"Caressing the sharks teeth"

A Brazillian priest named Frei Betto coined a brilliant term to describe the attempt to work out an accomodation with a predator: caressing the sharks teeth. This describes perfectly the approach of those hoping to create a kinder, gentler, greener capitalism- who truly believe the shark can be lulled into docility with niceness. These people believe that one way to pacify the shark is to offer up sacrificial victims, hoping it will stay occupied. This demonstrates a lack of knowledge regarding shark behavior. Sharks can be nice until they're not, until the frenzy begins. Then it doesn't care who has been caressing what. Back in 2010 I finished a novel that was set in Israel/ Palestine. It explored the issues around illegal settlement building and the Al Aqsa mosque and the conditions on the West Bank and Gaza. It is now ten years later and incredibly, nothing has changed. Protests turn violent, rockets get fired, missles come back in retaliation. Repeat. It is a horrific Ground Hog day performance that borders on the absurd, the banal, in its total lack of creativity.