Our Tears are all the Same

This may come as a surprise to you, Dear Reader (singular), but I’m not exactly a font of knowledge about the Middle East. In fact, my knowledge wouldn’t even fill a thimble.

This also may come as a surprise to you, Dear Reader (still singular… tell a friend about this blog), but I DO know how to read. And I’ve been trying to expand my knowledge of the Middle East conflict, and its history. (I’ve upgraded from thimble to shot glass… and now I need a shot to calm my nerves.)

I found this piece by David Klion and this one from Suzanne Schneider to be quite enlightening. Klion talks about the current Israeli-Palestinian situation and its parallels with 9/11, when America’s blind thirst for “vengeance” led to more senseless suffering.

Suzanne Schneider’s essay is extremely powerful – especially the final two paragraphs:

Nicholas Kristof’s headline from Saturday’s New York Times sums it up:

This probably won’t come as a surprise to you, Dear Reader (still singular… c’mon, just use the “share” link), but I really like music. And I keep replaying a song in my head – a track called “Background Noise” from Irish folk singer Luka Bloom that came out in 1994. Luka was writing about “The Troubles” in Ireland, but the sentiment is universal – and sadly just as applicable today:

You hear the cries of the different sides
The bullet hits again
Take a look in anybody’s eyes
Our tears are all the same
Our tears are all the same…

What the hell do I know –
Crying out for love
What the hell can I do –
Crying out for love
When every single child needs
To hear the voice of love
We all need a new speech –
The words of love