By
Israel Shamir
Israel Shamir is an Israeli journalist based in Jaffa.
His articles can be found on the site www.israelshamir.net
In a twist of nomenclature that would seem implausible in fiction, a craft
carrying Col. Ilan Ramon of the Israeli Air Force apparently broke up over
an East Texas town called Palestine.
NYT, 2/2/03
Omens, good and bad, are sent to us like beacons to facilitate our navigation in the sea of troubles, said the renowned
Portuguese writer Paulo Coelho. Wise and successful men constantly watch out for the telling signs
and act accordingly. Silly and arrogant folk disregard omens and court disaster.
Santiago, the main character of his hugely popular Alchemist, made his decisions by paying close attention to omens,
especially those given by birds, and eventually won love, glory, wisdom and riches. With or without
the bestseller, we also pay heed to the celestial hints of destiny, but usually we call it 'a hunch'.
We do not understand the reasoning of an old hunter who observes the birds'
flight and predicts the coming storm, but we trust his hunch. To a great extent, people are guided by
premonitions and omens. The Roman armies did not leave their walled city until the augurs would complete the observation
of birds. At the other end of the world, the creator of The Art of War gave
the same advice: pay heed to omens and ask prophets before the war.
Ulysses asked the supreme god Zeus to grant him a sign about whether he will
overcome the suitors, and Zeus sent an approving omen: a clap of thunder from the clear sky.
Penelope received a sign in her dream: an eagle ravished her tame fat geese, and she understood: her husband will return
home and punish the suitors.
Whoever ignored the omens often had a cause to regret it. The Pharaoh of Exodus did not believe the signs and died at
sea. The Jews ignored the dreadful omens at the Crucifixion and just laughed all the way to their
kingdom's perdition forty years later.
But the signs and seers are notoriously ambivalent. It is not frequently we
receive a clear and unambiguous sign, like those given to the Pharaoh or to
the rebellious Jews. It happened, if ever, a few days ago, when the space shuttle Columbia, this
most advanced craft of the American Empire, proudly carrying an Israeli on board, disintegrated over a small Texan city
called Palestine. Israelis tried to omit and forget this strange and impossible
'coincidence', like their ancestors tried to ignore the torn curtain of the
Temple, but in vain.
You do not have to harrow Hades for Tiresias, the blind seer of Thebes, raise the spirit of Samuel or call for Sybil to divine
the meaning of the steel bird's crash. It is an omen that the mighty US is likely to suffer
terrible calamities while serving the cause of Israel. America's best men will perish; America's best technique won't help. It is an omen that
Palestine remains the stumbling block for the Jews; and even the most
generous assistance of the US will not help them to overcome Palestine. It
is a sign for the American president: if he will carry on doing Israel's bidding his good ship will perish with all
hands.
The Columbia disaster is not the first sign. The steel birds' attack of 9/11
was an omen that Israel's influence on Wall Street and the Pentagon will bring America to disaster. For
this reason it does not matter 'who did it', nor does it matter what caused the Columbia's crash, as such events have
their symbolic meaning. But, instead of pondering the meaning and repenting,
Bush and his Administration preferred to persevere in their dangerous ways.
They followed the Jewish way of disregarding signs and omens, an approach based on disbelief
in Divine providence. The Talmud contains an archetypal story of a dispute where a wise man was supported by God and the
signs, but he was defeated by the Rabbis, for 'the Torah is on Earth, not in Heaven'.
This Jewish headstrong and God-denying approach gave its proponents much short-term advantage, and even more
long-term calamities.
Now, after the second warning, the US leaders have to choose. They can stick
to the Jewish ways, stubbornly deny God's will and ignore omens. They can choose the way of
Indians and pathfinders, gold-diggers and oil prospectors: pay attention to signs and play the hunch.
The clever boy Santiago of Paulo Coelho understood the omens. Will President
Bush?...