Mellow mists and fruitfulness

 Mellow mists and fruitfulness

You can almost sense the autumnal mellow mists and fruitfulness, the rustling and crunching of playful, yellowing leaves chasing after each other frenetically like eight year old schoolchildren playing tag in the playground. You can smell the wanton woodfire smoke of the last day of October, the crackling and screaming of the first fireworks soaring over rain drenched rooftops. You can feel the sweet chills of autumn, faint suggestions of winter in the air but not quite yet. 

Then the banging and popping of yet more colourful fireworks, a precursor to the real thing next Sunday's Guy Fawkes Night. This is the darkest time of the year because the clocks have gone back, 5.00 in the evening could be forgiven for being midnight and everything feels mysterious and suspicious. Oh yes it's Halloween night. It's that day of the year: orange pumpkins, kids knocking on the doors of a million front doors, general jollity and merriment and hot bowls of soup with just the occasional barbecue should you feel daring enough.

But for the rest of us autumn has arrived like an old and familiar friend you haven't seen for at least a year.  Most of us disappear into hibernation since there's no point in going anywhere. Where once there was sunlight and the pageantry of summer in all her glory, now there is the incessant rain and wind. Oh well, never mind. We've still got the family and friends we've always cherished, living life to the full and let's just have innumerable board games such as Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble.

During the summer we used to sit outside pub gardens lethargically and contentedly knowing full well that you could drink to your hearts content without worrying about chucking out time. Now let's put the kettle on, send out invitations to our neighbours and discuss the ongoing issues such as war in the Middle East, Ukraine and any parts of the world where only murder, death and suffering now take place on a daily basis. As a proud Jew the abominable genocide of innocent Israeli families, children and a distressing number of Israeli adults have reduced most of us to an excruciating, agonised silence.

We threw up our hands in horror at the cold blooded savagery, the bloodthirsty belligerence, the naked violence, the callous killing and repulsive raping of babies and children. We sat at home and knew we were helpless. We compared our safe and comfortable homes in the UK and just remained dumbfounded, bemused beyond belief. There is something soul destroying and totally demoralising about war particularly if you live in a country where there are despicable, sub human terrorists spreading the message of hatred and intolerance. There is a sense here that humanity seems to be desperately wrestling with its battered conscience. 

So as the first pumpkins are displayed outside your front door there should be a complete recognition that any kind of festivity or happiness should never really be acknowledged. There is an awkward balancing act here where the raw emotions of a deadly and terrifying war have to be put into some kind of sober perspective. Of course there is a widespread sorrow, an aching grief, melancholy that goes way beyond its meaning and a constant mourning of the thousands of deaths.

Now we all now Hamas, a terrorist organisation that can barely be mentioned without a vile detestation of their existence, find that the medicine can leave a nasty taste in your mouth. They who cast the first stone does seem the most suitable phrase since none will ever forgive the deaths of those who perished at a music festival on Simchat Torah. They know who they are and their barbaric brutalities have to be utterly condemned. The hand of retaliation has to be lethal and comprehensive. There should though be no holding back because this war was provoked by Hamas and there is no room for forgiveness.

 We should never condone the killing, bombing and blatant hostage taking which now feels like Israel's guilt and responsibility. Of course the outpouring of compassion and humane benevolence should always be there but for the thousands of Israelis who have suffered with massive loss of life there can be no consolation. Israel have suffered horrifically on a monumental scale and revenge has to be immediate. We've known for some time that the innocent civilians will always lose their lives but we all know who started this war and it certainly wasn't Israel.

But this is now a major global catastrophe. The simple fact remains is that this is not Israel's fault. The  culpability for any atrocity that may well have been reported comes from Southern Israel. As is normally the case Israel always seems to get it in the neck for whatever the nature of their actions. Historically Israel have always been the accused as the architects of their own downfall because Israel  were the ones who killed in far greater numbers. Then we're surrounded by those equally as Hezbollah who also loathe Israel with poisonous thoughts on their minds. 

Sadly there seems little prospect of compromise, negotiation or even a hint of reconciliation. Never in a million years. Hamas are hell bent on wiping Israel from the face of the earth. Jews are repellent, anathema to everything they believe in and stand for, according to Hamas. Here is a disgusting, disgraceful, nefarious killing machine, a bloodthirsty military force who should be destroyed once and for all. We Stand By Israel and always will. Love to the Land of Milk and Honey for ever more.