Wishing for peace in Gaza

Destruction: A picture taken from southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip yesterday showing the aftermath of Israeli bombardment in the Palestinian territory. — AFP

WHILE I studied at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore in the 1980s, our founding dean and senior diplomat Prof Kishore Mahbubani optimistically told us that “War, after centuries of being a scourge on humanity, is now becoming a sunset industry”. Unfortunately, nowadays that sunset industry is seeing a new dawn what with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Hamas-Israel wars.

Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace and joy, but people in Ukraine and Gaza are not privileged to enjoy that. In Gaza, in fact, it has been a time of sorrow and silence, as this year’s Christmas festivities in Bethlehem were cancelled due to the raging war.