How to Pierce the I-bubble!

Key Principles & Strategies:

• Leadership by Example
• Promote Open Communication
• Foster Shared Experiences
• Cultivate Cultural Sensitivity and Respect
• Build Trust Through Relationships
• Establish Inclusive Structures
• Recognize and Value Diversity
• Use Clear and Humble Language

By implementing these strategies, the goal is to break down barriers, encourage mutual understanding, and unite different people into a cohesive whole within shared national or organisational boundaries.

But, in the world of that mode of thinking, how could any reasonable person not oppose minority rule?! And how might it even be possible for such people to finally come to share power?!!

Even ‘the Donald’ has said something that, articulated  by anyone else, might emerge as an informed opinion,  about ‘Hamas and terror.’  For the purposes of clarity and the avoidance of doubt, I utterly condemn that which Hamas claims to have done on October 7, but that said, what they did that day, perhaps out of desperation, was no different from that done throughout history by people who felt their existence was threatened and their most passionate beliefs denied: such as,

1. Militant Zionist Underground Army, The Irgun Zvai Leumi, Are Investigated, As Well as The Activities Of The Stern Group and The Haganah.
2. The main terrorist groups were Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organisation) – ultimately led by future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin – and an even more militant organisation, Lohamey Heruth Israel (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) or LHI.
3. The British called LHI the Stern Gang after its leader, Abraham Stern, who was killed in a clash with the Palestine Police in 1942. In November 1944, LHI assassinated the British Minister for the Middle East, Lord Moyne.
4. The King David Hotel; ‘96 people died in this atrocity, which remains the highest death toll for British subjects in a terrorist attack; further notes that an event was held in Jerusalem to celebrate this event and that prominent members of the Knesset, including former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, attended.
5. Jomo Kenyatta ( c. 1897 – 22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978.
6. Nelson Mandela’s arrest near Howick in Natal province, South Africa, on August 5, 1962, ended his run as South Africa’s most wanted fugitive. Dubbed the Black Pimpernel by his Security Branch pursuers, he used disguises and aliases to evade the authorities for nearly a year and a half.
7. ‘Jewish resistance in Warsaw culminated in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, sparked after the Germans deported over a quarter-million Jews in 1942. Jewish fighters from groups like the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB) and Jewish Military Union (ŻZW) organized and fought against Nazi forces who were attempting to liquidate the ghetto.

In a conversation with Mr Gandhi, who mentioned (in passing) ‘The Jallianwala Bagh massacre’  when asked, “What do you think of Western civilisation?” Gandhiji allegedly replied, “I think it would be a wonderful idea“.

Equally, fighting back, or ‘resistance’, is not always pretty:  ‘Collaboration included Jewish groups who supported the Nazis’ ascent to power, Jewish institutions in Nazi-created ghettos, Jewish agents working for the German secret services, and Zionist groups collaborating with Germany to facilitate European Jews. After the end of the war, alleged Jewish collaborators were put on trial in Israel, Europe and the Soviet Union.’

Drawing on examples like Belgium, Canada, or South Africa’s rainbow nation framework, there are some advocates for some form of a consociational system. This could take the shape of a grand coalition to ensure that both Palestinian and Israeli Jewish peoples have seats at the ruling table, thereby diluting the possibility of hegemonic power. The notion of a mutual veto or a concurrent majority would also empower distinct groups to shield their fundamental interests from being overridden by collective decisions. Intrinsically linked to this is the concept of segmental autonomy, which allows distinct communities to self-govern in matters that are central to their identity, thus fostering a sense of agency and belonging.

The principle of proportionality is key—it prescribes equitable representation across the political spectrum and fair distribution in civil service appointments and in the allocation of public funds.

The one-state solution, including allowing/ enabling the Palestinians who left/or were forced out (NAKBA), to return, would be a prime requirement, along with the UN’s ‘equal rights for all’. And why not, after all, the present-day refusal by Israel and its allies has, along with other things, fuelled seven decades of suffering.

For many, the change is a necessity, and in the context of a pan-Arab solution like the ‘Abraham Accords’, one might refer to Samuel Beckett telling us through the character Estragon in Waiting for Godot, “’It can’t go on like this’, to which Vladimir responds ‘That’s what you think!’ “ – indicating that whilst the current situation feels impossible, it doesn’t mean it has to end or cannot continue.

But surely this particular situation cannot be allowed to continue. And, given the current distribution of the existing population in Israel/Palestine, it is hard to imagine anything other than that, in the long run, a democratic single state, well supported by the rest of the world via the UN, is likely to be the only possible way that such ‘something’ might be achieved on a lasting basis.

It is grievously sobering to contemplate of an opportunity lost over 70 years ago, when the Swedish diplomat and nobleman,  the UN Security Council’s Mediator for a peace proposal in the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1947-48, was assassinated in Jerusalem by the Zionist Lehi.

“Peace be upon you“, or if you prefer  “, As-salamu alaykum”