An abstraction

I have been obsessing this week. Tuning in to the Hamas Israeli war night and day. It has a draw that goes beyond the need to know. My Israeli family WhatsApp group is ample to keep me informed of what really relates to our clan and my people. Nevertheless I gaze unwavering at the faceless bombings crushing the Gaza skyline, at the heartbreaking photos of lost or captive loved ones, at the collateral tragedy of desperate Palestinians, at the gathering storm clouds of a world war blowing towards the skies of my beloved country.

The level of my ‘tuning in’ is verging on an addiction. I mean if I was to transpose my consumption of media this week into another vice like drugs, porn or alcohol, I would surely qualify as out of control compulsive, an addict urgently needing help. And the more I expand the domain of my addiction, the more I contract my sense of agency, that life affirming belief that I can make any contribution whatsoever.

So I am going to try zooming out for a moment. To get my head out of the box. And invite you to take a trip with me. Calling in our innocence.

As I see it, the sad, or perhaps the redeeming truth of most warring parties is that each side maintains the same moral distinction about themselves. Each believes that they are victims of a gross injustice. And each insists that their duty is to recapture their good standing. No matter the cost or moral ambiguities involved in that effort.

Reason is usually dragged about by our beliefs, and as a member of one of the warring tribes right now, I am acutely aware of the very different, sometimes contradictory, and yet ever so reasonable stories that are flooding my screens.

Now, let’s imagine for a moment that our desire as Jews in Israel is to live a secure, peaceful, creative, hospitable, values-led, curious, love-infused existence, free from internal conflict and generous with the gifts we share with the nations of the world.

And let’s imagine, that those same universal values were shared in part at least by the Palestinians.

I wonder, when the guns are silenced and the dust settles, when vengeance is no longer a prerequisite for the healing, could our two brother nations choose leaders to break bread together and ask..

What is the most abundant possibility that we can co-create together?