Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Still Blowin' In the Wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
And how many deaths will it take ’til he knows
That too many people have died?
~Dylan.

I learned only today that there are roads and transport systems in Israel that only non-Arabs are permitted to use. Isn’t that a form of apartheid? And if so, shouldn’t the world be taking Israel by the scruff of the neck and shaking some decency into the hardliners?

‘You’re being naïve and simplistic,’ I hear you cry. ‘This is a complex issue, and there’s the matter of terrorism to be considered.’

Well, we’re told in Britain that we’re at risk of terrorist activity from Islamic extremists, but we don’t make the London Underground and the motorways whites-only. And it bears repeating that there are no complexities that can’t be unravelled if only the will is there to do it.

And so I have to strongly suspect that this isn’t really about complexity and terrorism at all, but about selfishness, greed and notions of inherent supremacy. And let’s not forget something that too many people conveniently overlook: Terrorism nearly always has its root in mistreatment. So dig out the root and the poisonous berries will die naturally.

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