Donald Trump has the right approach on the Gaza war, soft diplomacy was never going to work - Carl Les
I’ve been asked by some to provide more commentary on the role of Area Committees in the work of the council. More of that later, partly because on Monday of this week I will be having a regular meeting with all the chairs of those committees, online on Teams software, so reducing travel time and cost, and there may be views and ideas for the future to be considered.
And partly because as so often happens, events overtake this piece and its planned subject matter, and rightly so, especially if those events affect North Yorkshire, its residents and perhaps its council.
The event that must be foremost in all our minds at the moment is the attack on the synagogue in Manchester. That this took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest of days in the religious calendar for the Jewish people, on a day to celebrate Atonement, acts of tolerance and forgiveness, makes it all the more appalling.
Possibly, most likely even, an act of terrorism, as Mao Tse Tung said “the aim of terrorism must be to terrorise”, so we should all be shocked that this has happened on our streets where liberty, tolerance and free expression are still values we majority hold dear.
Our thoughts most importantly must be with those persons and communities directly affected by this act and then with any other community living in fear, fear of intolerance and of hate, fear of direct violence. So the aim of the terrorist is to frighten us, to divide us, and to plant doubt in our minds that in our day to day relationships with others we are doing the right thing.
To defeat those with such extreme views that they care little if anything for human life, let alone democracy, we must stand together, in tolerance, recognising the value in all communities of whatever common bond.
Religions have such a common bond and sadly some followers have extreme, fundamentalist views, but thankfully not all. For the first time in its existence, in half a millenium, the Church of England has appointed a woman to be its leader as Archbishop of Canterbury. Dame Sarah Mullally, present Bishop of London, will take up the office in January next. In today’s equal opportunities world that is probably not remarkable, but in an organisation that until a decade or so ago would not permit Bishop Mullally to hold her present role, this is a major step.
Unfortunately some within this common bond are stating that they will not accept her appointment. I make no comment on her personal qualities or abilities as I am not qualified to do so, although her career to date in both nursing practice and management, and in the Church itself, suggests someone with a high degree of ability and experience. However leaving all that to one side only time will tell her story, but it does appear right to me that somebody’s gender should never prevent them from being given the opportunity to serve.
At last the opportunity for peace in the Middle East appears to be a real possibility with the majority acceptance on both sides (and I accept that there are many factions of both ‘sides’ of the conflict, with widely conflicting views) with President Trump`s 21 point peace plan.
If he has managed to facilitate a ceasefire, to stop the killing of non-combatants, the release of hostages, and the restart of humanitarian aid, then he is to be applauded and congratulated.
I do not like his negotiating style, but there is no doubt in my mind that in this conflict soft diplomacy was never going to achieve much.
He needs to continue now to make Hamas disarm as Israel must never live in fear of, and the world must never witness again, another October 7 attack that was as barbaric as it was sudden, and which was the trigger for this present conflict. Equally Israel must accept the right of Palestinians to live in peace.
The future negotiations must offer a practical political solution, and not just be a riviera real estate deal important though rebuilding Gaza will be to offer prosperity as well as peace to the area.
Perhaps President Trump will now turn his attention, and his tough style of talking, back to the conflict in Europe. Soft diplomacy will not work here either, and there comes a point where Putin’s probing of Nato must be brought to a stop. Time will tell how successful that can be.
I will come back to our Area Committees before they start their next quarterly cycle of meetings. For those who are interested and cannot make attendance in the former district council civic centres where they are held they are live-streamed as I have said before.
There is a demand to hold them in other venues around the county, to make the locality more relevant to the agenda at times, but that might preclude live streaming.
It will be a balance between localism and public broadcasting. Time will tell how successful we have been.
Coun Carl Les is the leader of North Yorkshire Council.