Editorial

Clean slate

The New Year comes in with fresh round of violence between Israel and Hamas targets in Gaza. Hundreds have been killed, thousands displaced. The outgoing US president implies Israel was justified in launching the attacks after Hamas forces unleashed attacks on Saturday. The Israeli interior minister now says there is no room for a ceasefire.

Elsewhere in the world, peaceful co-existence remains a far-fetched dream. Congolese civilians are torn between the age-old animosity between the Hutus and the Tutsis, which has killed scores in Rwanda more than 13 years ago. Sino-Tibet relations have been undermining China’s newfound economic standing. Trouble is brewing anew between India and Pakistan. The peace between Russia and Georgia is, at best, precarious.

Extremists have declared war on the rest of humanity. Within nations and territories, political, tribal or religious factions make life difficult for each other. There are tension zones in many other places not covered by media organizations that bring the news right to our computers or television sets.

Of course there doesn’t have to be an exchange of gunfire for people to feel trapped and hopeless. Closure of businesses, laying off of workers, suppression of basic freedoms, failure to provide social services, flaunting of power and unabashed greed among government officials do much to dash the hopes of citizens.

The New Year always gives us reason to celebrate. It affords us the luxury of leaving behind past follies while bringing with us the lessons of the past. It presents us with the illusion of the proverbial blank slate.

History has taught us that the slate does not stay immaculate for long. This will be the case, as well, in 2009. The eagerness to leave the past year is only logical, but it may be good to remember what went wrong and why. Let us start by acknowledging that there is something worse than making mistakes—repeating them.