Politics

 

Let me begin by saying that whatever happens to Israel or Palestine, or even Hamas today, they're not orphans in this world.

 

Somebody, not just anybody, will come to their aid. Every party has a powerful ally that takes their matter personally to one degree or the other.

 

So, I'm surprised [though not shocked] that a good number of people around here, who do not realise they're orphans on the global stage have outpoured emotions (without sound knowledge and true sympathy) over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

There were marches, display of foreign flags in solidarity, and religious quotes from many who have lost their own humanity even at home.

 

When we look at the story of the Good Samaritan as told by the Lord, the master story teller, we have always focused on the "good" of the Samaritan, and concluding that the other men who did not help but simply walked by were necessarily defined by the opposite of "good" -wicked.

 

Now, look at the story again (do a google search yourself).

 

Perhaps you might now see it's not a black-and-white narration. The priest had a business to mind. So did the Levite too.

 

Now, not willing to run the risk of being defiled or caught up doing what would deny them of doing their religious work, they simply switched lane and walked on.

 

They were not wicked.

 

They did not kick the injured.

 

Were they found kicking and maligning [as many do today] a man so brutalised that he was reckoned to be as good as dead, they could then be described as wickedly.

 

But, they only showed "polite indifference", being consumed by, and in a hurry to do the works that mattered most to them.

 

The Samaritan was good.

 

The thieves that attacked the travelling man were wicked.

 

The Good Samaritan's goodness and mercy was defined not just by his pity, but also by the resources he committed. He was not a nobody, but a man of means.

 

Now, let's return to what's going on today.

 

How can you, multidimensionally poor and without allies in the world, be the Palestinian's or Israeli's Good Samaritan? How?

 

It is still amusing to me how a lot of Nigerians [Africans] do not yet realise how this world is framed.

 

You assume religious appearance and identity [holy books, beards, crosses...] define who your "neighbour" that is supposed to receive or reciprocate your act of kindness is.

 

It will shock you that though your beard touches the ground, the Arab does not give a F about you when push comes to shove, nor do the Jews however clever your identity with the faith of Abraham.

 

They just face what is their own. business and interest.

 

Find time to read about Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a Russian Jew and Zionist. He wrote a two-part article titled "The Iron Wall" about 100 years ago where he argued for the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine without regard for whatever happens to Palestine Arabs.

 

His emotional attitude to the experience or concerns of any other nation was that of "polite indifference."

 

Polite indifference is not necessarily wickedness or lack of humanity as it were, but comes from a clear understanding of where and to whom your alliance belong in the world.

 

It is high time Africans and especially Nigerians viewed themselves and the world through a clear lens not coloured by emotions and religious sentiments.

 

We need to build our tribe. We must build an unquenchable thirst to be free to create our own true identity. Distribute prosperity and universal dignity for our people.

 

In the words of the inventor of the Yoruba race, Obafemi Awolowo, we must have "life abundant".

 

After these are achieved, we will find our ally, our "neighbour" and that sister tribe in the world with whom we rise or fall depending on our own interest.

 

This has nothing to do with creed or faith. Even among the jews were atheists, the Marxists, capitalists, the hardliners and the liberals alike.

 

In spite of their differences, they worked for the common goal of creating a strong state where the dignity and prosperity of their own tribe are guaranteed even if they were non-Jews.

 

Our struggle to mend religious and cultural differences is not important because they must exist. Your religious, cultural and political grandstanding and puritanism are of no value in the world when members of your tribe are multidimensionally poor, destitute and lacking in intellectual assets.

 

Africans must learn to meet the world with "polite indifference".

 

Building your own tribe, your own people, your own society, is a fundamental duty in life. It is expected of you and demanded by God.

 

PS: This is not a bible commentary or sermon or a religious treatise, please. It is my thinking and opinion taking a relatable story as my frame of reference.