Flash non-fiction. Two young girls, a difficult question and dire consequences…
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
We were stopped by two young girls as we negotiated our way through the chaos of roadworks around the railway station in Renens. “Are you for Palestine or Israel?” one of them asked, her tone earnest.
The question, but also the circumstances, had me stumped. Such a weighty question from two girls, who couldn’t have been more than fourteen, asked of people who could’ve been their grandparents, but whom they didn’t know. Neither were markedly jewish or Muslim, but clearly the subject preoccupied both of them and merited more than a flippant answer.
“Neither,” I finally replied.
“So you are neutral?” the second girl said.
It was a convenient third category into which I could take refuge, but I didn’t want to go there. Neutrality didn’t fit.
“No. I just want the slaughter to stop.“
To which the first girl replied, “My mother said that according to the Koran stopping fighting, would mean capitulating.“
I knew too little of the Koran to contradict her, but surely that couldn’t be true. I couldn’t help shuddering. Suddenly I realised that her initial question left no room for anything other than conflict. Asking someone to take sides was a first step to war.