Visionaries
I was thinking about the ongoing problems in the Middle East, and how there seems to be no real possibility of progress in the immediate future. There must be reasons for this right? I mean, I’m sure neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are happy with the current state of affairs, where suicide bombers attack the Israelis whilst the Palestinian’s homeland is occupied and their human rights are abused.
So why is there no progress?
I think the answer has something to do with the lack of political visionaries in the region. When I think about major world problems in the past, and how they have been solved, I see one key person taking a stand for the future of their people. Think about it:
- British rule in India - Gandhi
- Apartheid in South Africa - Nelson Mandela
- Votes for women - Emmeline Pankhurst
- Black rights in America - Martin Luther King
The list could go on.
When I look at Arafat and Sharon, I just don’t see the kind of qualities that those people exhibited. Which is terrible, because it means we could be as much as a generation away from finding lasting solutions to the problems in the region.