'A Letter to my Palestinian brothers in Gaza and Everywhere ' from Noa in Israel
Letter from the Editor : - We watch day by day as yet another tragedy unfolds in the world.This time a long standing one.The Gaza Strip..Israel,Palestine, the involvement of Hamas. Some say that due to the geographical location there can never be peace in this region. Negotiations continually move forward,than inch back,then repeat. I wish this violence would stop .As a result, one even almost loses sight of what this horrific rancour is about in the first place.And that serves no one.
I am glad now, that the world is getting both sides of the story. For so long we never really heard the voices of the Palestinians. Now we do. Combined voices. By hearing all,we get a clearer picture but we also hear one consistent request from civilians on all sides.That request:- 'Peace please" . I cannot write ,speak or comment first hand of this matter or the histology of it. I have not visited these countries,as I have with Africa and elsewhere. However I can share the words of those that live in the region.
I have been sent this ,written by Israeli singer, Noa .I post it here,with her permission, for you to read
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Dear Palestinian brothers,
It is with a heavy heart I write to you today. Gaza is burning. The border with Israel is under fire. Children on both sides of the fence are terrified, traumatized for life, wounded in body and soul. Life!! Life is lost. Blood flows! Pain and tears and anguish abound.
How familiar it all is, my brothers? How well we know these images, this fear clutching our throats, hope slipping away from our hearts?
A new year has begun. I am sitting here near my computer in the dark night, in my home by the sea. This sea that is ours, our Mediterranean sea, our culture, we the people of wandering, we the homeless, the homesick, we the fighters ,the builders, the survivors, our dreams like waves and tide, pulled by the moon and stars to eternity.Since that fateful day in 1994 when Rabin was murdered a few feet from me, since that awful moment, I have dedicated much of my public life to singing and speaking for peace.
I have seen the peace process rise and fall and rise like the breast of a
woman breathing in the night. I have seen opportunities missed, so many
missed, so many chances, so much ignorance and stubbornness and
bullheadedness, so much beauty trampled under the heavy boot of pride. I
have sung and I have spoken, I have argued and I have embraced, I have
been moved to tears so many times, I have made the most unlikely
friends….friends I would give my right arm for, friends I would run
across the border under fire to protect.
And today, today I say this; we have one joint enemy, one awful joint
enemy and we must all work together to eradicate it!
That enemy is fanaticism my friends. That enemy is extremism in all its ugly reincarnations and manifestations.That enemy is all men who put “god” above life, who claim “god” as their sword and shield, who claim “god” is on THEIR side. Jews, Muslims, Christians, all share this black streak. All have fallen to this destructive, horrible fanaticism at some point in their histories and the results have been devastating.
I have often spoken out against fanaticism in my country, for I find it repulsive and unbearable. In government, in settlements, in synagogues, I am passionately against it. I have risked my career and my wellbeing for this belief.Now I see the ugly head of fanaticism, I see it large and horrid......
You know this too, my brothers. You know this ugly monster. You know it is raping your women and raping the minds of your children. You know it is educating to hatred and death. You know it is chauvinistic and violent, greedy and selfish, it feeds on your blood and screams out Allah’s name on vain, it hides like a thief, uses the innocent as human shields, uses your mosques as arsenals, lies and cheats, uses YOU, tortures you, holds you hostage!!I know this is true my brothers!! I know YOU know the truth!!And I know you cannot say it for fear of life so I will say it for you!! I fear nothing!!
I am privileged to live in a democracy where women are not objects but presidents, where a singer can say and do as she pleases! I know you do not have this privilege (yet…but you will, inshallah, you will…)
I know you are SICK of being held hostage by this demon, this ugly beast, not in Gaza, not in Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan, not anywhere!!! You are a people destined to flourish in peace! Your majestic history is overflowing with creativity, literature science and music, endless contributions to humanity, not crippling, torturing fanaticism, yelling Jihad and Shahid! I see you sometimes, out in the streets, demonstrating with the monsters, yelling ‘death to the Jews, death to Israel!! but I don’t believe you! I know where your heart is! It is just where mine is, with my children, with the earth, with the heavens, with music, with HOPE!! You want nothing of this but you have no choice! I see through your veil of fear my brothers, through your burka! I embrace your hopes for they are mine!
My country has made many many mistakes over the years, I have watched it miss so many opportunities, and as a citizen of this country I am the first to admit it and criticize its foolery. I demonstrate, I vote, I speak out, I sing loud and clear.
But, now, today, I know that deep in your hearts YOU WISH for the demise of this beast...........who has terrorized and murdered you, who has turned Gaza into a trash heap of poverty, disease and misery..................
My brothers, I cry for you. I cry for us too, yes, I cry for my fellow countrymen suffering the bombs in the south and north and everywhere, I cry for the kidnapped soldiers and the murdered ones, for their bereft families, for the innocence lost forever, but I cry especially painfully for you for I know your suffering, I feel you, I feel you!!......................And that these killers will find what little compassion may still exist in their hearts and STOP using you and your children as human shields for their cowardice and crimes.
And then… then , maybe, Inshallah, we will again have an opportunity..we will again pick up our broken bodies and souls and walk slowly towards each other, reach out a tired hand, look into eyes filled with tears and with a choked voice say: “Shalom. Salam. Enough. Enough my brother …....
With a broken heart still yearning to love,
Your friend,
Noa
You can see Noa's full letter and more at http://www.ipeace.me/profiles/blogs/a-letter-to-my-palestinian
Noa, is Isreal's most celebrated international singing sensation. She engages her life and her artistic soul to furthering peace through music.
The film "Buddha Wild " also subtly addresses the issue of fantacism in all religions.All religions,faiths suffer this.A monks says" the problem is today people do not follow their religion"
Buddha Wild is also now listed at IPeace at http://www.ipeace.me/profile/buddhawild
