Great human suffering unites the world and shifts discourse..

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...

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..

A speech and then some..

for critics who contend that Barack Obama is undeserved of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009, his speech yesterday must have left food for thought..

A speech that was expected to, at best, be one of platitudes, and at worst be filled with soaring oratory steeped in the unrealistic, this speech perhaps like none other in Nobel history, afforded a stark look at peace in our time..

The speech had it all.. from a reminder of the reality that human beings live with conflict, to laying bare the complexities of his world.. our world. Also expressed was an exhortation to the human being to strive for a more peaceful tomorrow..

It was a speech steeped in realism whilst embracing a refreshing idealism...

It was a speech that seemed to get better the more it was listened to.. and perhaps one that history would consider his most significant...

It was a Nobel speech for our time...

When an army turns against its own people..

The shocking story of the rape and humiliation of Guinean women, perpetrated by the country's military last week in the course of suppressing a political demonstration, is put in perspective.

The actions of the military have been viewed at with disgust, even revulsion, in a country which sees rape and degradation of women as alien to its culture..

Which begs the question.. what makes elements of an institution meant to protect ordinary people resort to rape and dehumanising the very people it has sworn to protect?

The answer to that question is perhaps that beyond the loss of a sense of duty to protect, something even more fundamental is lost.. the sense of a common humanity..

A sense of common humanity is something the State, through its commitment to justice, fair play, and the upholding of citizens' rights, would do well to preserve..

'.. In the context of Nigeria'

The latest unrest in the north of the world's most populous black nation [Nigeria] perpetrated by the fundamentalist 'Boko Haram' represents yet another incident that has alerted the world to that which has been painfully obvious for quite some time..

.. That Nigeria suffers from a lack of leadership capable of fostering a sense of unity in its disparate population.

..A sense of unity born out of love, justice, equity and a supreme belief in the State's commitment to protecting the 'mere insignificant' Nigerian on the streets from harm.

Like the politically instigated religious riots and militancy activities before it, the skirmishes with law enforcement officers brought about by the acts of violence perpetrated by the 'Boko Haram' represent a canker worm that is slowly eating away at the very fabric of Nigeria's stability and hence, its promise..

The People Vs. The "Harare Syndrome".

In response to Morgan Tsvangirai's visit to the U.K, an editorial in The Times newspaper of June 23rd 2009 describes the " Harare Syndrome" with a question: "Is morgan Tsvangirai identifying with his persecutors [Mugabe and his cronies] and turning a pragmatic blind eye to their appalling crimes?"

There is some sense in the thinking in this editorial that giving Zimbabwe the much needed aid requested by Mr Tsvangirai may well serve to continue to perpetuate Robert Mugabe in power..

What the editorial perhaps fails to do is highlight in starker terms, the plight of the ordinary man woman and child on the streets.. a plight made particularly worse by crippling sanctions.

Putting the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans side by side with the anxiety over propping up a dictator and his cronies might well help to proffer best and practical solutions to dealing with the regime without alienating Its people.

Morgan Tsvangirai decided on a power sharing agreement with Robert Mugabe, not to validate Mugabe. He did it for the sake of ordinary Zimbabweans..

The more talk is motivated and driven by conviction, the surer the acceptance..

Reports have it that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dispatched defense minister Ehud Barak to Washington in the hope of reaching a compromise with the Obama administration regarding continued settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Benjamin Netanyahu was earlier said to have declared the Obama call for total freeze of settlement construction as 'unreasonable'.

At this critical point in the discourse, it is important that the message coming out of Washington remains resolute, unequivocal, unambiguous..

In other words, it is important that Washington's talk continue to be driven by conviction..
..a conviction that a freeze on settlement expansion is in the interest of peace.

As tough as it may be, successfully making painful and difficult compromises serves to foster long term sustained acceptance and followed from that, long term mutual accommodation..