when 'never again' becomes again and again (5)

I can but thank all at Pambazuka to give us this forum so we can come out of our “village mentality” and exchange views on questions not only related to us, Africans, but also of universal concern. Though I believe that the issue here concerns also Africans.

Dear Nicole,
(In response to Nicole Venter, Letters, Pambazuka News 154)

Genocide is a human atrocity that affects us all and if we want to ‘conquer ignorance within our communities’ as you rightly say, we need to open up to the rest of the world and know what’s there, on the other side of the fence. Believing that our troubles, efforts, failures and conquests are unique to us, is not the answer.

You are right when you say that we need to pull down the barriers and the walls that politicians have built “to protect us”. We need to move away from the “village mentality” and look over the fence.

Love alone cannot change the world, neither can it erase from our memories all our failures. I strongly believe that tendencies that reject or simply have no faith in political action, are most likely to fail. In addition they leave the door wide open to those who resort to violence.

The concrete example of this tendency is found today in the American decision to launch the war on Iraq. Violence dominates the lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike, because political action has been rejected and both are left with no option but resort to violence. Closer to us, in our very own continent, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, governments have opted for the same, and Sudan is one of them.

You have not offended me by using the example of the young Israeli girl, and neither would I have found comfort by reading the story of the Arab village, in the context of the Palestinian issue. The tragedy that is unfolding everyday on our television screens, in Palestine, affects us all, whatever our skin colour or creed. No, I am not offended, but I believe that the policies of the Israeli government and the actions of its armed forces are an insult to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, and that they would be offended. Recrimination comes in a variety of forms.

Like yourself and many others, my participation in Pambazuka is to find solutions, yet as a political activist and as a journalist I cannot ignore the historical facts of yesterdays and the realities of today and at the same time avoid recrimination. If we stop accusing, we stop revealing and if we stop revealing, we give way to ignorance, more violence and more discrimination. After all it was thanks to his “J’accuse” that Emile Zola (1898) revealed to the world the concealed discrimination against Jews.

Dear Eva,
(From Nicole Venter)

Your letter is insightful and I still feel that we are in fact agreed. Again, I have at no time defended the violent actions of the Israeli government. This point has been made. I do fail to see the relationship between current Israeli political action and holocaust victim's personal viewpoints and would not dare to conjecture what their opinions on the matter might be.

I respect what you have said - only, am still wanting of a concrete and practical solution. As a political analyst I appreciate your opinion on this, if you might share that with me. What can each one of us - living in freedom - do to change the lives of those who do not?

I agree that love is "not enough", but still feel that it must be the basis for any action. Sometimes love has to make a hard call - I am not critical of revealing the ugly truth. Again, this point has been made. I do not expect anyone to ignore history and have not intimated such at all - quite the contrary, as I said originally: to encourage awareness.

What I am suggesting is that we seek a new way forward, given the facts of history, that we seek to discover fresh approaches and not repeat the patterns that have brought us here. Village mentality - again, I agree - we need to gain a full perspective, to mature out of tribalism and it's associated ignorant ideologies.

My question remains simple - how can the ordinary man then triumph over being a "pawn in the game." I disagree with you on one point only - that where political action fails, violence is a necessary resort. South Africa has it's full share of violence, undeniably - but it was freed by forgiveness. And it will continue to progress only through mutual respect, sharing of resources and knowledge and sustainable invention, through the creation of stable & equitable economic paradigms and the growing realisations of common ground. In essence, the products of love for each other, the continuous encouragement of non-violence and it's self-evident rewards.

Recriminations and accusations within their extensive histories have not yet proved themselves to bring peace or prosperity in any form. I look forward to your further advice and comment.