One of my very well-meaning colleagues with a chronic Oslo complex had the poor taste to forward me a copy of this pathetic piece of piffle today, along with a personal note from someone up the line ("This article holds out the hope that small personal steps will accomplish what official "diplomacy" cannot") and the usual "pass this on to everyone you know." Oy.
No Shortcuts in Israel, Just Small Steps
By Daniel Seidemann
[ . . . ]
Two years ago, a few of us got together in my living room to talk strategy on the school issue. From a neighborhood not far away, we could hear machine-gun and tank fire. There was an awkward pause, and then one of the Palestinians said, "Our people are firing on your people, and your people on ours. Can we meet like this?" The answer was immediate and unanimous: Yes. "We've got work to do."
Are we representative? Of course not. The cumulative fear, humiliation and terror of the past three years have destroyed the hestitant mutual humanization that began during the Oslo years. Palestinians have no idea how terrorized Israelis are, how disrupted our lives. And we Israelis have no idea how humiliated and subjugated the Palestinians are.
But as marginal as this group might be, we are far more representative of our respective peoples and their aspirations than the suicide bombers and the extremists on both sides. Both peoples are better than their current leaderships. Even Jerusalem is still an eminently viable city. If history has condemned us to share this city, it is a verdict the vast majority on both sides can live with.
There are no shortcuts. There are small steps to take, however, and that is what we do.
I notice, without surprize, that this article was also published here.
Moral equivalence 101. Ignoring reality 202. Pie-in-the-sky 303. Where have all the flowers gone???
