The Human Condition: The mothers of intervention

By Medicine Hat News Opinion on February 11, 2021.

In the coming weeks I plan to write at least one column on our provincial media and how it functions. But first I think it is important to discuss a significant problem that is infecting our discussions of politics in general: dehumanization. To be Liberal or Conservative these days seems, to the opposite camp, to automatically (and unquestionably) be seen as an ally of pure evil: nothing more than cogs in the great ideological machine trying to destroy humanity. The antidote? We must know our fellow humans and see the truth of their lives, as I myself did one fateful day in the Middle East when confronted with the possibility of violent conflict.

While I was working at a university in Jerusalem a friend kindly offered to show me around the city by car; twisting through the city and around the Mount of Olives. But before we concluded our trip she casually announced that we would be attending a protest! As she was Palestinian, I assumed that “protest” was a euphemism for screaming protesters throwing rocks through teargas-laden air; a code word for violence and death. “How could she do this to me?” I thought. Protesting in Israel had always been presented to me on TV as loudness, tears and coffins, what was I supposed to do? I am not afraid to fight or run in the appropriate circumstances. But my training is in martial arts, not riot avoidance. Like myself she too was a known pacifist. What cause was so significant that she was ready to risk her life on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, and drag me into the whole mess without prior consent?

Continuing on through the cobbled streets we eventually arrived. It was fight or flight time, and I steeled myself for action. Turning the corner, my fear melted away in a flush of surprise and embarrassment. I was extremely relieved and more than a little embarrassed.

The “protest” was a children’s pizza party held in the entrance to an elementary school parking lot! The principal had decided to charge a toll when the parents came to pick up the children. So a group of mothers responded to this ridiculous move by blocking the entrance with tables full of pizza, pop and balloons until he relented. No screaming or violence, just a gaggle of happy kids gleefully eating and playing. These mothers – every variant of religion, ethnicity, economic class and such – had banded together to send a clear message to the school: we won’t put up with this nonsense, and we are not going to teach our kids to hate in the process.

This was a day of power and positivity. The principal changed his mind, the mothers had justice, no one was hurt, kids had fun, and I discovered that I sorely needed a lesson in rectitude. And all it took was some pizza. If they can share such a moment of humanity in the middle of seemingly unending political misery in Israel, we can certainly make the same choice in our beloved Canada.

Dr. Daniel Schnee is an anthropologist specializing in Japanese creative culture and jazz. His column, The Human Condition, will run on the second Thursday of each month. Feedback can be sent to letters@medicinehatnews.com

7
-6