[A source of conflict too... just not involving guns and blood! ;) ]

Not too surprisingly, my colleagues spent more time looking at the picture of my favourite drag queen (also on my cubicle wall) instead of this.

Alo, I found your words moving. (Forgive the Inanity of the abovementioned statement)

But more importantly, this is so easily transported to any conflict of any nature.

I now have dreams of proclaiming “We Refuse to be Enemies” outside Singapore’s parliament house, or at least outside my mum’s kitchen (after she’s yelled at me for something).

However, common sense and a healthy fear of being arrested (and yelled at) holds me back.

;)

~Div

Great stuff, as always. I love the juxtaposition of the peace motif with the strident tones expressed in the poem through the co-opting of war-like lingo to express a fervent desire for peace.

I recently observed a heated debate on a friend’s facebook page following the posting of a cartoon that lampooned the Israelis by drawing a parallel between the treatment of Native Americans by the government of the United States. In the interest of full disclosure, I fall on neither side on that debate - I see both sides holding shamefaced mea culpas.

Leaving aside the details of the discussion, what struck me was the vitriol that seemed to flow copiously amongst the various participants in the discussion. I wouldn’t be going out on a limb if I were to guess that none of these people are currently in Israel or Palestine. In fact, I know that most of these were people in plum jobs in the relative safety of NYC. Observing the back and forth, I had a depressing epiphany that if these people so far removed from the actual conflict couldn’t agree on a starting point to resolve the problem and resorted to touting their versions of history as the truth, what hope is there to ever solve this problem (and many similar ones)? I find it increasingly hard to believe that folks who are getting their homes blown to smithereens or worse will ever find it possible to overlook the differences, when those to whom the discussion is merely an intellectual exercise cannot. I just hope my Cassandra-like pessimism is misplaced and your Pollyanna-like optimism triumphs - in my lifetime.

Sona di, oooooh yes. :-)) I did think about it all a lot - as you can well imagine - and then gave it up as a bad case of too many words, and too little substance on most fronts. I agreed with a lot of what she said in principle, but then Arundhati has this strange ability to decry stereotypes and binaries and then descend into using them herself. I’ve also never been sure if a tone of overwhelming self-righteousness is an effective strategy for advocacy. I’m sure I sound stridently self-righteous myself on occasion, but I do try and catch myself at it… Anyhow, now I’m clearly being heretical! We should definitely continue this conversation - offline if I don’t manage it online. :-)

And yes, the Pakistani state’s actions have not been beyond censure, but neither have the Indian state’s. Again, it’s what histories you choose to believe; for me, I understand that governmental actions on both sides have been deeply problematic at different times in history. And ordinary people - including soldiers - on both sides, bear the scars of those histories.