The recent terrible tragedy brought about by a devastating earthquake in Haiti which has left a conservative 100,000 people dead, is put in perspective.
In the immediate wake of the disaster, the U.S government pledged total support to Haiti with Barack Obama declaring that Haiti "will never be forsaken". The Venezuelan government have quickly sent rescue experts, and the immediate response of the French foreign ministry has been to quickly rush in supplies and rescue experts. British Oxfam has quite quickly established a presence in Haiti. The United Nations who have lost personnel in in this tragedy have sought to lend their voice and expertise to the rescue effort...
Several other countries have since joined the effort of providing much needed food and clean water as well as vital medicines to alleviate the suffering of a country which is regarded as the poorest in the Americas and who have, in the recent past, known their fair share of major natural disasters.
Individuals across the world have contributed, and continue to contribute millions of dollars to this rescue effort...
Sad as it seems, it takes a disaster of this proportion for us human beings to find that which matters more than conflict and a readiness for it...
It seems to take a heartbreaking disaster such as this, for us to find our common humanity...
Friday 15 January 2010
Sunday 3 January 2010
one year on..
The one year anniversary of the war in Gaza prompts a critical look at the Jewish street and its contribution to discuss vis-a-vis the resumption of the Middle East peace process.
Even as the Netanyahu Government expresses a commitment to returning to the negotiating table, there have been a series of demonstrations in Israel against settlement freezes.
These demonstrations are initiated and perpetuated not by the Government of Israel, but by ordinary people.. Jewish people. These are people who have known pain or whose relatives, friends or close acquaintances have known pain..
... One cannot help but romanticise about this nation of people who have known suffering becoming a beacon of hope for the hopeless.. people who would see their collective calling to be a commitment to peaceful co-existence with its neighbours.
.. a commitment that recognises without equivocation how inimical continued settlement expansion is to achieving a viable two state solution..
Given that the general world consensus is for the achieving of a viable Palestinian state existing side by side with a Jewish state, protests against settlement freezes takes something away from the Jewish people...
It chips away at the one weapon in the Jewish State's arsenal greater than all others...
It chips away at the moral high- ground..
Even as the Netanyahu Government expresses a commitment to returning to the negotiating table, there have been a series of demonstrations in Israel against settlement freezes.
These demonstrations are initiated and perpetuated not by the Government of Israel, but by ordinary people.. Jewish people. These are people who have known pain or whose relatives, friends or close acquaintances have known pain..
... One cannot help but romanticise about this nation of people who have known suffering becoming a beacon of hope for the hopeless.. people who would see their collective calling to be a commitment to peaceful co-existence with its neighbours.
.. a commitment that recognises without equivocation how inimical continued settlement expansion is to achieving a viable two state solution..
Given that the general world consensus is for the achieving of a viable Palestinian state existing side by side with a Jewish state, protests against settlement freezes takes something away from the Jewish people...
It chips away at the one weapon in the Jewish State's arsenal greater than all others...
It chips away at the moral high- ground..
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