Friday, July 17, 2009

Memories

This weekend I'll have another opportunity to share about my trip. I love these opportunities, because it causes me to stop and reflect on my trip and go back through pictures and journal entries and remember the people we met, the stories we heard. I love to relive these memories. Visiting families and peace organizations in Jerusalem and the West Bank was such a gift! I will treasure it forever.

Just tonight, looking through pictures, I am saddened once again by the images of soldiers carrying guns, often pointed carelessly in the direction of civilians (in the case of the protest we attended, Palestinian mothers, fathers, and children - all committed to nonviolence, taking a stand against the Separation Barrier that Israel is building in the midst of their community, on their land).

My heart breaks for these young men and women in the "service" of their country - that is, promoting Israel's political agenda and oppressive control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I know that not all of them would choose to be where they are, doing what they're doing. I pray for them - that they will be made free. Free from blind prejudices that are instilled in them from a young age. Free from attitudes of hatred toward fellow humans. Free from the weight of the guns they carry, the responsibility they hold over the lives - or deaths - of innocent people. Free to choose not to participate in the military. Free to choose lives of working for peace instead... true peace, not the illusion of peace that comes when the threat of violence keeps everyone in check.

Maybe they will see hope for such freedom when they talk with visiting peace activists, including Christians, Muslims and Jews. Maybe they will see it when they feel frustrated and empty at the end of an IDF day's work. Surely they'll see it in the nonviolence of the Palestinian people they encounter day after day?











1 comment:

Jacob Mau said...

Good post, Julia. I'm not so great at leaving thoughtful comments. Mostly it's just to say I read this, and I'm glad you're continuing to process your trip and stuff.