Remember that 'pestilence arriving in an envelope' in offices in the USA, the anthrax that it was suggested might have come from Iraq, and was used to justify the rounding up of muslims in the USA and holding them as 'enemy combatants', with no charge, in solitary confinement, and with no access to legal representation. That anthrax, remember? No, probably not, as no one was ever charged, even though (or perhaps because) the anthrax strain was traced back to a US military lab in Maryland. But then, we never needed it to justify going into Iraq in the end. Remember that? 

When the news is filled with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, War, Famine, Pestilence and Death, to look at the world and laugh can be seen as bearing insufficient solemnity to suit the occasion. When husbands or wives, children or parents, may be facing death in battle, where there is fear of death striking from the sky, or pestilence arriving in an envelope, it is hard to look on the bright side of life without appearing flippant and uncaring. But like laughter at a funeral, humour has always been used as a defence and defiance against the four horsemen. When confronted by them, there is little else humanity can do apart from face them down with bravery.  After all, they are not going to go away, and one of them will get all of us in the end.

But life goes on, and it needs to be a life worth dying for. This weekend, I had my first look at my new granddaughter, gazing on the world around her with a look of innocence and wonder, just like baby Jews and Palestinians, Afghanis and Iraqis. Our mutual concern for those little ones is what makes us human, and whereas we oldies may have little involvement in the world that is to come a few decades down the line, I would like to leave the best world possible for her. This fundamental human aspiration is not only felt by our side in any conflict. Indeed, a recognition of such common humanity is essential to any peaceful coexistence.

Our new global coalition is an old idea. In Islam there is an understanding of an all-inclusive non-differentiating supranational community of believers. This is the Ummah, from the Arabic word meaning ‘mother’. Now a mother knows that discipline is sometimes necessary, but her driving force is one of caring and sharing, feeding and protecting. The greatest deterrent we have against terrorist organizations, who take advantage of the sense of injustice felt by the impoverished in the face of first world excess, is to share our wealth with those they look to for recruits. An offer few people can refuse is that of protection from war, freedom from hunger, healing for the sick, and dignity in death. That’s a coalition I would like to leave my granddaughter.