Israel and the Sinister Politics of Religious Fanaticism

“You were born just as a human being — then how did you become a Mohammedan or a Hindu or a Christian?

“One of the most important novelists of America has asked me a question: ‘Osho, what do you think about the Jewish and Arab conflict in the Middle East? What is the solution, and what are the implications for the future?’

“I had to write to him saying, ‘Before I can specifically answer your question, I would like to give you my bird’s-eye view of the whole human situation, because what is happening in Israel between Jews and Arabs is nothing new. It is happening all over the world, in different names — between Hindus and Mohammedans, between Christians and Jews…

“‘Just the names are different, but the same violence, the same murder, the same suffering.

“‘And people are clinging to their suffering….’

“So I told him a few significant points.

“First: as long as there is a God, man cannot be at peace. It is God who is dividing man. He is the ultimate enemy of humanity; otherwise what is the difference between a Hindu and a Mohammedan and a Christian and a Jew? — just their idea of God. And that idea is nothing but an idea, just an empty hypothesis.