216. HAS WORLD WAR III STARTED? - On Defining Conflict

“My students, raised on Remembrance Sundays and Lest We Forgets, are therefore asking me “do you think there’s going to be another world war?”

And I want to assure them that there won’t be, but my initial gut response is to ask instead how sure they are that we’re not already having one?“

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169. REMEMBRANCE - Why Never Forgetting Keeps Us Forgetting

“Asking for a cease-fire and ending a bloody conflict is the very definition of honouring those who died in the futility of war. Seeking peace instead of violence is the only worthwhile message of “never forget” when we remember those who needlessly lost their lives in wars or else we are forgetting.“

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167. THERE CAN BE NO JUSTICE THROUGH BLOODSHED - Israel, Gaza, Palestine, and the need for some different thinking.

“Politics should not be a team sport. When it is, we’re doing it wrong. Usually because we’ve been manipulated by those who benefit from the division. It should never be Israel versus Palestine. My team versus yours. It should be ensuring our collectively assured mutual existence, always. Finding new ways to live together. Mutual aid. Walls and borders torn down. Sharing instead of seizing. Acknowledging wrongdoing and finding a way forward.”

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