The Big Question

The question came up in the late evening. I forget how, perhaps a gentle request for my view: How do you feel about the Palestine situation? It was after dinner with my new proxy host Monaf and his family - you get passed amongst friends in Jable.

But this was a truly committed audience. His father had just arrived from Damascus, a retired colonel in the Syrian commandos. He had fought in the 1973 war and again in Lebanon in 1982. So how to respond?

I tried to be calm and measured, to focus on long term visions but with a practical end; to recognise the huge pain suffered and the rights of all parties; to stress the need for compromise. All very British.

But there was another view in the room. That of right and wrong, of historical ownership and new comers to the land, of atrocity and struggle, of good and bad. All black and white, no grey. In this paradigm, if your cause is just then you will prevail, no matter how strong the enemy, no matter how long it takes. All very Arab.

The discussion was passionate but respectful. The facts were aired but need not be disputed, for it was a solution we sought. But with such differences in how this could be achieved, my compromise seemed a non-starter. By the end of the evening we had aired our views and left friends, just tied to different histories.