Two peas in a pod, ready to explode

Howard Rainier photo, courtesy of Blue Rain Gallery, Taos, New Mexico

Two Peas in a Pod is the prompt for this week's Sunday Scribblings. My husband says there's only one "p" in a pod, but that's another story. He also mentioned pea soup and some other things that might offend the sensibilities of all you cultured readers. He's British. Need I say more?

At the moment, the two peas in a pod that interest me are the Israelis and Palestinians. They're bound together in a pressure cooker, bubbling along, ready to explode. Undoubtedly you've read the news reports about Palestinian militant groups kidnapping an Israeli soldier. In exchange for his safe return, they're demanding release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

The Israelis refuse to negotiate with the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which in turn refuses to recognise the State of Israel and all previous peace accords. The Israeli military has positioned tanks and soldiers on Gaza's borders. In bombing raids under cover of darkness, Israel has destroyed the Gaza Strip's electrical power, cut their water supplies and bombed the Palestinian Interior Ministry.

These provocative actions have left millions of Palestinians in stifling summer heat, without drinking water or electricity to bake bread or cook meals. The United Nations has warned of an impending humanitarian crisis.

And the two peas in a pod? Each refuses to budge from their intransigent positions. The young soldier at the heart of the current dispute reportedly is in stable condition, wounded by shrapnel that killed two others.

Meanwhile, the people suffer. I'm sure I've written that sentence before, when reporting about the Arab-Israeli conflict. Yet somehow the situation rarely changes. Civilians of both sides suffer, while politicians and militants argue political points or proffer bargaining chips.

Many Palestinians and Israelis are friends - they play sports together and successfully collaborate on projects. One organisation that seeks to encourage dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli children is The Dialogue Project. The group hosts monthly meetings for Jews, Muslims and Christians to discuss issues of the day. Participants are urged to suspend their opinions and judgments and truly listen to opposing views, then engage in constructive dialogue.

The thing about two peas in a pod is that sometimes they rub up against each other, creating friction. Sometimes each wants to go his own way, but it's impossible: they're stuck together in that compact little pod. So they have to learn the art of compromise; to find new perspective for their common ground.

They have to believe that their similarities are greater than their differences; that their goals are linked and not mutually exclusive. Only after each side makes some hard concessions can the two peas in that pod learn to peacefully co-exist.

Comments

[Marilyn]

Love that this was your choice for that prompt. Beautiful post.

[Verity]

My father worked for the UN, I lived in Israel and in the Middle East, I went to school with both Israelis and Palestinians, and it was always clear that the innocent people suffered the most and desired peace the most. Thank you for your lucid, fair and beautifully written post.

[Mikim]

A very thought provoking and powerful post. Wonderfully written!

[boliyou]

Well and wisely said.

[andrea edwards]

You have such a wonderful writing style. Great take on this theme. Your analogy of the peas causing friction was very thought provoking.
a.

[Erica]

wow..it's amazing how differently we all interpret this theme, and yours is certainly compelling and urgent...

so sorry to hear about your health scare, though it sounds like you're on top of it...

[daisy lupin]

A very powerful piece of writing. Thank you for visiting my website, it's interesting to see the different interpretations of the phrase 'two peas in the pod' You put an unusual slant on it but a very interesting and serious one.

[Dani]

You gave us a different take on a common expression, and it was very thought-provoking.

[susanna]

Very good post. I hadn't thought of connecting "two peas in a pod" with politics. And I agree with everything you've written.

[bb]

Yes, wonderful and wise, as ever.
Hope the pc problems are over soon.
The discerning blog readers of the world need you, Tara!

[susannah]

i hope this doesn't sound too flippant (i'm english remember) but i wonder if the wonderful blogging connection, kindness and community we are all establishing couldn't be transferred to parts of the world where there is conflict. we all seem so respectful of each other's pov and hearts, i wonder why our friends in other countries can't try the same path - learn to rub along against each other *kindly*....

[Gabi]

This is definitely different rendition from everyone else, and I think it's great because it's something that a lot of people will choose to just look away from. Writing it in that respect of today's topic really makes one think a little differently about it all. Thanks for giving me a fresh prospective.
~Gabi

[Ann Marie Simard]

Tara, always relevant!!!!

Thanks.

Ann Marie

[Cookie]

Thank you for bringing another important take on peas and pods for us all. Wonderful post as always Tara. Hugs

[January]

Thanks for this post. We do get so wrapped up in the day to day that we ignore the real problems going on in the world.

"The thing about two peas in a pod is that sometimes they rub up against each other, creating friction. Sometimes each wants to go his own way, but it's impossible: they're stuck together in that compact little pod."

So true.

[Kerstin]

This is a very adequate and well written take on the subject.

War, sadly, it a part of human life. It takes someone with great vision, power and courage to cut the cycle of hate and retaliation, it takes a lot of peas accepting that they are all part of the same pod to do the same.

Politicians should read posts like these but they are too busy shooting down the pods.

[Bonnie]

I love what you said, "they rub up against each other, creating friction... etc." Compromise... give and take... Hmmm... how to learn and incorportate these so that we can co-exist, and even grow together, on this earth? Thanks for your great insight!

[Cate]

This post is brilliant, leaving one with much to consider. Your observations are beautifully-conveyed. It is easy to forget the people in politically charged situations--your words remind us of so many of them--the wounded soldier, the people unable to do something as necessary (and taken for granted) as cooking, etc.

P.S. While reading this, I felt that familiar knot of powerlessness . . . until I arrived at the part about The Dialogue Project. Words cannot describe how wise and brave some people are--people who are willing to put themselves out there to make a difference. Again reminds us that the situation is about "people," not just idoelogies and political agendas. Thank you for that information and the reminder.

[Kamsin]

This is an excellent take on the theme "two peas in a pod". To be honest I was having a hard time finding anything meaningful in the phrase, but this is so insightful. I read this quote from a former Israeli PM recently: "We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us." Obviously that goes both ways, but it made me think.

[Laini]

Great response -- I never thought of Israel and Palestine in that way, but it is a very good metaphor for them. Alexandra & I were talking about the situation over there earlier today and just feeling despair -- it's so hard to visualize a resolution, when generations are raised on hate. The Dialogue Project sounds wonderful -- we were actually talking about the need for meaningful dialogue in OUR rapidly polarizing political climate, and again, despairing, because there it is so unrealistic. The one time I posted about political feelings on my blog, I got in a fairly nasty "fight" with someone I had thought was lovely, but who as it turned out I could never respect politically, and vice versa, and that was that. It's very discouraging.

[AnnieElf]

A wise and insightful post. Tara. It is unfortunate that the people who would benefit the most are the ones least likely to see it.

[Chelle]

That was very insightful. I think sometimes we go about our business, forgetting about all the "hurt" in the world. Thanks for the reminder.

[Scott]

T,

I second everything said before me with an added layer of reminding me of the word "intransigent." I have a couple of employees that are being intransigent right now and you have armed me with one word to save me others.

Honestly, though, regarding Israel and Palestine...if a mystical blanket of peace descended over them, it would be like a poorly planned retirement....would they be able to fill their time with anything else? They have a passion for hating one another. They would need to find a substitute. When chaos is what you have come to know, peace is not going to seem like a friend. It's not exciting enough...

.....and the people that could live with it suffer.

Thanks also for the reminder. I had seen this as a soundbyte the other day but I need to keep up with it.

[Mardougrrl]

"The thing about two peas in a pod is that sometimes they rub up against each other, creating friction. Sometimes each wants to go his own way, but it's impossible: they're stuck together in that compact little pod. So they have to learn the art of compromise; to find new perspective for their common ground."

This insight is spot on. Wow. This is a wonderful, necessary, post.

[bella]

"so they have to learn the art of compromise"
oh, how I wish it were that easy.
This was a great, great informative post. I loved your take on this weeks prompt.

[kristen]

Beautifully written Tara and a very different and poignant take on the prompt.

[Aly]

What a provocative take on the SS. I feel for the whole situation, but especially for the people caught in the crossfire - people who have never done anything but live out their lives around the chaos.

Here's hoping peace does come soon. Thanks for writing, Tara.

-Aly

[becca]

Wonderful post, Tara. And of course, you can carry the metaphor out even farther, since all of us as human beings (peas) must co-exist in this "pod" we call the earth. It is true that we seem intrinsically pre-disposed to "rub up against one another" and create friction. How to create harmony in the pod??? The ultimate question.

[tinker]

Yes, the situation's very like two twins fighting in the womb over who gets the mother-land, aren't they?
Is there something that genetically pre-disposes people of the British Isles to puns? Though American by birth, my husband of Scottish/British ancestry seems to have a very similar sense of humor to yours!

[catherine]

What a lot of catching up all at once. I hope all goes well with your health scare. And thanks for reminding us of the situation in the Middle East, it is so easy to get bored with what can seem like "same old, same old" and skip over it on the news.