It’s said, no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. However, this understanding does not apply when the two things are in total opposition and yet both are equally true.
It’s possible to hold the awareness that the Hamas brutal attacks on Israeli settlers and the indiscriminate and unrelenting bombing of Palestinians by the Israeli military are equally barbaric.
Both are true.
This dangerous game of retaliation that has claimed the lives of over 6500 Palestinians including 2700 children does not exist in a vacuum. Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid to reach those in need is not going unnoticed. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is correctly calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.
The reality is that this has happened far too many times in our collective history. This over powering of captive people, this theft of land, and this total inability to seek peaceful resolution has all been done before. And there are countless peoples throughout the world who reckon with the generational traumas of inhuman colonizing.
What we all know is this: Violence begets violence and defiance and resistance are the outcome of reckless power and inhumanity. It’s a cycle that we can no longer afford to give way to.
There are those speaking up for a new approach. Polls indicate two-thirds of United States voters are calling for a ceasefire and thirteen members of Congress introduced a resolution calling for ceasefire “to save Palestinian and Israeli lives”.
More voices are needed. Yes, two horrible things can both be true. But more powerful than these two truths is the greater reality that all human beings want peace. It’s time we work for it.
let kindness win 