# 443 – The Solution

The Solution

I am extremely aware that I am a tiny voice in a very big World. But…

There is so much info out there. Where does one start? Where does one stop?

Actually, I believe that people like me DO know where our limits are, because we have a basic, solid look at life. We waiver, yes. We listen, yes. But, at the end of the day, we’re still on the same track, communicating with the same passengers, sharing a particular destination.

What am I saying here? First, that when I read back in my letters of many years ago, I see that I have hardly changed my opinion. More to the right? No – the world has moved more to the extreme left – and to the extreme right. (It’s almost ugly how circular that line is). I don’t know if I am mainstream. I’ve lost the definition of that word. But certainly, the word ‘mainstream’ appears to have become a weapon in the hands of the masses. And what’s frightening is that those masses have become – or think they have become ‘mainstream’. (They would just refuse to use that word).

I still am not sure what I am saying. So let’s just move on.

I watched Piers Morgan’s interview yesterday with Jordan Peterson. (This is such a big world that a respected Canadian friend of mine had never heard of him. I begged them to watch this interview).

(There was no reference to the very strange jacket JP was wearing, divided into maroon on his right and blue on his left).

JP is a clinical psychologist who has become ‘a very popular speaker/writer’ on a variety of subjects.

I usually glance at the first few of thousands of comments. Who writes the comments, most of whom use false identities? So far, over 22,000 of them. I feel that Piers Morgan tries so hard to be ‘controversially in the middle’, that he leaves himself open to a lot of criticism. But he IS popular. Naive me expected a mix of comments, as Jordan’s words are so clear and ‘right’.

But no, most were anti, and that only illustrates the problem. (One DID say: ‘Muslim countries are condemning Israel but will not allow any Palestinians into their country. That says it all’.)

Snippets from the discussion:

– ‘Moral quandaries’ – ‘Without them, there would be no war’.

– ‘Iran is desperate’ – It does not have full control over its people – it sees the Abraham Accords, the greatest move towards peace in the M. East in 75 years, as a major threat to the end of the traditional ‘Islam vs Jews’ conflict. No question they pushed Hamas to do this, knowing the Israeli response would turn the Arab nations and intl opinion against it, and see the collapse of the Abraham Accords – and that will be that!’

– JP thinks Saudi was totally supportive of the Accords, and blames Biden for not pushing this issue forward – perhaps partly because of his not wishing to appear to support a Trump initiative. Simple to say now, but JP believes that had Saudi been ‘on board’ at the time, this catastrophe would not have happened. Iran is not exactly ‘the nation to admire’. No one’s perfect but…the Muslim nations should be moving towards the completion of the Abraham Accords – ‘A Union of the Abrahamic People’.

Or continue as we have for 75 years, with Palestinians being the ‘perpetual cannon fodder’.

– ‘Canary in the coalmine’ – Israel is a successful minority. ‘If a culture can tolerate that minority, it’s pretty damn robust’. (I repeat, the fact/claim that we are the Chosen People almost guaranteed the appearance of anti-Semitism). If and when that society becomes resentful, the Jews make an easy target. They’re a minority; who cares. They’re successful; let’s get ’em.

– ‘The rise in anti-Semitism’ is shocking’. Both on the Left and on the Right. Social media is frightening.

– The Ab. Accords are the only way forward, the only hope, also for the Muslim World. ‘Or what…Are we going to stay in some 14th Century conflict between the fundamentalist Muslim World and the Jews?’

– The greater the Israeli victory, the greater the moral indignation against Israel – and Iran will sit back with joy and satisfaction. Remember, they don’t care about the sacrifice of the Palestinian masses.   The only ‘way out’ of this ever-worsening scenario is to know that the Ab. Accords signatories and backers, including Saudi and more, are there, waiting to sign a wider agreement.

Israel would shock the World if they made such an announcement. Iran would be knocked off its pedestal.

– The only problem then left would be how to disengage from Hamas. We know that there will be no winner. We know that the more Hamas we kill, the more civilians victims (innocent or not), the greater loss of our soldiers, and still the lives of over 200 hostages will hang in the balance. But when/if Hamas sees that they have lost some of the initiative, that their sponsor has lost the big battle, that the Muslim countries have opened their arms to the peaceful Palestinians, and have totally rejected the rest, then, maybe, an end to this tragedy is in sight. There will be no absolute victory for us; that was already clear on October 7.

‘Those demonstrations are likely to get larger and more effective in precise proportion to Israel’s success on the military side’.

At the end of the day, Israel is not going to ‘go away’. And the same can be said for the Palestinians. (For me, that is only true when generalising. Israel’s attempt at democracy means that they endeavour to have one clear voice. Whereas the Palestinians, as I have pointed out several times, speak with several tongues. We are told to talk with them, but we don’t see which of ‘them’ is the true spokesperson).

And so on, dear reader. Piers and Jordan moved on to the behaviour on the World’s campuses. ‘All oppressed peoples are innocent and virtuous victims’ is the cry. I’m not alone in, already years ago, worrying about the influence of the academics, many of whom have lurched clearly to the Left. This is the result: masses of Pro-Palestine and anti-Semitic chants, backed by many of their lecturers. How will our friend, the next president of her Uni’s Jewish Union handle this? Hide in the corner? Or face the crowds…

And then to the shock of the blatant rise of Anti-Semitism. Are we really going back to the pogroms, to Nazi Germany and to the Holocaust. Yes and no, Jordan answered. “The reasonable majority in the Western world didn’t take that stance”. He even praised his own Canadian PM, whom he ‘does not like’, for coming out against Hamas. “In fact, a lot of the progressive types, like Harvard Law school, were exposed”. (He’s referring to the 30-odd groups/unions at Harvard who came out pro-Palestine, resulting in law companies banning them from future employment).

They then venture onto the subject of social media, which of course effects practically everyone and every subject, including of course, coverage of this war, and how the World is reacting to it. We don’t know what’s real anymore. “How often are we being played for a masochistic fool by a sadistic psychopath. And the answer is ‘Often…frighteningly often”.

I know so many who have stopped reading newspapers, stopped watching/listening to mainstream, turning their attention solely to online communication. They think they’re in control. But they’re not. Even before the psychopath gets to them, AI has led them into their favourite tunnel.

Finally, Piers asks Jordan about his opinion of Netanyahu and his culpability in what appears to have been a catastrophic series of intelligence and military blunders.  He is not quick to judge. “It is very difficult to stop someone who is willing to set themself on fire”. You can’t increase surveillance to that degree in a society that still claims to be free.

He finishes with “I don’t know enough to say it isn’t obvious to me that it failed any worse than you should expect a system like that to fail, when it’s faced by psychopathic terrorists who have been funded by outside sources who want to do nothing else but cause misery and mayhem”.

Only 3 sirens and the accompanying explosions in our are today – so far. Until now, so few soldiers have been killed that their names are headlines on the front page. The military does seem to be following a technique that minimises ground forces involvement. And one hostage rescued (a female soldier who was on guard duty on the Gazan border at the time).

I fear what tomorrow will bring.

Stephen