When possible, it would be well to first determine how to reach our enemy's heart before designing how to obliterate his body.
While there may be truth in Israel’s contention that if its adversaries disarmed there would be peace yet if Israel disarmed there would be no Israel, I fear and suspect that Israelis are often too quick to play the victim with a justification to exact a harsh defense. In such a state of mind, they never pause to acknowledge that it is Palestine and other calcitrants’ middle-east leaders who are their adversaries and not the populations they allegedly lead. Rather than engaging in lopsided defense maneuvers, Israel and the West would do well to ponder the more complex and difficult question of how to win the hearts and minds of a beleaguered, and often manipulated people who are taught and even coerced into hating everyone but their own. Because, truly, there are many good, genuine, Palestinians who are prisoners of their circumstances and who want peace. Who speaks for them, who protects them and should the world community and Israel take them into consideration?
We wish, hope, and pray for and aspire that all peoples everywhere take responsibility for their own progress and throw off the yokes of oppression. Yet, unfortunately, ignorance, fear and need, and not to mention--a highly weaponized governments, are sometimes almost insurmountable obstacles to their and our aspirations. Despite this, I would still submit that a majority of the Palestinians, given the choice and the freedom to exercise it, would chose peace over war. Rather than showering them all with missiles we merely need to make more effort in discovering how to reach their hearts and empower them to reject the tyranny of leaders who espouse hatred and destruction. Instead, often Israel’s policies of settlement and acquisition are designed to alienate Palestinian hearts and repress their spirits.
Loren M. Lambert © July 17, 2014
While there may be truth in Israel’s contention that if its adversaries disarmed there would be peace yet if Israel disarmed there would be no Israel, I fear and suspect that Israelis are often too quick to play the victim with a justification to exact a harsh defense. In such a state of mind, they never pause to acknowledge that it is Palestine and other calcitrants’ middle-east leaders who are their adversaries and not the populations they allegedly lead. Rather than engaging in lopsided defense maneuvers, Israel and the West would do well to ponder the more complex and difficult question of how to win the hearts and minds of a beleaguered, and often manipulated people who are taught and even coerced into hating everyone but their own. Because, truly, there are many good, genuine, Palestinians who are prisoners of their circumstances and who want peace. Who speaks for them, who protects them and should the world community and Israel take them into consideration?
We wish, hope, and pray for and aspire that all peoples everywhere take responsibility for their own progress and throw off the yokes of oppression. Yet, unfortunately, ignorance, fear and need, and not to mention--a highly weaponized governments, are sometimes almost insurmountable obstacles to their and our aspirations. Despite this, I would still submit that a majority of the Palestinians, given the choice and the freedom to exercise it, would chose peace over war. Rather than showering them all with missiles we merely need to make more effort in discovering how to reach their hearts and empower them to reject the tyranny of leaders who espouse hatred and destruction. Instead, often Israel’s policies of settlement and acquisition are designed to alienate Palestinian hearts and repress their spirits.
Loren M. Lambert © July 17, 2014
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