More than 2 million have been killed in the wars between Hutu and Tutsi, 2 tribes in Central Africa. A 14 year old sees her parents killed, and is left to raise her 5 younger siblings. She is raped, humiliated, destroyed, and forced to take shelter as a menial hand on a farmhouse. Here she is raped again and again, and finds she is pregnant. As she has to look after her family of 6 and she is only 15, she decides to abort- illegally, coz abortion is banned. She is caught and imprisoned for 20 years, and has just completed 5 of them. And the massacres continue unabated. It continues as the worst in human nature is on display. Not much different to what we experienced in our subcontinent 60 years ago. Yes, it is again 2 nations at War, without compassion, just what happens when madness takes over all around. And it can happen anywhere, wherever the tribes lose their heads. So, this is Life in the 21^st century. And millions exist in these scenarios. Aren’t we lucky to be just a shade more civilised!

Under agreements between May 1994 and September 1999, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority security and civilian responsibility for Palestinian populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza. Ever since all parties to the deal- Israel, Hamas, PLO, Egypt are all playing the proverbial cat and mouse game. Nobody wants Gaza, but everyone wants to use it as a base for wild forays of senseless violence Perhaps the most backward, impoverished and poverty struck area in the world, Gaza today is a laboratory whose filth and squalor are a smart cover up for all the violence and fundamentalism that lurks below the surface. The kind of place where everyone is happy to play the ostrich, Gaza exemplifies how and why extremism finds encouragement and hoists itself centre stage to the exclusion of any hope, progress or enlightment. It is a shame to the rational man and his so called progressive intellect that problems such as Gaza are not solved, but are conveniently swept below the carpet in the smug satisfaction that if it is not seen it does not exist. Rockets from Gaza kill 2 in Israel. Israel launches an offensive in which 120 Gazans’ die. An Israeli Arab retaliates and guns down 8 in Israel. And the game goes on….. A very improbable place in Gaza is the American International School. This exclusively serves the very rich Gazan, and those awarded liberal scholarships. ‘American’ is proposed to be dropped from its name to make the School a little safer.