Free Palestine<\/strong>
Most of the slogans that people trot out, like "Free Palestine" of "Zionism is racism" (or whatever counter-statements Zionists or their supporters come up with) tend to be, on closer inspection, too facile. They may be useful for bandwagoning or for garnering opposition to real and present evils, but, in themselves, they offer no actual solution. If you want to understand a problem, there is no alternative to education. It's true not only of here, but of any complex geo-political situation. It's never as easy as taking sides or even looking for compromises. Fixing your mind on, and throwing all of your weight behind any one solution and implementing it very often produces a new set of problems that are even worse than the one you started with. Unfortunately. But the only people who really have time to delve into the intricacies of the "Israel-Palestinian" conflict (or other similar conflicts) are journalists or diplomats who are usually themselves suspect due to control by governmental or financial overlords with vested interests.
I can't reasonably expect that people everywhere around the world become experts on the Middle East. They have too much else on their plate, and there are many other issues that need to be addressed. And I don't want to tell people they should simply shut up because they are over-simplifying a complex problem. We really can't afford a situation in which people will be afraid to protest, just because they don't know enough. The status quo is untenable.
I don't want to come across as an effete hand-wringing demander of "nuance", or asker for "balance", when for a very long time there has been a situation of total imbalance.
Ultimately, I'm pessimistic. With every victory, Israel is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. The reversal, and the revenge, is likely to be as complete as its cruelty. And, just as in post-colonial regimes the world over, ordinary Palestinians may not end up in a better position than their current reality. Violence begets violence, and the only way to peace, is through peace. If we really want to see a better reality in Israel-Palestine, we need to start by considering the needs of human beings on either side of the conflict. Damaged, traumatized human beings who have a lot to answer for, and a lot of responsibility for digging themselves into the hole they find themselves in. Impractically, no doubt, I still imagine a one-state solution: a state for all of its citizens. A state that will include all the racists, the fascists, the fanatics, the criminals; the usual subjects: a state that is messy and imperfect, but fairer and more equal than the alternatives, perhaps.<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","width":640,"height":426}
Most of the slogans that people trot out, like "Free Palestine" of "Zionism is racism" (or whatever counter-statements Zionists or their supporters come up with) tend to be, on closer inspection, too facile. They may be useful for bandwagoning or for garnering opposition to real and present evils, but, in themselves, they offer no actual solution. If you want to understand a problem, there is no alternative to education. It's true not only of here, but of any complex geo-political situation. It's never as easy as taking sides or even looking for compromises. Fixing your mind on, and throwing all of your weight behind any one solution and implementing it very often produces a new set of problems that are even worse than the one you started with. Unfortunately. But the only people who really have time to delve into the intricacies of the "Israel-Palestinian" conflict (or other similar conflicts) are journalists or diplomats who are usually themselves suspect due to control by governmental or financial overlords with vested interests.
I can't reasonably expect that people everywhere around the world become experts on the Middle East. They have too much else on their plate, and there are many other issues that need to be addressed. And I don't want to tell people they should simply shut up because they are over-simplifying a complex problem. We really can't afford a situation in which people will be afraid to protest, just because they don't know enough. The status quo is untenable.
I don't want to come across as an effete hand-wringing demander of "nuance", or asker for "balance", when for a very long time there has been a situation of total imbalance.
Ultimately, I'm pessimistic. With every victory, Israel is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. The reversal, and the revenge, is likely to be as complete as its cruelty. And, just as in post-colonial regimes the world over, ordinary Palestinians may not end up in a better position than their current reality. Violence begets violence, and the only way to peace, is through peace. If we really want to see a better reality in Israel-Palestine, we need to start by considering the needs of human beings on either side of the conflict. Damaged, traumatized human beings who have a lot to answer for, and a lot of responsibility for digging themselves into the hole they find themselves in. Impractically, no doubt, I still imagine a one-state solution: a state for all of its citizens. A state that will include all the racists, the fascists, the fanatics, the criminals; the usual subjects: a state that is messy and imperfect, but fairer and more equal than the alternatives, perhaps.<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","width":640,"height":426}