10/18/2023

JRB,

            Bret Stephens writes in the NYT about your “finest hour” as you “console the bereaved & bereft, give courage to those in fear.” He believes “this is statesmanship in the teeth of far-left opposition & incessant right-wing criticism.” Congrats!

            I regret that your other meeting was canceled & that throughout the Arab world there’s “mounting public revulsion at the spiraling Palestinian death toll” because of the 500 people killed in the bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. My heart goes out to all affected parties. For me it is confirmation that WINTA!!! Will we ever know for sure whose bomb did the damage?

             “Rules of war?” Really? I agree with the diplomats who were skeptical of the Hague Conventions of 1899 who said, ‘to talk of “humanizing” combat was “nonsense.”’ How can there be agreements about legal behavior when it’s unclear who the combatants are? As the CSM points out Hamas is not a nation, so technically the situation playing out in Gaza is “non-international armed conflict” making it hard to determine who you can shoot at. It is also challenging to decide who should be at a negotiating table.

            That challenge just emerged in Burma where the junta held an event to mark the 8th anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in Naypyitaw on Sunday. They enticed some individuals to come & now the groups they belonged to are disowning them.  90-year-old Mutu Say Poe, former chairman of the Karen National Union, attended & now he’s in hot water. The All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) has suspended three members for attending.

            How will the violence end if people don’t talk to each other about their grievances? When do we embrace the idea of forgiveness & commit to avoiding revenge? When do we give up on the eye-for-an-eye mentality that only perpetuates the suffering?

            I am holding you in the Light as you navigate this tight rope.

            BYBS,