As I go about my day to day tasks enduring the hot Hamilton sun, half way around the world, people endure the heat under their sheet metal roofs and within their concrete walls as to avoid aerial shells, rockets and bullets... stray or intended.... Yes, the reality and presence of the Arab-Israeli war is illuminated again in Lebanon... and continues as it always seems to have been continuing , in Gaza and the West Bank. I could speak for hours about my feelings and frustrations relating to this war, especially in regards to the evangelical church's unconditional support for the state of Israel, but this blog is intended really to make it's readers to pause a moment, and think about Arabs, Christians, Jews, Atheists and everyone living in the perhaps the most beautiful part of the world under a militarized state that is only getting more restricted, violent, racist and intolerant. Please for a moment, consider the fear, stress and despair these people experience as they simply try to go to the market, raise a family, have a nap... My words do little to express some of my feelings if any.
So please, if you have time, peruse a website or two to learn more about this conflict because in recognizing the gravity of the experiences of others who endure conflict, we give recognition and legitimation to their pain, their histories and thus their identities... the act of recognizing each other in this way is essential to being human and to feeling whole.... if we do not do this, the people in the Middle East will remain as "other"... the people who live "over there"... "not here" but they are not, they are us, we are them; people...
Websites:
http://www.electronicintifada.net
http://www.electronicintifada.net/lebanon/
www.zatoun.com
No comments:
Post a Comment