War in Gaza

Terrible tragedies wake people from their normal life. Fire bells in the night. But often when awake they find themselves in a world they no longer recognize. The media show us bombed-out buildings, bodies on empty streets, and the grieving. As well, we hear the ranting voices of partisanship. We are asked to believe that the cause (and hence the solution) is Biden or Trump. The background, the context, motives, and consequences, all obscure and largely unreported. History teaches that the present emerges out of deeply embedded acts of bravery, cowardice, cruelty, ignorance, passion, fear, and greed spread across many years, even centuries. There is no master key for unraveling past or present or seeing into the future. Yet, we cannot stand passive. By-standers we may be, but not innocents. We have accepted a world where such evil exists. We are part of that world. We can start with compassion for all who suffer. For Palestinians and Israelis. For soldiers and civilians. For the innocent and complicit. For all. Jewish or Palestinian, a child is cherished and loved. And we can attempt to better understand, to read and listen, knowing we will not be able to fully comprehend. I recommend the journal Foreign Affairs, but there are many other sources of knowledge about this conflict and its wider dangers. I found Fareed Zakaria Sunday (10/15) broadcast a masterful job of interviewing and analysis. Many questions are never settled; new information is always available. And we can free ourselves from the belief that we or others will find THE solution. No expert, no leader, no Party has "the answers," simple, honorable and immediate. We need to get our minds around the fact that the bitter struggles of groups or nations don't have "answers." Life is not problems to be solved. Whether by force or faith. Whether by "chosen ones" or the United States. Which leaves us without the certainties that American culture has made our refuge. Instead, we are left with only the thin comfort of patience. It may not seem like much. We are an active people, trained to stride into battles. Patience, though, is not a passive force. It requires innate toughness. It is what the brave understand. It is the active face of hope in a world without belief in an assured destiny. It is an active effort to understand our own biases, to see how people unlike ourselves view an ever-changing reality. As much as possible it teaches how all views and narratives are flawed human efforts to achieve understanding. Understanding is growth. It is never finished. It is the fruit of patience. It is not delay. It is keeping open our desire for more information and new ideas. It struggles against a desire for closure, the urge to declare a finish to our struggles to understand. But it also recognizes that there will be compelling reasons to act. It chooses the time and means with wisdom. Such patience sees past bitterness and folly, past our pride and our arrogance. It is the core of our humanity. John Bing is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Heidelberg University and writes a by-weekly newsletter at johnb0c.substack.com