandably entrenched behind the righteousness of their belief and prophecy. But what I see as terrifying is the dehumanizing factor that each religion and its zealous followers are uttering, in addition to the total disregard for the other side's right of belief, respect, and humanity. This is found in Hamas's strong followers' rhetoric, in many Christian sermons, and in Israeli society and government officials when they saw us as ‘human animals.’ People in Gaza, we as Palestinians, have paid a heavy price as a result of this dehumanization element found in this ‘deformed’ version of religion. Will the coming times, whatever they hold, open up worldwide debate about extremism and dehumanization in all religions, not just as a characteristic of one religion? Can such a debate about religion, as the unseen ink that holds societies together, be a precursor for more equality on the political plane? These two fronts are ultimately linked.

All religions are inherently constructed around being the savior of human life and regulating human interaction. Liberals, free people around the world, and simple people from different walks of life intersect and align with the original story of each religion, which is to protect life on earth, defend the weak, and liberate the enslaved regardless of ethnicity and color. This is the original story of every religion.