Good morning,
SPEAKING ABOUT ISSUES AND ACKNOWLEDGING FACTS
I shared a Musing earlier this week about the difficulty of navigating a balanced perspective of the Israel-Palestinian conflict over the years. It requires acknowledging and reconciling the veracities and inconsistencies of the various narratives, finding empathy for each other alongside the pain they each feel for themselves, and exhibiting the bravery to take small steps and make concessions for the greater good of both.
Some fundamental tenets will need to shift for meaningful dialog and compromise.
The settlement project that envisions a Greater Israel incorporating Judea and Samaria must be abandoned as a pipe dream.
The mantra of “from the river to the sea” and those pushing that mantra that envisions no Jewish state of Israel will have to abandon the objective of obliterating the Jewish presence (and that means neutralizing Hamas and other Palestinian militia groups).
The far-right government of Israel cannot stand, while the Palestinian people will have to build meaningful, lasting, and accountable governing institutions. On this latter point, as I’ve said before, there needs to be a period of nation building under the auspices of a multi-national authority in order to provide time to incubate these institutions.
A few thoughtful observations, first on the seeming abandonment of facts and the second on trying to explain things to a child:
From Peter Bain:
“I applaud you for wading into this very dense and complex subject. I suspect that your basic premise is accurate, namely, that if everyone is upset with you, you are probably doing something right!
One thing did jump out at me as I read this morning’s Musing, and I think it goes to a fundamental problem we as a society are currently failing to face. To wit, the very first proposition you advance is “Reasonable people of good will and high moral character can disagree regarding the same set of facts.”
No doubt, the proposition is true as stated. The problem we have is that we seem to have lost the capacity to agree on “… the same set of facts.” This failure raises a challenge, even for “reasonable people of good will and high moral character.” Even more dangerously, it plays directly into the hands of those people of bad faith and lacking moral character. If we can’t get that piece right, it becomes well nigh impossible to address what should be fairly basic issues (you know, things like democracy!), let alone Gordian Knots like Israel and Palestine.
Let us hope we can walk back from this existential cliff we appear to be approaching lemming-like, and rediscover our good will and high moral character.”
I had breakfast the other day with a friend who says he really can’t talk to his daughter about the Israel-Palestinian issues because of their divergence on the issues. This is illustrative of the dilemma. If families can’t speak to each other, and they don’t even live in the area, how can the parties find a way to confront issues?
Then there is the question of how to introduce the issues to a child with no prior knowledge or history. This is from a friend, whose name I will withhold to protect anonymity:
“When our 14 year-old (Ethiopian adoptee and baptized Catholic) approached her parents to ask us to "explain" the Middle East in October, I was struck by exactly when to start. Just answering it's a long history, obviously didn't cut it, but there is so much context in that long history.”
I was moved by this. How, exactly, would one explain to a 14 year-old the issues in the Middle East?
A FINAL THOUGHT ON A WAY OUT
The deal to cut to end the Gaza War seems to me to be taking shape. Continue extending the ceasefire as hostages are released, releasing more Palestinian detainees and prisoners in return. Then, allow Hamas leaders free passage to another Arab country. This has precedence some precedent. By allowing that exit, Hamas can reduce the pain on its people, it can claim victory in raising Palestinian aspirations to the forefront. Israel can claim victory in removing Hamas as a fighting unit and source of terrorism. Israel can then turn to dealing with Palestinians that are not pledged to the elimination of the Jewish state and toward meaningful compromises. The Abbas regime, Israel, the U.S. and a consortium of the moderate Sunni states agree to meet on next steps to govern Gaza in the short term. As to the West Bank, Israel agrees to halt new settlements during negotiations of further moves toward Palestinian statehood. Why won’t this work?
Have a great day,
Glenn
Hi Glenn,
Doug Christianson - Loara class of 1974. I recently found your Musings Beyond the Bunker. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your work, dedication and your leading of this very important and thoughtful dialog on life. I am sharing your musings with my family and friends for foundation for better dialog and perspective. Regards, Doug