Good Guys and Bad Guys
My 5 year old son heard some news about the war in the radio today.
He then asked me: "Are the good guys winning?"
I replied: "My dear son, there are no good guys in this war"
He then said to me, with absolute and total conviction: "But Daddy! In a war there are ALWAYS good guys and bad guys!!!"
For this conflict to end both sides must stop seeing themselves as the good guys.
-I.B.
9 comments:
well, i guess you have - by now- even the slightest belief who is the good side IB.
:)
truth hurts most of the time :)
@Lasto, @Mohamed:
The good guys are those that believe they are fighting for justice and to defend themselves, their children and their homes.
You are the good guys, because that is what you believe.
Israelies are also the good guys, because that is what they believe.
The bad guys are those who are blind to the sufferring of the other side. Those who attack and ignore the dead children and the destruction.
Israelis are the bad guys, because they are blind to the sufferring of the other side.
Arabs are also the bad guys, because they are also blind to the sufferring of the other side.
@EngineeringChange: I'm a bit more optimistic. A few days ago I was absolutely certain we Israelis are the good guys. But I've been able to realize that there are no good guys - so I'm sure others (on both sides) can eventually realize it as well.
I'm trying to understand the process I went through, so I can help others go through it as well.
I can tell you, though, that it's not simple! It's not a process that can be forced on people. This understanding is something that people can only achieve on their own. But those who have already achieved the understanding can help. This is no different from any other learning process. Teachers can't force children to understand subtraction and addition, but the teachers show the way, and eventually the children learn on their own.
Despite all the tragic sufferings that brings this war to both sides, I admire your blog a great deal, IB. It's amazing to see how you're working hard to analyse and to understand the arab, muslim point of view, and how you reflect the positions of your own people. A persistent voice of understanding and learning in these chaotic times! You, your family, your country and all the suffering people in Lebanon have my deepest sympathy.
May a lasting peace come to y'all soon!
@I.B I agree that we both see ourselves as the good guys and that is the problem in any conflict no one wants to be the bad guy
@EngineeringChange: the Guardian article is indeed interesting. It highlights a habit many Israelis are proud of: self criticism.
Many other Israelis, however, take this sort of self criticism as a sign of weakness - especially in light of the ceaseless attacks on our civilians in the past few years. They always claim that the Arabs do not criticize their own.
Are there examples of self criticism on the Arab side that you can point me to?
Have issues like the "doctored images of beirut", or the shameless fake emotions for propaganda, been criticized by the Arab media or Arab bloggers?
@EngineeringChange: Thank you for the Gideon Levy link. He is a unique Israeli. He has a deep understanding for the sorrow of the other side. Not many Israelis can rise above our own pain and see the other side as he does.
Unfortunately, most Israelis are stuck in the "we're the good guys" thinking, and cannot accept what he says.
I am now trying to think of ways to get the Israeli public out of this "we're the good guys" thinking. This is something that cannot happen overnight. This should be a long term effort. An "awakening" process.
However, I have come to the conclusion that such a process cannot survive - unless there is a similar process on the Arab side.
In order to get us Israelis to admit we aren't all that good, I need examples of Arabs also saying "hey - we're not really that good either".
Do you think there is any chance of that happenning?
Did you just deleted your last post; the one that was after "Good Guys and Bad Guys" ?
@Egyptian-in-USA: yes, I returned that last post to "draft" status. Having re-read what I posted, I suspected it might be misunderstood, and I still didn't have time to rewrite it.
Thanks for noticing :-)
-I.B.
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