War On Terror vs symbols of peace
By
Khalid Saleem
How about devoting this column to symbols of peace and to the quest for peace on the planet? First, let’s allude to the symbol ‘olive branch’. A look back at the recent history of occupied Palestine would show that the destruction of olive groves has been adopted as an instrument of coercion against the hapless Palestinians. For whatever reasons, the wholesale destructions of olive groves in that troubled land became the order of the day. Why vent your frustrations against the olive tree? Call it ironic or symbolic if you will, but an offered olive branch has traditionally been regarded as a peace offering.
Dove on the wing, too, is universally regarded as a symbol of peace much the same as the olive branch. Holding out an olive branch to an erstwhile foe is viewed as a peace offering in more than one civilization. Symbolism apart, it hurts one to learn about the wholesale and wanton destruction of countless olive groves in the occupied lands of Palestine. Over the past several years, news reports emanating from around Jerusalem have conveyed the rather distressing picture of extremist Israeli settlers having chopped down thousands of olive trees on Palestinian farmland in the West Bank.
The residents of the village of Saouia in the northern West Bank, for one, were reported some years back to have lamented the discovery that hundreds of olive trees had been hewed down just as they were about to begin harvesting. This is just one instance of such outrage. A land that was once proud of its luxuriant olive groves appears to have been systematically denuded of this unique gift of nature and that too by a group of people who once prided themselves as being the chosen race. And what about the other symbol of peace – dove on the wing?
The doves – wretched creatures – too have not been faring all that well in several regions of the world. It is perhaps the destiny of creatures – whether flora or fauna – that are in any way symbolically linked to peace to be at the receiving end of the most horrid forms of violence. It may perhaps be man’s propensity for wanton violence that is at fault. Humankind’s claims to be the most exalted of creations notwithstanding, man’s actions often belie his lofty pretensions. Man’s inhumanity to man is the stuff of legends. Suffice it to state that a species that does not have regard for even its own kind can hardly be expected to be benevolent to other species. Doves are trapped in droves and imprisoned in (gilded) cages. Some lucky few are ceremoniously released on special occasions in what is euphemistically given out as a commemoration of peace, amity and freedom. Would one not be justified in asking how – and why – these gentle creatures came to be encaged in the first place?
Moving on to a wider canvas, it may not be out of place to pen a few words about world peace in general. The hullabaloo raised by proponents of international diplomacy notwithstanding, the one thing that continues to elude humankind is world peace. The more the world pampers the World Bodies – the United Nations and the like (Nobel Peace Prize et al) – the less inclination they exhibit to work for just and lasting peace in a world beset regrettably with pestilences of all genres.
Can a single locus in the whole wide world be pinpointed where the much-vaunted Nobel laureate, the United Nations, has been successful in establishing lasting peace? The world is littered with flashpoints like festering sores, where the United Nations has been content with mere papering over of the cracks. The state of the world today is akin to the suffering of a patient, whose sores cleverly camouflaged with surgical tape have been left to fester. Innocent people continue to die cruel and untimely deaths the world over – deaths that could and should be avoidable. It hardly matters what denomination, religion or ethnic group they belong to. Suffice it to state that they are all human beings and each human life is sacred. Whether the human being in question falls victim to a terrorist’s bomb blast, a State Army’s bullets, or indeed, a state of the art ‘smart bomb’ raining down from the sky, the fact remains that his or her life was invaluable and irreplaceable. It is the height of hypocrisy to camouflage such actions with such inane phrases as “collateral damage” and the like.
The question that presents itself begging for an answer is: can anything be done about this sorry state of affairs? The knee-jerk reaction would be to answer in the negative, given the evident flaws inherent in human nature. There is no harm, though, in having a go at devising a workable hypothesis. Let us face it: the strategy in vogue today among the powers that be is based on the ‘philosophy of revenge’. An act of terrorism, for instance, is countered through a comparable act even though it may be camouflaged under the ‘chapeau’ of ‘war on terror’. Experience has shown that this strategy has not produced results. The US declared ‘war on terror’ is simply not working. Far from eliminating ‘terrorists’ and ‘terrorism’, it has actually added to the sense of insecurity already prevalent in a highly jittery world.
Is there an alternative, then? One would venture to throw up the suggestion that we start tackling the issue in a positive rather than negative fashion. The name of the game is to avoid a knee-jerk reaction and, instead, to work for what – for want of a more appropriate expression – may be termed as the ‘healing touch’. All the cracks that have been assiduously papered over and the forgotten by the world community will need to be examined afresh and in some depth. The festering sores will need to be healed – if need be through use of extensive surgery. Rather than kill a few human beings in the name of a ‘war on terror’, the very roots of terrorism would need to be shriveled. A suggested course of action would be to set up what may be called ‘Council of Elders’ – comprising selected Nobel Laureates – that would be mandated to mull over issues that the world faces. It may be necessary in due course to constitute several such councils. An issue of immediate concern for the council could be the containment of terrorism and extremism.
The council would be mandated to research the root cause of this malaise and to suggest ways and means to effectively tackle it. What is suggested in the foregoing paragraph is no short-term remedy. The wounds will take time to heal, but a beginning will have been made. Nor does one deign to advocate a rollback of history. What has happened has happened; what is done cannot be undone. Nonetheless, it should be possible to avoid further blunders and – with a modicum of luck – things can be then guided to move towards a positive denouement. Or, is that too much to expect?
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