The lyrics to the 1963 Bob Dylan song “Blowing in the Wind” have been echoing in my mind the past few days. Specifically, the part that asks, “How many years can some people exist, before they're allowed to be free?”
Now I know that the song is considered a protest song used during the heyday of the Civil Rights movement and anti-war demonstrations. However, the refrain “The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind” has been described as “impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind”. I believe that the response to the former is more pertinent.
“Why would you be thinking about those words?” one might ask. It all started when I read this past Monday of another high-level meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Rice and PM Olmert of Israel. The report pointed out how there was an increased urgency to force a Middle East peace accord before President Bush leaves office in January and Israeli PM Olmert has to step down next month because of the legal problems he is facing with certain indictments to be handed down any day now.
Again you might ask, “Why would this be a bad thing. Don’t we want peace?” To which I would respond, “Yes, but at what cost.” Let me explain.
For several years now, the U.S. has pressured Israel to give up land to terrorist groups in the exchange for peace. Israel has done so many times only to be told by those same groups that they surrendered property to that they will never grant Israel peace. Each time, the U.S. has urged more concessions on Israel with the hopes that peace can be found. Each time, the concessions are not enough and more is demanded.
Now some will question that the U.S. can influence that kind of pressure upon Israel. However, considering that our country is Israel’s number one ally and that virtually all their military hardware comes from us, that is a strong bargaining chip in this ‘peace’ process.
So what does any of this have to do with Bob Dylan music? Glad you asked.
Living in South Louisiana, all eyes are fixed upon Hurricane Gustav as it approaches the Gulf of Mexico. Those of us that lived here in August 2005 cannot help but remember it was this same time frame that Hurricane Katrina formed and hit the Gulf Coast as the costliest storm in U.S. history. And here’s where I think it gets interesting.
During that same time frame, Israel under pressure by the U.S., forced the evacuation of Israeli settlers in Gaza and Northern Samaria in a land for peace deal. President Bush congratulated PM Sharon at the time for bringing about a decisive move towards peace. Within days, the U.S. was evacuating thousands from the city of New Orleans which to date has not been restored. Interestingly, those forced to evacuate in Israel are still living in refugee camps as the land and money promised them to re-settle has yet to be given them—and there is still no peace in Middle East.
The question is whether one can consider it a coincidence that another hurricane is heading to the U.S. at the same time that Secretary Rice is in Israel pressuring that country to divide the City of Jerusalem [Israel’s capital] and give half away in another land for peace exchange.
Also of interest is the origin of the name “Gustav” – the name of the hurricane. It means “staff of the gods”. Interestingly, the word "staff" used throughout the Bible almost always means “a rod—for chastening”.
As the song asks, “How many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.” Maybe God is trying to tell the U.S. something?

