Kaksi kertomusta

Tasan neljäkymmentä vuotta sitten Kuuden päivän sota oli juuri saavuttanut puolivälinsä. Sodan lopputuloksesta ei ole epäselvyyttä, mutta sen perimmäisistä syistä kiistellään yhä. Tässä kaksi eri näkökulmaa siihen, mistä on kysymys (kiitos jjmarkalle vihjeestä):

Once upon a time there was a lady who rejoiced in a large family. Her husband was rich and well respected. His family used to live in a fine stately home in the country; impecunious ancestors had given it up several centuries ago, but the family still thought of it as theirs. One day, burglars broke into their current home. They shot the husband, raped and murdered the daughters, cut the throats of all the sons, and stole everything they possessed. The lady and one child miraculously escaped. Desperately seeking to make a new life, they discovered that the old family home seemed to be available. With help from a few friends, who felt guilty that no-one had heard the family’s cries for help in their hour of need, they moved in, assuming that the few people living on the estate were servants. The lady married again, and in a short time had a new and flourishing family. However, to her dismay and alarm, some of the tenants on the estate seemed to resent her arrival, and were plotting to get rid of her. Why, she wondered, does the whole world seem to have it in for me? What have I done to deserve this? Why can’t I just be left to live in peace after all I’ve suffered?

Now let’s tell the story the other way round. Once upon a time there was a family who had lived in a great old house for so long that they’d almost forgotten they hadn’t built it themselves. They loved the house and its grounds dearly; they knew every room, every nook and cranny, every stick and stone on the property. They had suffered much because of violent and abusive neighbours, and were reduced in circumstances to the point where some of the fine rooms in the house were shut up, and some fields left uncultivated. One day, to their alarm, a woman swept up the drive in a car, announced that she was in charge now, and proceeded to throw some of the family off the estate altogether, herding many of the rest into little encampments, while she took over the best parts of the house and grounds. When they protested, she called up her powerful friends, who gave her money to see her through. Now, a generation later, the family have grown used to her, but many, particularly the younger generation, are asking why they have to put up with this intolerable situation a moment longer.

- Tom Wright artikkelissa "The Holy Land Today"