The kindergarten is the crowning jewel of Jerusalem's YMCA. It is comprised of Jewish, Arabic, and Christian kids. The children communicate in a mixture of their various languages, and they play as peacefull (or as naughtily) as all children do. When heads of state and diplomats visit the YMCA, this is the first thing that they are shown.
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At the end of an hour-long lecture, a student asked forum speaker Bernard Sabella (member of Palistinian Parliament and Christian professor at Al Kudz University) what we could do to support Arab-Israeli peace. His response? "Be impartial, and recognize that the futures of both people are dependent on the other. Call for peace. Try to understand the pain of both sides. Maybe get Palestinians and Israelis to know each other better. Support peace and justice. Don't take sides."
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"You've been here for four weeks now, and have you noticed how we're not in a war zone?," journalist Matthew Kalman pointed out. He's right. People here are just living. There are tussles I'm sure, and I realize that the situation in the region is of serious consequence, but there is a whole lot of peace, too. Kalman kept us in stitches telling stories about freckled terrorists singing Punjabi love songs and a man who went from checkpoint to checkpoint doing impersonations of political leaders. I love knowing that humor and comraderie are commonplace even when the papers paint ugly pictures.
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Peace is possible.
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