(NAME-MCE) What If They Gave a War and Nobody Came

[Warren Blumenfeld]

What If They Gave a War and Nobody Came
an Op-ed by Warren J. Blumenfeld

I keep hearing in the press and in popular 
discourse about the “two sides” in the Middle 
East conflict, with the sides being the 
Palestinians and the Israelis. I understand that 
there are indeed a number of “sides,” but I 
believe that the Palestinian people and the 
Israeli people are generally on the same side. I 
do not see the two opposing sides as being the 
Palestinian people versus the Israeli people. 
Rather, the opposing sides represent many of the 
leaders (the Israelis and Palestinians) verses 
the peace loving Israelis and Palestinians who 
truly want to live in harmony with one another. 
Unfortunately, those who want peace are being held hostage by their leaders.

I recently returned from a trip to Jerusalem, and 
I talked with Israelis and Palestinians who truly 
desire peace, who truly desire an era in which 
they can live alongside one another in harmony, 
but they are feeling that the continuing politics 
of war and division are preventing this peaceful coexistence.

I believe that now is the time -- actually, it 
has been the time for decades now -- to consider 
new forms of leadership, not only in the Middle 
East, but around the world. We need to get away 
from the leaders who demonize the other, who use 
fear and the threat and engagement of war as a 
tool for their own maintenance of power. We need 
leaders who are interested in negotiating without 
a laundry list of preconceived conditions. We 
need to get away from the language of hate for 
the “other”: “Axis of Evil,” “Islamic Terrorists,” “Zionist Oppressors,” etc.

I see Barack Obama setting the bar higher, 
setting a great example of what leadership can 
be. As we all know, during the campaign, he 
asserted that he would negotiate with leaders 
throughout the world, “any time, anywhere,” to 
make a start at real engagement and for a new 
relationship. As we also know, Mr. Obama was 
roundly criticized for his so-called naiveté, not 
simply by conservative Republicans, but also from 
members of his own party, some of whom consider 
themselves politically progressive.

And herein lies the challenge, the risk, and the 
danger for leaders who reach out to the so-called 
“other side” or to their so-called “enemies.” A 
number of our great world leaders were not only 
criticized by members of their own ranks, but 
some were tragically assassinated by their own 
people for their courage to negotiate and reach 
out in the name of peace. These great leaders 
include Mahatma Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak 
Rabin, Malcolm X, and the list goes on.

I am a “child of the ‘60s,” and I will always 
remember one of the phrases we promoted during 
the height of the Vietnam War. It went: "WHAT IF 
THEY GAVE A WAR, AND NOBODY CAME.” Well, what if 
world political “leaders” continue to engage in 
the politics of fear, who demonize the “other,” 
who call for and enact war on their so-called 
“enemies”? And what if nobody came?



Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld
Assistant Professor
Multicultural and International Curriculum Studies
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
wblumen at iastate.edu
515.294.5931 office
515.232.8230 home