After we gathered in Duncan City Square for Jewish Fast for Gaza yesterday, I went home, unpacked the gear and went for a walk.

I noticed as I turned onto Sherman Road that the line painting which had been going on for the last day or so had been completed. The whole street had been tidied up nicely -- clear yellow and white stripes alerting us gently to the suggested movement of traffic. I thought: how long until even these decencies are dispensed with. I have noticed -- as I suspect most of us have -- that most public expressions of care and thoughtfulness are deteriorating.

Slowly at first then more quickly as time goes on -- we chat about losing our GPs; we observe the decline in our schools and long-term care; we seem to know more and more people who have watched their hopes for a thriving life evaporate. Our highest elected officials are no more that hitmen, planning to eradicate our hopes in the interests of dangerous military spending and reckless cuts to our most crucial services.

The people who attend our Jewish Fast for Gaza have been doing this every third Wednesday for over four years -- these people are kind and generous of spirit. We all care deeply about the people in Palestine and their liberation from this nightmare -- we all care about the planet and the creatures on it.

Yet we have almost no impact, no leverage at all when the rulers of our countries decide on the path we walk. Ordinary people are set aside in all ways and the top brass has let us know that even the most vital decisions are never ours to make. That is why no one in government will rein in the fossil fuel industry; no one in government at any level will stand up for our public services, our forests, our water supply or our housing needs. They dither as if stalling for time so those who dominate can continue to have their way; their profit; their power and their version of the historic outcome.

We stand up for Gaza while the mediocre characters who sit in elected office look the other way - they must all have whiplash from all that 'looking the other way.'

I know this sounds defeatist but it is important to be guided by the actual reality in which we find ourselves. Our sadness is irrelevant.

I have always believed what MLK said when he observed that the arc of history bends toward justice. But if we do not use that warm assurance to motivate ourselves to seek such a thing -- the people of Palestine will suffer still and the lovely caring lines of paint will fade and leave us all wondering which way to go.

Eden Haythornthwaite

Cowichan Valley