# 258 – Marketing Peace

July 17, 2014

We have new clouds in the skies above

Not cushions of Nature, nor bundles of love

But puffs that appear suddenly in the blue

From incoming missiles, sent to kill me and you

Thank God or Rafael for creating the Iron Dome

For stopping those rockets and protecting my home

Now they must think of something new

While we once again enjoy the clouds of blue

Yesterday, I played in the gardens downstairs with Eliana and her 2 kids, Naya and Matan.

We heard the sirens, but they were far-off. We felt safe. (It so happens they were in the area where Eliana lives…). But then we heard the booms. Where WE live, this is usually the sound of the Iron Dome protective missiles shooting down the incoming rockets from Gaza. We look up, and we see the 2 ‘new clouds’.

We then worried about debris. I pretended not to. Having your kids around you makes you appear (or having to appear) tough.

Had we heard the booms while in the south, we would likely have been, as usual, in one of the many shelters (Hamas have not yet invented them), and would be wondering if our homes were damaged, and if, God forbid, someone was hurt.

Marketing Peace

I am in ‘sales and marketing’. I am still learning, of course. And I’m every day realising how I shall never know it all.

In everyday life, how often have we been ‘taken for a ride’, whether it be the purchase of a stupid product, or the swallowing of a perfect lie (= a questionable story)?

So I should not be surprised at how the World sees the situation here in the Middle East. I should not even be surprised at how the world sees Hamas.

If someone like Pat Condell tells it how it is, we are embarrassed to admit that we even know his name. You may recall that I have friends and relatives I greatly appreciate for many reasons, who are what we call left-wingers. Some are academics, which many people think puts them on some form of pedestal. What I realise now is that they are just like you and me, and have been duped by a terrific marketing scam.

Do me a favour. Spend a few minutes watching and listening to Pat Condell’s ‘Why I support Israel’ on YouTube, or perhaps his most recent presentation about Hamas.

The fact that he is an atheist doesn’t make him wrong. And the fact that he was a stand-up comedian only perhaps helps him tell the story more attractively. (Clever marketing).

And only Albert Einstein & friends would accuse me of having become more rightist. It’s all relative. I believe the world has moved to the left – ‘political correctness’ is the latest marketing ploy.

Another version of this comes to mind after reading yet another article. Be careful how we topple Hamas, for the authority which will then take over could be worse. Have you noticed how yesterday’s terrorist becomes today’s moderate? Even Pat Condell had the courage to say that how much Hamas is even worse than the Nazis, as the Nazis were not known for putting their own innocent population in the firing line. There’s no decent future in glorifying death.

Pat Condell says that Israel (yes, generalizing) has every interest in a thriving modern community next to them. ‘They’d even be interested in bankrolling such a society’.

Israel understands the advantages of peace. In Israel, ‘peace’ has been well-marketed.

Stephen