A Plea for Peace
An open letter from my Israeli Buddhist friend
Keren Arbel is a very good friend. She is an Israeli Buddhist and a long time Buddhist scholar and teacher. She recently posted this open letter on facebook and I believe it is well worth sharing and reading.
The first thought I had when I woke up yesterday morning was “Enough!” This was before I realized that Iran had attacked Israel overnight. Enough of being pawns in a game of political power fueled by hatred, aggression, and violence. The situation here is unbearably hard. The loss, pain, and fear on both sides are immense and beyond words. Yet, we continue to be governed by interests, creeds, and perceptions that perpetuate and feed terror and animosity.
Enough! Let’s choose a different path, one that promotes peace. Because in the end, those who suffer, are injured, and lose are us — the people. I don’t know what making peace will look like or how long it will take to bring about a life of peace and tranquility in this tormented place, nor do I have a plan of action. But I do know that we can choose to walk this path.
The conflict over this land, between the two nations that live here, has been relentless and bloody for many years. It carries a history of trauma on both sides. I hesitate to write more at this moment because our opinions about it rise and make it difficult to be in touch with the deep desire for peace and the understanding that we all yearn for security and lives free from fear. We all want to live a life devoid of violence, aggression, domination, and belligerence. The ongoing tragedy here underscores our critical need for empathy and compassion. It is not a luxury. Only with this intention can a normal life become possible here.
Waking up to news of a war with Iran, a distant country thousands of kilometers away, feels like the worst kind of hallucination. It seems clear to me — and I believe to many — that most Iranian people, like most people in Israel, do not want war. War is a human activity that inflicts so much suffering and misery.
So let’s at least start by saying “Enough!” We — Israelis, Palestinians, and Iranians — do not want war. Let us be a voice that demands an end to the escalation of conflict, war, loss, and pain into more cycles of the same. Let us collectively call for an end to the cycle of enmity, aggression, and violence so that it does not continue to expand. It is wide enough as it is, and it hurts terribly. We have much work here to heal this land.
Let us remember the words of Etty Hillesum, who wrote these words of wisdom amidst the horror of the holocaust and war from Westerbork concentration camp:
“The misery here is quite terrible; and yet, late at night when the day has slunk away into the depths behind me, I often walk with a spring in my step along, and then time and again, it soars straight from my heart — I can’t help it, that’s just the way it is, like some elementary force — the feeling that life is glorious and magnificent, and that one day we shall be building a whole new world. Against every new outrage and every fresh horror, we shall put up one more piece of love and goodness, drawing strength from within ourselves.”
Attached (see above) is a photo of me holding onto a silent plea for peace.
Please make the same plea, print it, take a photo of yourselves holding it, and upload it to Facebook. Share it with Palestinians and Iranians friends who wish to see peace in this troubled region. We don’t have much control these days over the actions of governments, but let’s try to influence with a voice and intention of peace.
Let’s perform this small collective action that might be able to tell the leaders to consider a different path. At least to express such an intention and to seek help from global forces that are willing to assist.
May we all live in security, freedom, and peace.
Keren Arbel
