Justifying War

Every time I log on to Twitter, it makes me despondent.  The Russia-Ukraine conflict, the shooting of flight MH17, the immigrant children on the U.S border and the the war between Gaza and Israel. Innocent people are losing their lives everywhere for almost no other reason than the sheer hubris of a bloated collective identity.
Like millions and billions of people around the globe, I too ask the same question-
"What has the world come to?"

A Rally in Netherlands for the MH17 victims

Why can't the Russian speaking population in Crimea live peacefully with what they have instead of conniving with a nation that has historically been known to be a rubble-rouser? And why can't the Ukrainians treat them like brethren, as their own? Why do civilians have to lose everything and be subjected to live in a constant threat with the bane of uncertainty thrust upon them? Were those rebels so ignorant and overzealous that they couldn't distinguish between a civilian aircraft from a military bomber plane?

And then the callousness of the tongue-waggers. Bringing up incidents from the past where U.S shot down an Iranian plane with a raging debate on how the U.S did not "apologize". Does this justify the heinous acts by the rebels in Eastern Europe? Do we have to establish who has a higher moral ground before we can sympathize with the victims and their traumatized loved ones? Will scoring a political point that U.S is better (or worse) than Russia make a difference in the life of a family that lost two of its kin in flights MH370 and MH17?

An Israeli looks through the window of a van carrying the body of Dror Khenin

Coming to the Gaza vs Israel issue. Why do you have to rummage through the history books to justify the atrocities inflicted by Israel and Hamas on citizens, irrespective of their nationalities and allegiance? It takes two to fight a war. Instead of converting this into a Muslims vs Jews issue, how about we think of it as the arm-twisting bulliness of one side versus the violent stubbornness of the other? Why do people don't finch while citing Gandhi, Mandela and Dr. King but in the same breath find them 'irrelevant' in the modern day world?

I am no scholar, social scientist, journalist or a political activist. I come from the world of software and technology. But it doesn't take rocket science (pun intended) to see the absurdity in the arguments online which attempt to justify and defend acts of violence and in a common parlance, murder.
"It is never about peace if it involves killing a sentient being."
I use the above line as my tenet for vegetarianism. From such a standpoint, to think that human lives are devalued over religious or cultural parochialism is appalling to say the least.

Contemplating their futures

Its too cliched (and a farce) to talk about "praying for peace" and to "world leaders to come together for the sake of a safer world" if the people who are represented by these leaders are so insensitive to the misery and sufferings of their fellow humans. Hence I shall not talk about any of this.
If there could be something achieved by this piece of mine, it would be for all humans to think about this- How about we change the way of looking at conflicts, in terms of the humans who will have their lives shattered or even worse, taken away, instead of squabbling over which side is just or unjust.

In the words of the British Prime minister, Neville Chamberlain-

"In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers." 

Amen

(Photo Credits: Hollandse Hoogte/The Telegraph for the Dutch Peace Rally; New York Times for the Boy and the Man in Gaza; Ronen Zvulun, Reuters for the Jewish deceased)