What’s a time you followed your gut and it turned out to be exactly right?

The first time I met creepy C, my gut instinct told me something was off about this person. I soon learned that he was narcissistic and duplicitous. I do not want to provide his full name, because I don’t want to be open to any defamation actions. But it was a time when I followed my gut, and the subsequent trajectory of his behaviour only confirmed that I was right.

A maligned narcissist, he wanted to drive me out of an organisation to which we both belonged. I did not give him the satisfaction, but redoubled my efforts to demonstrate my contributions. Some time after, he left. I have never crossed paths with him again. A part of me thinks – was he resentful because his ex-girlfriend got together with me after breaking it off with him? I never asked, but I got that vibe.

I am not sharing this story because I am bragging, or gloating about how correct I was. I am relating this experience because it was the result of years of ignoring my gut instinct. You see, I had a friend’ in junior high school who, while pretending to be a friend, was backstabbing me. Constantly ridiculing my accomplishments, bragging to me about his supposedly ‘superior’ grades, he never missed an opportunity to belittle me in front of others.

Funnily enough, he wanted my talents when it suited him – we were on the high school debating team. He certainly wanted me to perform at my very best when we faced our debating opposition. But somehow he could never bring himself to admit I belonged on the debating team.

I had a gut feeling from the start, but I ignored it for the misguided purpose of being ‘nice’. Inciting others to insult me, he mocked my ethnic background, and made sure that I knew it. I tolerated this behaviour for long enough.

When we were a bit older, I confronted him about his malignant behaviour. He apologised, and that is all well and good. But as the old saying goes; forgiveness granted, but access denied.

It was a useful lesson in life; do not ignore your gut instinct. When you feel a toxic vibe from a person or situation, do not suppress it. It may turn out to be wrong. But the price you pay for ignoring it is an emotional taxation I would not wish to pay again.

I raise this issue of a gut feeling, because a news item over the last few days prompted my thinking about false friends. One of the issues that I take seriously is international recognition of the Armenian genocide. Armenians in the diaspora have constantly pushed the governments of their respective resident to formally recognise the reality of the 1915 genocide.

Well, over the past few days, one government, after decades of delay and prevarication, has decided to formally recognise the Armenian genocide. You would think that this would be an occasion of rejoicing, but I am very wary. It is a case of acknowledging a bad vibe, or at least being aware of a pitfall – welcoming a false friend.

The government which has recently declared to formally recognise the Armenian genocide is that of Israel. Tel Aviv has announced through media channels that the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, will adopt an official resolution recognising the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar claimed, in justifying his decision to recognise the Armenian genocide, that it is never too late to do the right thing.

Wonderful and noble sentiments to be sure. However, this does raise a number of questions. Is Tel Aviv doing this because of increasing tensions with Turkey? While both Tel Aviv and Ankara are generally aligned in a pro-western direction, they have their specific differences on a range of issues. Whether it be Ukraine, Iran, Syria or other hotspots, these conflicts sometimes explode into the open.

Is this recognition by Tel Aviv driven by a principle of adherence to historical reality and opposition to genocide, or a weapon with which Tel Aviv can strike back at its Turkish counterparts?

An even larger question looms in the back of my mind – is genocide recognition by a government genuine when it is guilty of precisely the same crime?

It is no secret that the Israeli military is carrying out genocidal violence against the Palestinians. Systematic bombing of hospitals and medical infrastructure, water facilities, targeting journalists, razing crops, deliberately killing children – these are the actions authorised by Tel Aviv against the Palestinians in Gaza.

These atrocities, long condemned at the Nuremberg trials, stand as an indictment of Israeli government policy. Did we not learn the lessons of Nuremberg? If the trial of Nazi German war criminals at Nuremberg taught us anything, it is that international law should be applied equally to all nations, and their political leaders.

What kind of a friend is Tel Aviv to the Armenians? It is better if we follow our gut instinct and reject the calculated, transactional friendship of Tel Aviv, no matter what the consequences may be.