Seven years ago, sitting in the office of a well-respected Israeli human rights group, a friend confided in me that he often wished his organization failed more often. \u201cThat way,\u201d he argued, \u201cwe might be closer to Mao\u2019s principle that suffering of the people will hasten the revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was shocked \u2013 two white, Western-educated and privileged men sitting in an office quoting a brutal dictator in the cause of wishing more suffering on the Palestinian people was a deeply uncomfortable position. I\u2019m sure that if you asked any of those suffering they would deem themselves as having endured more than enough injustice to hasten a multiplicity of revolutions. And they are correct.<\/p>\n
But there is an essential truth in my friend\u2019s reference to Mao: human beings respond only to crisis. Crisis forces us into action.<\/p>\n
Anyone who has visited the occupied West Bank<\/a> or Gaza Strip<\/a> has seen the daily crisis for Palestinians. But for politicians who shift the status quo<\/em> only under duress, the alarm bells have to be ringing loudly before they will act.<\/p>\n