From Nicholas Kristof's column this week:
“War, want and concentration camps, exile from home and homeland, these have made me hate strife among men, but they have not made me lose faith in the future of mankind. ... If man has been able to create the arts, the sciences and the material civilization we know in America, why should he be judged powerless to create justice, fraternity and peace?”
~ Ladis Kristof (Nick's Dad)
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The flotilla
I woke up to the news of the flotilla disaster a couple of mornings ago and my heart has been aching as I've continued to follow the story throughout the past few days. I am very aware that one of the major lessons that I am going to be learning in this next year of life is what it looks like to love and care for people who are causing other people so much pain and hardship. How do I unconditionally love in the midst of so much injustice? I know that God loves the individual members of the IDF and Hamas despite their short comings, just like he loves me despite my shortcomings. How do I extend grace and compassion for both sides? Perhaps by July 2011, I'll have a bit of an answer.
I talked with my language mentee and dear Arab friend, Ali, about the situation. It was refreshing to share in such deep sadness together. He expressed his disbelief that 9 people could end up dead because they wanted to bring food and resources for their neighbors who are in need. All I could really do was shake my head in agreement.
Every state has the right to self-defense. But when self-defense means that 1,400 Palestinians are killed in comparison to 13 Israelis in the 22 day War on Gaza in '08/'09 and when self-defense means that 9 international humanitarian activists are killed for trying to bring aid to the Palestinian people... I don't know. We just might have a situation on our hands where the U.S. should speak up rather than continue to exorbitantly fund. I'm not comfortable placing all of the blame on one side. I wasn't on those ships and I certainly don't know what happened. But when international humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza is labeled as a means for enabling Islamic extremism, I think we all need to take a step back.
And in the midst of all of this political dialogue and international attention, what gets lost? The increasing hopelessness of the plight of the innocent people who lost the lottery of privileged birth and are fighting to scrape out a dignified existence in an occupied land. These are people with a strength I can only dream of--these are people whose stories deserve to be told and heard and marveled at. But, yet again, these stories are lost and overlooked in a mess of politics.
I talked with my language mentee and dear Arab friend, Ali, about the situation. It was refreshing to share in such deep sadness together. He expressed his disbelief that 9 people could end up dead because they wanted to bring food and resources for their neighbors who are in need. All I could really do was shake my head in agreement.
Every state has the right to self-defense. But when self-defense means that 1,400 Palestinians are killed in comparison to 13 Israelis in the 22 day War on Gaza in '08/'09 and when self-defense means that 9 international humanitarian activists are killed for trying to bring aid to the Palestinian people... I don't know. We just might have a situation on our hands where the U.S. should speak up rather than continue to exorbitantly fund. I'm not comfortable placing all of the blame on one side. I wasn't on those ships and I certainly don't know what happened. But when international humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza is labeled as a means for enabling Islamic extremism, I think we all need to take a step back.
And in the midst of all of this political dialogue and international attention, what gets lost? The increasing hopelessness of the plight of the innocent people who lost the lottery of privileged birth and are fighting to scrape out a dignified existence in an occupied land. These are people with a strength I can only dream of--these are people whose stories deserve to be told and heard and marveled at. But, yet again, these stories are lost and overlooked in a mess of politics.
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