I like to consider myself a fixer, someone who can work outside the box to find a solution and I humbly accept, I am at a loss in finding a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Way better people than I have actually attempted to do so but the question is: should we even bother trying?
Having discussed the latest explosion of rocket fire and military force in the region with Canadian citizens staked on either side of the conflict, it is enough to leave an outsider overwhelmed and humbled.
When innocent lives are being lost continually in both Palestine and Israel, not just when the world’s eyes really crank up their coverage, where does it leave the rest of us?
Sadly, most Canadians I know really do not pay attention or wish to. NIMBYismdoes not just apply to Walmarts and fast food drive thru lanes, it easily applies to world politics too. Start to delve into this Middle East conflict and you realize, we are lucky to have been born here in Canada.
” Innocent lives will be lost. Innocence will turn to hatred and the cycle sadly begins again. History repeated willingly.”
After talking with people of both Jewish and Palestinian backgrounds you get the sense they either do not want the rest of the civilized world to meddle and interject or want us to condemn and intervene.
There are mass appeals for peace rallied for in various world corners. Appeals for United States intervention. Appeals for the United Nations to unite and play referee. Common sense tells you peace needs to be brokered but can it be achieved where hate and the lust for revenge and justice is generational and not just a passing fancy. Also, others argue that “outsiders” have done enough in the area via arms supply and political gameplay to create the current firestorm.
Ultimately, has it come to the point where we simply need to step back and let this war, and it is a war, play itself out? Your sense of duty to humanity surely compels you to do otherwise.
What would you want your nation to do if a group like Hamas continued to execute its random rocket fire into your neighbourhood? How would you feel if people you knew were blown to bits while having an espresso thanks to a suicide bomber? What would you want done if your family, friends and communities were getting blasted off the face of the map in retaliatory attacks from a militarily superior neighbour?
There is no hope for a solution to this mess, some analysts say. All you can hope for is that this latest outburst of violence will shape the next upcoming ceasefire, say others.
All I know is that life is the shortest and most precious commodity we have and I do not like what it says about all of us if we give up on peace. Then again, we have let a genocide continue in Darfur, so what does that say about us already?
Innocent lives will be lost. Innocence will turn to hatred and the cycle sadly begins again. History repeated willingly.
On Deadline: Above the Fold to -30- 