Sounds like he had planned in-person meetings in Palestine but was frustrated by the border shenanigans.





Shtayyeh plays the consummate diplomat, supporting the initiative but introducing elements of justice and an analysis of settler colonialism totally absent from Sadhguru's presentation of the issues. He brings up theft of land, mass uprooting of trees, water loss in the dead sea and the understanding that Palestinian 'sons of the soil' belong to that particular land in a way that 'transplanted' Europeans or Americans never could. Of course SG doesn't engage with any of that except to subtly minimise or sideline it by suggesting that political disputes aren't as important as preserving soil for future generations (ie: ignoring the political disputes that make it impossible to do this) and that focusing on a commonality like ecological restoration could bring people together across borders, nationalities, religions etc. Right, I can just imagine the enthusiasm among Palestinians for improving agricultural lands they have been banished from and prevented from returning to... At least he didn't come out with a lecture about leaving behind the 'bitterness and injustices of the past [sic]'. Maybe he sensed that Shtayyeh wouldn't have put up with that, as scrupulously polite & respectful as he was here.