The extermination of Masada
What the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip have unfortunately experienced every day for almost two years, aside from the comparisons many media outlets have made to the Jewish genocide during World War II, has made me think of the extermination at Masada. Let me explain. Masada, from the Hebrew word metsudano, what does it mean strength, is an ancient fortification located in the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Its strategic location, atop an isolated rock plateau, makes it an ideal natural refuge.
It was thus used by the Hasmonean rulers of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, but it was Herod the Great who transformed it into a unique fortress. The Idumean king, a pro-Roman and Hellenistic king, lived in fear, aware that he was not well received by his Jewish subjects.
Later, in 70 AD, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple took place. Masada then became the last refuge of the Jewish revolutionaries, the so-called Zealots. Historian Flavi Josep describes these moving events in his work The Jewish WarThe Zealots held out for a year, facing severe food and water shortages, but when the Romans were about to storm the fortress, they chose to commit mass suicide rather than be captured by the enemy.
After this atrocity, Masada fell into disuse until archaeological excavations began in 1963. In 2001, it was declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is the site of the solemn oath-taking ceremony of Israeli soldiers from one of the most elite armed units, who at the end of the ceremony exclaim: "Masada will never fall again." A legitimate and just demand that is included in the essential social dimension of guaranteeing the rights of peoples and, even more so, the rights of individuals who must be able to have the necessary resources to live in peace and freedom.
Despite historical differences, reality repeats itself, even when power changes sides. At Masada, it was Roman troops; in World War II, Hitler's troops; and now, in Gaza, Israeli troops. That is why Pope Leo XIV never tires of repeatedly demanding, most recently before Israeli President Isaac Herzog himself, that everything necessary be done to "guarantee full respect for humanitarian law and the legitimate aspirations of both peoples."
We all want to enjoy the world as our common home. How will we do so to avoid continuing to succumb to the exterminating struggle of people, nations, and humanity? What prevents us from learning from history? Let us recall what Pope John Paul II said before UNESCO in 1980: "Education means that man becomes more and more human. Through everything he has, everything he possesses, he may know how to be more fully human. Therefore, it is necessary for man to know how to be more, not only with others, but for others." Please, let us continue educating for peace and not for war, now more than ever.