Few incentives to enter politics

The history behind the Arab-Israeli conflict is long and complex. Safe to say though that in 1948 the Jewish population in Palestine felt justified in forming the State of Israel by force.

They had a presence there going back some 3,000 years, one sadly marked by ongoing conflict with the Arab populace, in spite of there being room for both groups to co-exist.

In Nazi Germany they had just experienced the Holocaust as well as widespread racism elsewhere in Europe. After the Second World War the United Nations General Assembly encouraged their migration to Palestine and produced a plan to partition it into two independent states, one Arab and one Jewish.

That plan was understandably rejected by the Arab populace, as it was to result in a huge number of them being forcibly displaced.

And so the conflict has continued ever since.

On Jan. 30, Selina Robinson took part in an online panel discussion where it seems she was referring to that sad history. She commented -- correctly, I think -- that many younger people here don’t have a full understanding of it, adding that Israel was “founded on a crappy piece of land with nothing on it … which didn’t produce much of an economy.”

Not particularly relevant, but I take the comment at face value and I don’t see it as racist or anti-Islamophobic. No doubt she shares the same profound sadness that we all do for the senseless bloodshed that began on Oct. 7.

Hamas attacks on Israeli citizens will not drive that country into the sea and the Israeli Defence Forces’ ongoing slaughter of Palestinian civilians will not eliminate Hamas.

In any case, despite making an unreserved apology to anyone offended by her comment, Robinson was removed from her cabinet post on Feb 5.

To me that’s a poor way to treat a cabinet minister who since 2017 has served us -- including those who demanded her removal -- to the best of her ability.

Not much of an incentive to enter politics either.

Phil Redgrave Cordova Bay