A stabber got loose in Tel Aviv this week. An 18-year-old man ran amok and stabbed some people and thank God, nobody died, but please don't think that's the point and the incident is over now because nobody died. Four people were wounded, which is important to remember, but there's an even bigger lesson to be learned here.
The man - 18 is a man, I guess, technically - was a Palestinian man. He was brought to Tel Aviv. He was brought there by an NGO called "Natural Peace Tours," which honestly, I would have sworn was a made up name, it's so hokey. It was their mission, apparently, to bring Palestinians to Israel for what this article calls "grassroots negotiations."
Grassroots negotiations?
First of all, let's be very clear: "grassroots negotiations" is nothing, because anyone "grassroots" isn't in a position to either offer anything or give anything in return. So through this NGO, let's face it, you're not negotiating. At best, you're having coffee with someone, and that's very nice, I support that, but maybe - just maybe - they could have thought about whether it was safe to do what they were doing.
(“grassroots negotiation” in action)
When I mentioned this incident to a dear friend who lives outside of Israel, complaining about starry-eyed and idiotic NGOs, she said that at least they mean well. Which I am absolutely sure they do.
But to be honest: I have less patience these days with people who mean well.
The moral high road to hell
I always used to think the expression "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" meant that people were innocently trying their best and somehow missing the mark. I thought it meant that nice people who had good intentions were sometimes ineffectual. But how could you really blame them? After all, they're NICE people. And they mean well.
What I believe these days about the expression is different.
