Hell. The worst place in hell!

“It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind.” – T. S. Eliot.

Avrum Rosensweig has passion. He is the founder and President of Ve’ahavta, Canada’s only national Jewish organization dedicated to humanitarian aid and relief in Canada and abroad.

This weekend his passion about how Syria is treating its children exceeded itself in an ardent statement he made on his Facebook site. It stems in part from an article written by Angela Dewan of CNN. Dewan writes: “The United Nations has verified 7,000 cases of children either killed or maimed in Syria’s seven-year war, but says unverified reports puts the number ‘way beyond 20,000.’”

She adds: “This year has been particularly woeful for Syria’s children as violations against them rise significantly, according to a UN monitoring body, which has verified more than 1,200 such violations, including the deaths or injury of more than 600 children.” To which Rosensweig responded:

Hell. The worst place in hell that equals Syria. According to this report, 7,000 children are dead because of the war there. However informal reports reflect a number closer to 20,000. Hell!!!

And when you read this article you’ll be absolutely astonished at what these armies did to children. Hell!!!

I want to incinerate those responsible for harming and murdering children. Kick them off the edge of a cliff one after the other. Animals. Absolute vicious animals with no will for humanity, no caring for life. And the UN remains silent. And the Arab nations remain quiet. And the “great” powers are complicit.

Hell.

I don’t know about God’s creations sometimes. Just don’t know. Yes, people are responsible but a god fearing person cannot leave the divine out of the equation. To do so would mean God is only responsible for good as in “thank God”.

How could that be? Hell. Hell. Hell. On our watch. As we watch. We too are responsible and cannot hide from this barbarism which happens during our lifetime. Hell!!!! All we can say right now is I’m sorry we did nothing for you children who died.

At least we can pray for the perpetrators to go to hell.

To return to Dewan’s article: “The UN Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) team has continued to work on verifying violations against children in the war since 2013, when the Syrian government was accused of killing and maiming children, and attacking schools and hospitals…. The team verifies six violations, namely the recruitment and use of children by parties in the conflict, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on hospitals and schools, abductions, and denial of humanitarian access.”

Virginia Gamba is the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Dewan quotes Gamba in her article:

“Every year since then, there has been a tremendous increase in all grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict,” Gamba said.

“Most of the recruitment of children was committed by non-state groups, while most killing and maiming was attributable to the Syrian government and pro-government forces.

“In the first three months of this year, there was an increase of 25% in recruitment and use of children, and of 348% in killing and maiming, compared with the previous three months.”

Gamba then goes on to make an absurd and passionless statement: “It is time for the children of Syria to believe in their own future and to learn what peace means. It is time for them to retake the childhood that was taken away from them,”

Madam Gamba. Can you please explain to all of us how you might suggest the children of Syria who have been maimed, raped and have experienced other forms of sexual violence, have been abducted and denied humanitarian access, been shot at, as well as seen their parents and siblings killed in front of them, start to believe in their own future and learn what peace means?

Ve’ahavta was founded in 1996 and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016. Areas of work include South America, the Caribbean, in Asia (during the tsunami in Thailand and the Hurricane in the Philippines), and communities in rural Africa (affected by AIDS), and advocating awareness about the genocide in Darfur. Locally, he has initiated many programs for the disadvantaged in Toronto (Passover Seder for the Homeless (co-sponsored by Toronto’s Congregation Habonim), Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless, Homework Partnership Program for Somalian Children etc.), as well as forming alliances with the Jewish and First Nations communities.