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War on Humanity

This is a war against our humanity

Making us demonise the other

Making us blind to our faults

Justifying crime and revenge

 

Our humanity is at stake.

We cringe at being called animals 

Yet they are superior 

They do not go against the will of their creator

They do not commit genocide

 

Our humanity is at stake

Our ability to see the other in ourselves

Ourselves in the other

Nursed on hate

What a pity- we could have been raised on love

 

O, the cursed sons and daughters of Abraham

Sacrificed over and over again 

How could we have reached this point

So far from what was promised

So far from the light

 

The kingdom of heaven 

What has it brought us

Can it be built on spilt blood

If we plant tomato seeds, we get tomatoes

If we plant war, there can never be peace

It’s a vicious cycle

Look at the war on terror and the terror it’s brought

Listen to the mothers mourning their children

Listen and weep

The kingdom of heaven… How about we make it queendom. 

 

On the bus from Bersheva / Bier al sabe’ to Jerusalem. On the row to my left sat a middle-aged woman with her son of about eight years old. On the row behind them another woman of about the same age, with a son of about the same age. Both mothers were busily caring for their sons in that over-protective Middle Eastern way: unwrapping a sandwich, spreading a napkin, sticking a straw in the carton-box juice or opening a bag of chips. The two boys fell asleep, their heads resting on mama’s laps while she caressed her son’s hair or shoulders.Past the dead sea, everyone began to stir, sending text messages and calling. The two mothers whispered in their phones, revealing their identities as an Arab and a Hebrew. Both mothers loved their sons. The agony of losing a child would hit both of them just the same. One feared the day her son would join the army; the other feared the day her son would be confronted with the army or join the mujahideen. 


The militarization of children is a crime, whatever garment it wears. A teenage soldier in the military and a child in al-Qassam brigades. Their leaders use the same tactics. Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze and secular children are indoctrinated to mistrust and hate each other, believing that violence and fear are imperative for survival. They are ammunition for the war machine and the ever-prospering weapons industry.     

 

Condemned are the children of Isaac and Ishmael. Condemned. 

When will we find each other! 

 

 

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