Jason Criss Howk

I don’t write this because I know it’s right. Nor because I get all of this right. But because from my study of war, criminals, terrorists, diplomacy, religions, human rights, and foreign policy, I think this is trending towards what is right.

If you are consistent on human rights, understand the basic concepts of warfare, and understand the term terrorism:

You can want both the Palestinian people and Israelis to have safe and stable nations that are fully part of the free world. Right now neither have this. Neither have this.

You can condemn all acts of terrorism. That’s when a non-state entity murders innocent people to change the social or political norm. You won’t excuse terrorism anywhere for any reason.

You can condemn all war crimes. That’s when a state kills innocents on purpose during a war, or through clear negligence. You won’t excuse war crimes anywhere for any reason.

You understand that facts are the first casualty in a war. That you must wait for numerous reliable sources to verify activities. Terrorists lie constantly. Nations will lie to protect their interests too. Verify and wait to post information. What you post in haste can cause violence to spill out around the globe. The social media age makes everyone a journalist.

You won’t dismiss bigotry in any direction. Anti-Jewish behavior is the fastest growing hate crime today. That doesn’t mean that Muslims and Arabs are not also being targeted for their beliefs or heritage.

You will work in your own religion, career field and community to educate people who trust you about the similarities between humans, not further the stereotypes and myths. Just asking people to be nice and pray for peace is not education. You risk nothing by those pointless statements. Get in the arena. Go tell your friends and strangers that they need to understand facts they might not be comfortable with.

You will admit that you are not perfect and that everyone has biases, and you will work on yours constantly. Calling people you want to befriend racists won’t help them understand your views. Civil dialogue is the key. Attacks are useless. Sometimes you can shame people into doing some more research, but it’s a slow approach that leaves neither of you feeling much better about yourself. Education is the key and it is best in the form of civil conversations, not uninformed TikTok influencer videos, simplified slogans, protest chants, mob violence, or viral one-sided podcasts.

Peace comes from finding common ground when there is some, and knowing when there isn’t any. Time, maturity and a desire for peace on both sides are all factors in peacemaking. For the last few decades neither side (at the same time) in the Palestinian and Israeli conflict have wanted to find a solution that brings peace and safety.

You won’t live in the past, the human story is one of migration. As far as history has recorded only a few places in Africa have a claim on being of native heritage. The rest of humanity is constantly on the move always shifting across the other continents. Culture and government change as humans move. It is not often peaceful. It is seldom fair. But migration won’t end any time soon. We must constantly adapt to the new realities that migration brings. If you want to tightly control your nationality narrative or the religion numbers in your country, start with education and legal migration policies. The alternatives are often bloody and seldom get you the result you want.

None of us are doing what we need to at our level to bring peace to some longstanding violence. Hard problems require even harder work on the solutions. Find your constructive path forward if you want to see change.