Israel, Palestine, and Me

    I put Israel first, for as a nation and strong state of over 8 million people, they take precedence based on their primacy in the Holy Land and the region, and how the world generally gives them first sympathies and support. That is not to say that many nations, governments, and cultural and religious people of all ilk are in blanket support of the state of Israel, or that many Western nations and their peoples do not have a critical eye of what Israel does or how it behaves.

    But Israel is in vast control of what it is and does. And, it gets a lot of support from many strong and wealthy powerbrokers. Like the United Stats, and most of the Western world.

    Palestine comes second. While millions, if not billions of people sympathize with their plight, and wish to help the Palestinian Arabs become a legitimate state, or have less occupation from their occupier, the Palestinian peoples come in second. And this does not work very well.

    We know this acutely well during and after this first full weekend of October 2023. Too much violence and destruction. 

    Lastly, for this post, there is me. An American who wanted to work for the State Department for many years, with ideas and desires to wage peace in the Middle East, perhaps be an interlocuter between the emotional and often times virulent parties, of which there are many. In the Holy Land and elsewhere, too.

    Back in the early 2000s I repeatedly took and failed the U.S. State Department Foreign Service Exam. A couple of times that I passed the first round, I failed at the second round. So, by the criteria and standards of our government and system, I was not good enough, not qualified to be a speaker, representative, or interlocutor for our government at that level. I failed to find other ways to accomplish these goals. Some said I could enter into these government channels by other means, but I never figured out how. I went on and did other things, but not being a spokesperson for peace.

    I throw up my hands at the violence, at the vaunted enemies over there, and my own peoples and parties here. I surmise that I was not meant to be part of the process, and that the "process" is destined for a lot of misery and woe.

    Did I try enough to make a difference? Have I cared enough? Does anyone in the United States care enough or know enough to make a difference? My U.S. State Department testers and evaluators thought less enough of me to not hire me, and therefore I look at them, and the standards that they upheld, for much of my frustrations in pursuing a course that I thought would lead to peace.

    Anyway, I feel bad for the Israelis and the Palestinians; I wanted to let you and anyone else know that I have cared, more or less deeply, for the situation and the tragedies that have unfolded over there.

    But some hopes, dreams, aspirations, and goals are not meant to be. At least not from me, or for the benefit of others regarding my thoughts or hopes or career aspirations.

    I, for one, am very sorry that we all have to go through these phases of hatred and disagreements, spats and rows and military and other violence that seems to have no end in peaceful nor prosperous resolutions.

    Things could have been different, maybe. Or maybe not.