I read my sons the story of the man, his son, and the donkey last night. I'm sure you remember the story from childhood: a man decides to sell his donkey at the market, so he and his son set out on the journey.
At first the man leads the donkey with his son on the donkey's back, but as they walk, they come to a group of people who jeer at his son and tell him that he should not ride on the donkey and let his father walk. The son gets off the donkey and lets his father ride.
They come to another group, who jeers at the father for letting his son walk. They both get on the donkey.
The next group jeers at the man and his son for overburdening the donkey, so they get off the donkey and both walk. The next group jeers at them for making the poor donkey walk, so they pick up the donkey and carry the struggling donkey to market.
Finally, at the market, everyone jeers at the men for carrying the donkey, and suggests that the donkey is obviously too sick to sell if it must be carried. The donkey becomes spooked and runs away, and they have no donkey to sell. The son turns to his father and says, "All this work and we have nothing." The father answers, "No, we have learned a valuable lesson ? you can't please all the people, so you must please yourself."
My sons love the story because is shows how indecision and peer pressure can lead to the loss of important things. I usually talk to them after the story and ask them if there is something in their lives right now that reminds them of the story. Sometimes they talk about things that have happened on the playground, or situations that have happened at home between them. This time, they answered that the story reminded them of Israel. They talked about how Israel is so busy trying to make everyone happy that they can't get anything done.
My sons are right. It is a story about Israel, and I started to think how I would retell it to make the metaphor as clear as possible. I think the part of the donkey will be played by the peace process; the part of the man will be played by Sharon; the part of the son will be played by the people of Israel; and the part of the various jeering crowds will be played by the various world bodies.
Scene 1: Sharon and the people of Israel attempt to get a peace deal to market. Sharon leads the deal with the Israeli people riding on his decision. They come up to the jeering United States, who demands that the Israeli people, not Sharon, lead the way. The peace process is delayed until the elections, where the Israeli people vote to keep fighting terrorism with a strong hand and elect Sharon to do that. Sharon and the people are optimistic about the possibility of selling this peace process. They set out on the road.
Scene 2: With the Israeli people leading in the decision to make peace and Sharon riding on that decision, they come up to a jeering crowd of Knesset members who insist that the people shouldn't lead in this decision. They don't want Sharon riding this process alone. They insist that there should be a broad coalition of ministers and politicians deciding how to make peace, and everyone jumps on the process. They vote to also include a "Quartet" on the back of this peace process. The Quartet presents them with a hastily constructed map, which does not account for any major obstacles, and insists they use it. The peace process limps along as everyone fights to take the reins on an unfamiliar road with a poor map. Hundreds of Israelis are murdered.
Scene 3: With everyone riding the peace process, they come to a jeering crowd of Europeans and Americans who suggest that the Israeli government and her people are overburdening the process, and that they all need to back off. Everyone jumps off the peace process and hopes that it will move forward more quickly. This is known as a hudna. More Israelis die as the peace process, with no one pushing it on, begins to go in circles and then backtracks.
Scene 4: With no one riding the peace process, the jeering United States suggests that peace has not gotten to market quickly enough and blames the Israelis for delaying it. The US suggests that the peace process has not been adequately supported. They suggest that Israel pick up the struggling beast and carry it to the market.
Scene 5: They are met by a jeering crowd of Arabs who suggest that the peace process is so ill that no one will buy it. They blow up a bus, a cafe, throw rocks at people saying prayers, attack more Israelis, and threaten them in their homes and in their work. Europe blames Israel, the US blames everyone, and the Israelis realize there is nothing they can do to get this peace process to market.
The Israelis vote to remove Arafat and to take control of their own destiny, realizing that "You can't please everyone, but you must please yourself." They start out on the road to eliminating Arafat, when they come across a jeering crowd of UN members.....
At first the man leads the donkey with his son on the donkey's back, but as they walk, they come to a group of people who jeer at his son and tell him that he should not ride on the donkey and let his father walk. The son gets off the donkey and lets his father ride.
They come to another group, who jeers at the father for letting his son walk. They both get on the donkey.
The next group jeers at the man and his son for overburdening the donkey, so they get off the donkey and both walk. The next group jeers at them for making the poor donkey walk, so they pick up the donkey and carry the struggling donkey to market.
Finally, at the market, everyone jeers at the men for carrying the donkey, and suggests that the donkey is obviously too sick to sell if it must be carried. The donkey becomes spooked and runs away, and they have no donkey to sell. The son turns to his father and says, "All this work and we have nothing." The father answers, "No, we have learned a valuable lesson ? you can't please all the people, so you must please yourself."
My sons love the story because is shows how indecision and peer pressure can lead to the loss of important things. I usually talk to them after the story and ask them if there is something in their lives right now that reminds them of the story. Sometimes they talk about things that have happened on the playground, or situations that have happened at home between them. This time, they answered that the story reminded them of Israel. They talked about how Israel is so busy trying to make everyone happy that they can't get anything done.
My sons are right. It is a story about Israel, and I started to think how I would retell it to make the metaphor as clear as possible. I think the part of the donkey will be played by the peace process; the part of the man will be played by Sharon; the part of the son will be played by the people of Israel; and the part of the various jeering crowds will be played by the various world bodies.
Scene 1: Sharon and the people of Israel attempt to get a peace deal to market. Sharon leads the deal with the Israeli people riding on his decision. They come up to the jeering United States, who demands that the Israeli people, not Sharon, lead the way. The peace process is delayed until the elections, where the Israeli people vote to keep fighting terrorism with a strong hand and elect Sharon to do that. Sharon and the people are optimistic about the possibility of selling this peace process. They set out on the road.
Scene 2: With the Israeli people leading in the decision to make peace and Sharon riding on that decision, they come up to a jeering crowd of Knesset members who insist that the people shouldn't lead in this decision. They don't want Sharon riding this process alone. They insist that there should be a broad coalition of ministers and politicians deciding how to make peace, and everyone jumps on the process. They vote to also include a "Quartet" on the back of this peace process. The Quartet presents them with a hastily constructed map, which does not account for any major obstacles, and insists they use it. The peace process limps along as everyone fights to take the reins on an unfamiliar road with a poor map. Hundreds of Israelis are murdered.
Scene 3: With everyone riding the peace process, they come to a jeering crowd of Europeans and Americans who suggest that the Israeli government and her people are overburdening the process, and that they all need to back off. Everyone jumps off the peace process and hopes that it will move forward more quickly. This is known as a hudna. More Israelis die as the peace process, with no one pushing it on, begins to go in circles and then backtracks.
Scene 4: With no one riding the peace process, the jeering United States suggests that peace has not gotten to market quickly enough and blames the Israelis for delaying it. The US suggests that the peace process has not been adequately supported. They suggest that Israel pick up the struggling beast and carry it to the market.
Scene 5: They are met by a jeering crowd of Arabs who suggest that the peace process is so ill that no one will buy it. They blow up a bus, a cafe, throw rocks at people saying prayers, attack more Israelis, and threaten them in their homes and in their work. Europe blames Israel, the US blames everyone, and the Israelis realize there is nothing they can do to get this peace process to market.
The Israelis vote to remove Arafat and to take control of their own destiny, realizing that "You can't please everyone, but you must please yourself." They start out on the road to eliminating Arafat, when they come across a jeering crowd of UN members.....