Dare to be opinionated…

Dear all,

This will not be my usual blog with chitchat about the weather, Lebanese lifestyle or funny incidents at work. Today I have something to ask from you. In these times of elections (in the Netherlands at least) I hope people are more involved in politics and start thinking and debating which political party represents their views best. I do too, and since I live in the Middle East for the moment, I look into the views of Dutch politicians on the situation here. I would really appreciate it if you all did the same…

I know for many of us Europeans the Middle East and the Israel-Palestine conflict is something in far, far away land which always passes by on the news and therefore we must know enough about it by now. But do we? Do you? Because I sure didn’t when I came here! I started reading and listing to people and trying to understand what history had brought people to do the things they are doing to each other. This history is especially important for understanding the Israel-Palestine conflict because it can be difficult to find an objective source. If I thought that my knowledge was either objective or sufficient, I would give you a quick and to-the-point overview concluding with how you can help to make things better. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there are very few people who would be able to do this, so my request might require some substantial effort from your side to deepen your knowledge. I don’t want to sound condescending or assuming you have no knowledge about it at all, but in my experience very few people really know how things begun and to what point they have evolved since then. Also, I am not trying to get you to adopt my opinion, as long you make sure you have A opinion. Please do not think of this as something far, far away that passes by on the news at least three times a week! This conflict has destroyed the lives of millions of people and it will continue to do so for years unless we decide where we stand and what we do and do not find acceptable to be done in our name! You do not need to have studied law or history to make up your mind here. Just read and imagine yourself on both sides, arguing both points of view and decide how you feel about it. I am urging you to do this because I think we are led too much by what politicians say about how to respond to events that took place recently (‘they hit us yesterday so we will hit them back tomorrow’), instead of tackling the origins of the problem. Don’t choose a side if you can’t or don’t want to! Just don’t be loyal to religion, guilt or prejudice without having a well-founded opinion on the actual problem, and decide how you think people -all people- should be treated. And then go back to the politicians and see if anyone of them ever did the same!

This was my favor to ask from you. Sorry if I have been too subjective after all; I really tried not to! Good luck and enjoy implementing your right to influence what happens in your name; many would love to have this privilege.

Thanks!