1 – Violence against civilians is
wrong. It doesn't matter who does it: Israelis or Palestinians, ISIS
beheadings or American drones – it's always wrong. And
rationalizations - “we weren't targeting civilians” or “our
oppression made us do it” - are only lame excuses.
2 – No one is completely wrong, and
no one is completely right. We can't divorce actions from the
conditions that give rise to them. Saying “don't write the second
paragraph” is an attempt to cut off understanding the conditioning of your adversary at a point at which you can feel virtuous about your actions – but
no one is blameless, and no one deserves to feel virtuous. If we don't make an effort to
understand the other side's conditioning we'll never achieve peace.
3 – If you say you want peace but you
won't work for justice, all you want is quiet, and you won't get
peace or justice.
4 – As Rabbi Gandhi said: “An eye
for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
