France, Britain, Germany jointly urge Gaza truce | The Times of Israel  ‘Statement by foreign ministers of 3 European powers calls on both sides to address humanitarian needs’ 

Third London mass protest for Gaza in one month | The Times of Israel  ‘Tens of thousands march through British capital, demanding tougher line against Israel; protests in Paris too

Anti-war protesters gather in Tel Aviv as Israel-Hamas conflict presses on | The Times of Israel  ‘Seven Palestinians killed as dozens of rockets fired into Israel; 2 dead, dozens wounded in Friday West Bank clashes’

It has long been said that we all live in a global village these days and, if so, it seems that some of the villagers are expressing their concerns about one particular group of residents.

Israelis have been getting a bad press of late. Indeed, it’s very rare for them to receive anything else just now and, what with all that’s going on, this state of affairs looks set to remain that way for quite a while yet.

In the PR war, Israel is losing big time. And that’s never a good sign.

But why should it matter just so long as Israel is winning militarily, by force of arms? Isn’t prevailing on the battlefield much the better option? Well, it may be vital to do so but it solves nothing in the end. All it does is make Israel free to fight another day. And another. And another. This is surely not an ideal position to be in, not by any stretch of the imagination.

And that may be why the media, in all its serried ranks, is so down on Israel. It’s the same old, old story again and again. Something better than the current, predictable, never-ending saga of move and counter-move is expected here. To simply carry on toiling away at the work-face of this 66 year-old conflict without any prospects for a breakthrough or an ending in sight is somehow beyond all human acceptance or understanding. It just brings Israelis down to the level of everyone else. And it is at this point that ‘everyone else’ can start to become very judgmental indeed.

The bottom line here is really one of disappointment, not necessarily antisemitism. That a people so gifted in many other respects can see no alternative but to push on in spite of consequences so terrible that they cause revulsion in the rest of us will have consequences of its very own.

So, what to do?

Perhaps the real problem is that Israelis and Palestinians are too much closeted with the situation, always so near to its sharp end that they never manage to distance themselves far enough away, to explore other avenues that might yet lead to some lasting solution for the entire matter.

www.laxiankey.com  – ‘ for those of us with better things to do.’

Or is the present pathway to be preferred every time and must be kept to regardless and at all costs? Then how very disappointing for everyone if nothing more than this is the net result of all efforts to have it otherwise.

SOLUTIONS CAN’T ALWAYS BE LINEAR ONES