The reality is that many Jews and Arabs cannot even truthfully utter the words: We desire peace with the other. At that thought, a wave of sadness rushes through my blood. We cannot express the most instinctive and yet most evolved human emotion conceivable, love, for each other. Not every Jew has heard from his or her own lips, the sentiment, "I have love for Arabs." Far from it. Not every Arab can claim to have even once declared, "I have love for Jews." Far from it. We are unable or, more accurately, unwilling to brush away the dirty hatred to uncover the glaring jewel of love that each of us possesses for our fellow human beings, regardless of our superficial distinctions. Every human has a heart and each of our hearts is linked together in an unbreakable bond of love. But most of us choose to ignore our profound sameness with every other person in the world. Instead we are so consumed by self-interest that we fail to feel the slightest bit of empathy for anyone when we should feel empathy for everyone, especially those that wish to do us the most harm. How will we understand our enemies if we do not wish to open our hearts long enough to even listen to him or her? We cannot defeat hate with hate. Only unconditional love can transform the ugly stain of hatred and antipathy into love and respect.
But we must first begin by expressing our desires for peace, love, and understanding before we can ever dream of achieving those lofty precepts.
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