Re: Obama reaches out to Muslims
It's said on CNN that what will be the real litmus test for the muslim world's reaction to Obama's reaching out to them would be what his stance is on Gaza.
I think that he should do something daring about this situation. I think it's pretty clear that the standard methods of mediation are not appropriate or even practical. There's no hope that the orthodox methods will produce any meaningful outcome; or if they do, it will be because they happened to be going on while circumstances (especially the population's opinions) in the region changed so significantly that its presence or absence would have no real influence on what actually transpired there.
So here's what I think Obama should do, because I feel the need to be involved in this presidency, despite my best efforts to appear like I'm not interested :P
1) Obama should recognize that the traditional system of blame and reparations no longer applies. So many things have been done for so long that there is no way that any party will accept responsibility enough to allow for the peace process.
That's a *key* requirement of peace. That someone accepts responsibility for the past and vows to change. That's why every "cease-fire" has ultimately failed; because no one is interested in changing the status-quo, they're just interested in forgetting about it. Change requires work and commitment, sacrifice and vulnerability. Forgetting is basically a "fuck me later" card.
2) Obama should announce that he is going to be responsible for the peace-process in Gaza.
I can't really say that this is anything more than political posturing. Without the vested interest and history in the region, and without collateral to put up to guarantee the interest in its optimal resolution, these are empty words. Except for the fact that SOMEBODY HAS TO TAKE OWNERSHIP of this problem. That on its own is a major contribution to the peace process.
3) Obama should then announce that peace will not come about until each side recognizes the following fact about one another: That the Israelis and the Palestinians are not only each other's brother, but each other's greatest ally.
This news will be greeted with a roll of the eyes at the cliche about "brothers" until he says the second half of the statement. Then they'll wonder what he's been smoking. It's at this point that he should indicate that Darwin's theory of evolution, you know, the one that said monkeys and apes were the closest family in the animal kingdom, had a similarly incredulous reception among the general populace. And today, save for some misguided few, loud though they are, the theory of evolution is a generally accepted idea--accepted as obvious and self-apparent in some circles.
He should then go on to explain that it is precisely because the Palestinians and the Israelis haev so much shared history, so much blood spilled between them, that they have unwittingly formed a blood-bond to each other. And say what you will about the relative merits of symbols, but a blood-oath is generally accepted as one of the most powerful bonds between us. It is not for no reason that the husband and wife become "one flesh" and hence, mingle their bloods, so to speak. The blood is the fate of the person who carries it. It is their lifeforce, their essence, their spirit.
So much blood has been spilled on either side that numbers no longer matter; perpetrator has blurred into victim and back again a hundred, a thousand times; until they are indistinguishable, until they are, in fact, both at once. And hence they share a bond. And not just any bond, but the strongest of bonds. Enemies or friends, they will NEVER be separated again in the human consciousness. When one thinks of Palestine, one thinks IMMEDIATELY of the conflict in Gaza. When one thinks of Israel, one things IMMEDIATELY of the conflict in Gaza.
The two are inextricably bound to each other. They can tear into each other all they want, but like Prometheus on the rock, each will regenerate their flesh anew each morning while the other plays the part of the eagle that comes to eat it.
There are no simple or easy answers to this conflict. If there were, the problem would already be solved.
There are not even any complex or hard answers to this conflict. Far greater minds than my own have weighed this dilemma back and forth in their mind for far longer than I have, and have come to the same impasse as before.
Or perhaps I should say that perhaps they have come to a solution, but the collective consciousness that is the Palestinian and Israeli people are not willing to accept it, not willing to incorporate those ideas. Possibly because they're complicated and hard.
No, what is needed is a revolutionary answer. A totally unprecedented, unthinkable answer. An answer that cannot be sullied by rockets or partisanship.
What is required is a revelation, a miracle. What is required is for the human creature to cast aside its knee-jerk reactions and its ill-conceived concepts of justice.
What is required is for people, as a joint, mutually-hating whole, to pull the wool from their eyes that clings to trash while it casts away riches, to acknowledge that this hate is fruitless, and it is endless, unless you stop the circle by refusing to participate in ANY stage of the retribution process. Grieve for your losses, but do not pair your grief with your anger. That way lies a quick descent into blindness.
I wonder when it will happen.
I think that he should do something daring about this situation. I think it's pretty clear that the standard methods of mediation are not appropriate or even practical. There's no hope that the orthodox methods will produce any meaningful outcome; or if they do, it will be because they happened to be going on while circumstances (especially the population's opinions) in the region changed so significantly that its presence or absence would have no real influence on what actually transpired there.
So here's what I think Obama should do, because I feel the need to be involved in this presidency, despite my best efforts to appear like I'm not interested :P
1) Obama should recognize that the traditional system of blame and reparations no longer applies. So many things have been done for so long that there is no way that any party will accept responsibility enough to allow for the peace process.
That's a *key* requirement of peace. That someone accepts responsibility for the past and vows to change. That's why every "cease-fire" has ultimately failed; because no one is interested in changing the status-quo, they're just interested in forgetting about it. Change requires work and commitment, sacrifice and vulnerability. Forgetting is basically a "fuck me later" card.
2) Obama should announce that he is going to be responsible for the peace-process in Gaza.
I can't really say that this is anything more than political posturing. Without the vested interest and history in the region, and without collateral to put up to guarantee the interest in its optimal resolution, these are empty words. Except for the fact that SOMEBODY HAS TO TAKE OWNERSHIP of this problem. That on its own is a major contribution to the peace process.
3) Obama should then announce that peace will not come about until each side recognizes the following fact about one another: That the Israelis and the Palestinians are not only each other's brother, but each other's greatest ally.
This news will be greeted with a roll of the eyes at the cliche about "brothers" until he says the second half of the statement. Then they'll wonder what he's been smoking. It's at this point that he should indicate that Darwin's theory of evolution, you know, the one that said monkeys and apes were the closest family in the animal kingdom, had a similarly incredulous reception among the general populace. And today, save for some misguided few, loud though they are, the theory of evolution is a generally accepted idea--accepted as obvious and self-apparent in some circles.
He should then go on to explain that it is precisely because the Palestinians and the Israelis haev so much shared history, so much blood spilled between them, that they have unwittingly formed a blood-bond to each other. And say what you will about the relative merits of symbols, but a blood-oath is generally accepted as one of the most powerful bonds between us. It is not for no reason that the husband and wife become "one flesh" and hence, mingle their bloods, so to speak. The blood is the fate of the person who carries it. It is their lifeforce, their essence, their spirit.
So much blood has been spilled on either side that numbers no longer matter; perpetrator has blurred into victim and back again a hundred, a thousand times; until they are indistinguishable, until they are, in fact, both at once. And hence they share a bond. And not just any bond, but the strongest of bonds. Enemies or friends, they will NEVER be separated again in the human consciousness. When one thinks of Palestine, one thinks IMMEDIATELY of the conflict in Gaza. When one thinks of Israel, one things IMMEDIATELY of the conflict in Gaza.
The two are inextricably bound to each other. They can tear into each other all they want, but like Prometheus on the rock, each will regenerate their flesh anew each morning while the other plays the part of the eagle that comes to eat it.
There are no simple or easy answers to this conflict. If there were, the problem would already be solved.
There are not even any complex or hard answers to this conflict. Far greater minds than my own have weighed this dilemma back and forth in their mind for far longer than I have, and have come to the same impasse as before.
Or perhaps I should say that perhaps they have come to a solution, but the collective consciousness that is the Palestinian and Israeli people are not willing to accept it, not willing to incorporate those ideas. Possibly because they're complicated and hard.
No, what is needed is a revolutionary answer. A totally unprecedented, unthinkable answer. An answer that cannot be sullied by rockets or partisanship.
What is required is a revelation, a miracle. What is required is for the human creature to cast aside its knee-jerk reactions and its ill-conceived concepts of justice.
What is required is for people, as a joint, mutually-hating whole, to pull the wool from their eyes that clings to trash while it casts away riches, to acknowledge that this hate is fruitless, and it is endless, unless you stop the circle by refusing to participate in ANY stage of the retribution process. Grieve for your losses, but do not pair your grief with your anger. That way lies a quick descent into blindness.
I wonder when it will happen.