“When you are a child, and you walk
outside, and see that your neighbor’s house is gone, it puts something in you
deep down. All the small children have fear. It’s always with us. Weddings,
graduation parties, these are happy events. But something is always missing. We
always feel it. Life is very complicated now. There are checkpoints and police
harassment. We live like second-class citizens. The Arabs are afraid of the
Israelis. The Israelis are afraid of the Arabs. Arab children are afraid of
bombs. Israeli children are afraid of rockets. And it’s not like one side can
win. The Israelis can never kill all the Palestinians. The Palestinians cannot
kill all the Israelis. Only peace can end it. I’d say eighty percent want
peace. The rest are crazy religious.” Humans of New York Oct 2 (Jerusalem)
Just before I came to Israel I was
introduced to a Facebook page called Humans of New York. If you haven’t heard of it, I recommend a
visit. It is listed as an Arts and
Humanities website, but I find that is it much more. In the description, Brandon, the founder explains, “I started HONY because I thought it would be really cool to
create an exhaustive catalogue of New York City's inhabitants, so I set out to
photograph 10,000 New Yorkers and plot their photos on a map. Somewhere along
the way, I began to interview my subjects in
addition to photographing them. And alongside their portraits, I'd include
quotes and short stories from their lives.”
Humans of New York
has become a daily reminder for over six
million followers on social media, that everyone has a story, and those
stories, captured in photos and quotes are sometimes happy, sometimes sad,
always moving. Currently Brandon is
finishing up a 50 day trip to 10 countries, ending here in Israel, including
the story above.
What a profound reminder of why I am here, and
why the Hand in Hand schools are so vitally important, not only for Israel, but
truly for the world. This model is
another, better way to deal with the evil of hate and division.
Just before the start of what was to become the
First Gulf War, another Navy wife friend confided in me that she couldn't
understand why she was completely indifferent about her husband’s deployment
and possible death. His job in the
military required him to have hands on, front line duties that she believed
should have caused her some concern. In
her defense, she grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She had shared stories of growing up that
included bombings and death, walking to school and seeing bodies hung from lamp
posts, watching neighbors’ homes burned to the ground. I would say that it ‘put something in her,
deep down’ that changed the way she dealt with life.
The universal problem of evil is easier to see
in some places than others, but the effects are profound in those who
experience it. Once planted, the seeds are hard to stop. Isn't it time we stopped planting those seeds
of fear and division? Isn't it time we found another way?
http://www.timesofisrael.com/jews-and-arabs-take-a-walk/
http://www.humansofnewyork.com/
Another fine read!
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