Win the battle, lose the war…
I had read an article on the same lines above which stressed about what kind of battles we should or should not pick, specially in our workplace.
I agree that certain topics of conflict should be kept at bay when in social gatherings especially when the crowd is diverse and the conversation is likely to go down south very quickly. This is something I learned very early, decades ago and since have steered clear of indulging in any controversial banter in social situations. My personal favorite topics to steer clear off would be religion, politics and reservations/affirmative action.
Sometimes I think the issue isn’t the topic in question but our growing intolerance to even hear out an opposing point of view. As I always say, listening isn’t the same as agreeing. One should always be open to debating facts and that is how mutually beneficial conclusions are reached.
It’s been a while since the Israel HAMAS war started and I have consciously chosen to not take sides in this matter on social media until I had some facts clear and now I am going to speak a little on it as objectively as I can. The only conclusion that I have reached after whatever little I researched on the topic was that both the Israelis and Palestinians have equal ownership of the land from a historical standpoint and that the current state of affairs brewing in the region was and is fruitless in every sense.
The point is, we may take whichever side, but our opinions have to be solution oriented. And if anything, there seems to be no solution to this war as of now. Even if you go back in history and decide that the Israeli’s deserved the holy land of their ancestors and a state of their own after all they have been through in the holocaust and having been a sect that was historically always persecuted, being located amidst a host of hostile countries have only put them at a strategic disadvantage and has kept the place in turmoil ever since its inception. Imagine living with the sword of Damocles dangling atop your head every single waking day.
Take the Palestinians on the other hand. There is no debate on whether there should have been a retaliation after the gruesome Oct 7 massacre. There certainly however is one, when to obliterate a few terrorists, you wipe out an entire nation and leave behind in it’s wake orphans, maimed kids, destroyed families and a hoard of people living on international assistance with zero quality of life. And they have been living this way for a very long time having been in conflict with their neighbor since decades. Not limited to this context, I understand surgical strikes and targeted attacks but I do not understand indiscriminate bombing of entire cities.
Do we really expect jobless, orphaned people living under duress to not pick up weapons? If anything this is going to be their new pass time. I say so because history is proof that when such radical organizations are created, their sustenance depends on carrying out exercises of extremism and terrorism. Whether that is the IM, Al Qaeda or HAMAS, they soon became a nuisance either to their creator or to their innocent neighbors. Like once Hillary Clinton very correctly remarked “When you grow snakes in your own backyard do not expect them to bite only your neighbors.”
Now with Iran getting involved along with the Hezbollah and Russia, and NATO always being involved in anything and everything, this whole scenario is only becoming murkier by the day. When President Trump was once asked something regarding his war policies, the only thing he said was, “I want people to stop dying’ and that included his own soldiers. Honestly, the only sensible statement that has come out of the NATO camp.
Now USA wants to pull out, but the damage has already been done and Prime Minister Netanyahu is still on the offensive even when the rest of the world is making their displeasure clear. Are the Israeli’s really hoping to fight the whole of the Middle Eastern countries and Russia and China and Iran and come out unscathed even if they have the might of the USA and NATO behind them? Are the people of Palestine going to live and die like rodents with HAMAS for leadership? Don’t their children like the Israeli children deserve some quality of life? Doesn’t Israel deserve peace? How long is this war going to linger? Most importantly “What is the permanent solution to this madness?”
I understand all the pro Palestinian protests and the pro Israeli sentiments too and I don’t believe in stifling voices. However sometimes you have to win people on your side. You cannot always force change. And the best way to do it is not by cancelling someone or threatening someone or through warfare but through mature dialogue. If only you could patiently listen to someone, their point of view, their research on the topic and the reason why they have a contrary opinion and convey yours in the same capacity, will there be an exchange of ideas and a solution oriented conversation.
I read a very beautiful article the other day here on Medium regarding the same where the author remarked something to the tune of- “Every time we address the Israel HAMAS situation instead of using the phrase ‘but’ use the phrase ‘and’.” For eg: ‘Israel deserves to exist AND the Palestinians deserve their own land’ or ‘The HAMAS attacked Israel AND Israel bombed Palestine’. That way both sides get equal weightage in the conversation.
If this situation escalates into a World War 3, some might win their battles, but we will all collectively lose the war. Just the way it is with every war. Somehow the generations coming after the previous war never learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. It’s time we told some of our world leaders what we tell our kids back home,
‘Please choose your battles and negotiate your differences and for everyone’s sake don’t begin one.’
