People vs Violence

As Martin Luther King jr says, ‘only light can drive out darkness’. Only forgiveness and compassion can drive out revenge, hatred and violence.

If we look back at history we can see that war has been a force of re-arrangement in the world, shaping empires, countries, cultures and most recently even rights and progress of societies. Some people defend that it is because of war that we have advanced in all the important aspects of society, that without war we might not be able to defend our countries, our rights, our ways of living. This mentality is still predominant in many of world’s leaders, as we see in the words of Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, in the midst of the Israel-Palestina situation: «Only if we acknowledge Israel’s pain, and its right to defend itself, will we have the credibility to say that Israel should react as a democracy, in line with international humanitarian law. And that it is crucial to protect civilian lives, even and especially in the middle of a war.»

To be honest, these words were very painful to me as a citizen of the European Union. I wondered why she was catering only to the Israeli pain, as if their pain is bigger than the pain of the palestinians? How is it possible to reduce the pain by inflicting more pain? How easy is it as a leader to send people to die to fight with each other? And more importantly, is this really the best position that the European Union can take to increase peace, harmony and wellbeing in the region for all the people involved, and ultimately for world stability?

Even if you defend the perspective of armed conflict as a necessary means to the end of peace, how is attacking Palestine going to create stability for Israel in the region and peace for their people? How can the Israeli government fall in the trap of Hamas in a moment when their international relationships with Arab countries were starting to see some light? Is there another possible response?

ONLY LIGHT CAN DRIVE OUT DARKNESS

To make a wise decision I would suggest current leaders look to the great men and women of our era. Who do we study in our schools as social references of values and coherence? Gandhi, Martin Luther King jr, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela and many others like them. And why were they so great? Because they thought out of the box, even when being attacked physically and mentally. Mandela, after 28 years in prison says: ‘I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity. When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both.’

Freedom in the greatest sense is to be able to live a peaceful, harmonious, fulfilling lives, without fear, without having to look over your shoulders, without enemies. Are these military responses going to create FREEDOM for Israelis and Palestinians in the next months, or are they going to increase the tension provoking even more havoc, not only in their lives, but potentially in the lives of many others around the world?

Actually, the immediate effect has already been the death of thousands of innocent people in Palestine (hundreds of kids), an increase in radicalism and terrorism in other territories, more violent responses in other countries, more islamophobia and antisemitism, potential global conflict that creates uncertainties for all of us etc.

Is this all you can do for your citizens, leaders of the world? To many of us your actions have been a total failure in your responsibilities.

Shouldn’t surprise us that this type of leadership is ruining our options for peace at a global scale. Our leadership paradigm is anchored in the principles of hardcore competition, empty intellectualism (based on memorizing concepts and not understanding reality in a deeper way), and superficial ‘speechiness’, through which we reward the ornaments of talking instead of the depth and meaning of what is said.

We keep choosing our leaders without considering important aspects that could balance out the equation of this empty intellectualism, like the cultivation of values and self-knowledge, that could be considered through the concept of ‘compassion quotient’, a quotient that speaks about our capacity to love, forgive, empathize with others, understand other’s pains and needs, embrace humanity as a whole. Without these qualities we are bound to take partial measures that compromise happiness for many others, and also for our own.

Our current leaders, and especially the main leaders involved in this conflict: the Hamas leaders, Netanyahu, Putin, Biden, Von Der Leyen… None of them have raised to the occasion of planting seeds for a future of greater harmony, forgiveness, wellbeing of all. Why? Because they lack moral clarity and people without moral clarity slip greatly, especially in humanitarian matters. For Gandhi it was clear: means equals ends: we cannot build a great future trespassing all the humanitarian principles of protecting life and taking care of each other as human beings part of the same human family in our one planet.

NOT ALL IS LOST.

On the other hand, I have witnessed how an increasing part of civil society is more aware than ever of a nondual possibility of responding to conflicts. They honor everybody’s pain and history, the pain of the Israelis and jews, the pain of the Palestinians and muslims, the pain of the christians, the pain of everybody that is suffering with this conflict. There are terrible stories on both sides, and as Mandela says: ‘both perpetrators and victims are actually victims in such a conflict’, as some lose their lives, others lose their humanity. Israels genocide is a consequence of the nazi genocide, and of the repulsion of the jews over generations in europe. But responding with more hatred and violence will ever solve this chain of reactions?

‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’, said Gandhi.

But, are we entering into a different phase of human consciousness? Are more and more people aware of these principles of nonviolence, where everyone is considered as a brother or a sister?

In recent history we see two trends: conflicts that are chronic and that are sickly maintained as chronic (Palestine-Israel, Afganistán, Syria, Yemen etc.) and conflicts that have been resolved because there has been great efforts to reduce the inflammation and achieve a different status quo: ETA in Spain, FARC in Colombia, Apartheid in South Africa, British in India…

All these conflicts have come to an end not through war, as some still think, but through forgiveness and finding a common ground and understanding. One can put energy into ‘an eye for an eye’, or one can put energy into anti-inflammatory measures which are the ones that will ultimately heal.

These conflicts have been resolved through dialogue, through peace investments, through the efforts of finding a common ground, through sensitizing society towards the option of peace, (sometimes) through leaders that have risen to the occasion.

And in this conflict too, we can see amazing people rising to the occasion (some of whom have been doing this for decades, giving us hope that humans have not completely lost their hope and moral compass:

We have known for a long time of local initiatives for peace in both sides, like Home – Alliance for Middle East Peace (allmep.org) and https://tinyurl.com/yzn7y3jv.

We have seen Israelis asking their government to stop the war, even when their families have been killed:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/19/do-not-use-our-death-to-bring-death-plea-to-israel-from-peace-activists-grieving-families

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/19/hamas-attack-peace-revenge-border-war

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyjDR1MNNI4/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA%3D%3D

We have seen them also asking for peace in USA, pushing the USA government to respond in a different way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoOVNL1srHo

We have seen israeli intellectuals to ask for a different solution, one that accepts the existence of two countries, as agreed in 1948 under the auspices of the United Nations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D-7pJjyNds&ab_channel=ZEITONLINE

We have seen people praying for people, for all the victims, for all the kids whose future has been demolished by this heartless leadership, even concerts organized for unity and peace:

https://youtu.be/XqvKDCP5-xE?feature=shared

We have seen the world cry for a better future, that includes all of us.

Let us continue building the ‘field’ for a peaceful future for all, in spite of our leaders, in spite of violence, in spite of history. It’s not Israelis vs Palestinians, it’s all of us against violence, for a world of peace and harmony for all.