I am reminded of Jesus' parable of the man who stood before the altar praying "Lord, I thank thee that I am not like other men", suggesting that he was worthy of God's commendation.

Howard Hamilton's letter written in Jamaica by a Jamaican sees things in a different way from S. Escoffey who letter was written outside Jamaica albeit by a Jamaican.

The Gaza-Gully conflict is real in a lot of people's minds, especially in the lower socio-economic sphere. It drives their conversations for after all they would not be discussing "the macroeconomic fallout and impact of the delayed International Monetary Fund (IMF) signing at the time of the international ratings collapse, etc".

We in Jamaica have to deal with the demanding impact of the Gaza-Gully distraction on productivity and as a cause of social unrest.

To those of us living in Jamaica, it is a real problem to be addressed along with our myriad of other problems. Now having stated the problem, what is the solution?

I support Howard's call for there to be a 'peace event', yet not a 'One Love concert' for we are all aware of the consequences of the previous one bearing that name. What we at the National Action Coalition have been working on is a smaller series of concerts involving the artistes Vybz Kartel and Mavado in a coming together that will continue to inflame passions and loyalty, yet at the same time defusing tension and anger.

Think positively

Let us move away from a good cuss. Let us move away from a re-statement of our woes; let us move away from a litany of complaints and into the way forward from where we are. We must seek to use the IMF delay as a means of allowing us to explore alternative strategies, it may allow us to consider instead longer staggered hours instead of people losing their jobs.

We must use the time to appoint a new commissioner of police as a good delay to allow us to assess what exactly is to be the role of the new commissioner. It may allow us indeed to debate the role of the police force in these changing times.

I am, etc.,

DR J.V. FORD

jephthahford@hotmail.com

Kingston 19