Guest Editorial by Caspar F. Ewig
Can Talk Work?
At a recent, sparsely attended protest rally on Pioneer Street in Cooperstown, one of the protesters carried a sign pleading for a “cease fire,” and a call to “make talk work.” I really wanted to engage the gentleman in a dialogue, but had another appointment, so I just took the picture and traveled on. The more I thought about the sign, and the more I thought about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the more I was struck by how such a simple concept could become so entangled in the weeds.
Over the last two issues of “The Freeman’s Journal,” various aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been laid out. First there was an opinion piece by the Journal’s former News Editor, Wriley Nelson, essentially castigating and condemning the misery which the Israeli attack on the Palestinians in Gaza has caused. This was followed by a number of letters either criticizing or praising Nelson or his perspective, but not adding any more clarity on the issues underlying the present eruption of the omnipresent tension in that area of the world. Now, taking my cue from the protester’s sign, I add my voice to the pile.
“Make talk work.” It’s such an easy phrase, such a simple concept. Yet as applied to this dispute, it is neither easy nor simple. For starters, even the terms for a cease fire are contentious. The Israelis have insisted on a return of the hostages as precondition, and the Palestinians were using the hostage issue as a negotiating tool. In fact, the November cease fire collapsed for that reason. And a second offer for a cease fire in January this year required Israel’s acceptance of Hamas as the valid political arm in Gaza as a precondition.
