Perhaps '09 will be the year we will finally concede that one's geographic location should not appreciate/depreciate the value of one's life? That a child - or for that matter, any human being's - death should never be justified, regardless of circumstances?
Will '09 be the year that we - for once - collectively recognize the hypocrisy of paying lip service to 'Peace' while still implicitly/explicitly participating in the cycle of violence by serving in the military or voting a fascist party to power?
That having you heart-in-the-right-place (so to speak) while being part of a killing machine does not humanize/validate what you do? That intentions don't matter, only outcome, and outcome has never mounted to more than constant blood spill?
Will '09 be the year we stop justifying violence, stop blame-shifting, and for once, claim responsibility for the lives lost?
Will '09 be the year we all become Refuseniks? Or are we destined for a dozen more barbaric wars like the one we're engulfed in now?
In highschool in Cairo my sophomore year, we read a poem in English Literature class about a little girl dying in the Warsaw ghetto. It was compelling in light of the European 20th century history class we took that same year, in which the holocaust was a pivotal event. I remember thinking that a part of my humanity was lost forever in Auschwitz, that something died in me that can never be restored. Part of my humanity is dying today on the shores of Gaza.
1 comment:
One can always hope!!
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