Hope out of despair
The past week, from among the fire and the dead and the terror and the missiles, there was a ray of hope, a moment of hope.  One morning, I heard on the radio about a college lecturer in the North who allowed her students, Jewish and Arab girls, to stand for one minute’s tribute to those killed in Gaza and in Israel.  This, I thought, is an example that shows that reality is created of something that reaches beyond anger and pain, that it is possible for Jews and Arabs to stand together, paying tribute to people, to human beings who were hurt because of our bloody conflict.
However, very quickly, from inside the hope, I once again saw the despair.  Immediately after the titles, the newscaster brought the lecturer forward and as is customary in the media – he tried to make a sensation.  He turned to the lecturer aggressively, accusingly: “Is it correct that you allowed the Arab students to stand for one minute in memory of those killed in Gaza?!”, as if at the very least, this was a betrayal of the motherland.  The lecturer did not get nervous, nor did she apologize, but rather explained that this had been a request that had come from the students and she allowed all of them, Jews as well as Arabs, to stop their studies for a minute and not continue their routine as if nothing was happening outside.  However, the impression received in the end was fully in step with the spirit of public discussion these past days:  Gaza’s Palestinians are not victims, they are to blame for what is happening.  Their rockets force us to shoot, and every look aimed at the suffering of the innocents who had the bad luck to be born in Gaza seems to betray the righteousness of our ways and our national strength.  I can’t wait to read the analysis by the Keshev organization with regard to the passionate news coverage of the last few days which will undoubtedly reveal, as it has in the past – on the eve of the Lebanese War and at the beginning of the second Intifada – that the prevailing tone is one of intense passion.  Under such zealous conditions, it is very hard to convince others that there exists a chance for calm, not to mention a chance for peace.

Israeli Politicians Compete: whose threat is bigger?
However, the truth is that it has truly become difficult.  The appalling scenes from the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, the images of destroyed homes in Ashkelon and of families whose world has collapsed around them, those are horrifying and painful scenes that makes the blood boil.    Add to that the threats and statements made by the leadership. I hear all of this and think to myself:  do they really mean what they say? Things in the style of:  “You have to hit the enemy hard”, “For every missile – we’ll destroy a whole neighborhood”, and one of the leaders, Matan Vilnai went one step further and said: “They don’t leave us any choice, they are bringing down a holocaust upon themselves, they will pay for it”.
These are not quotes from the Hamas leadership, unfortunately these are the voices of our leaders.  It seems that Israeli politicians are competing among themselves as to who will be more passionate and who can be more threatening.  Within such an atmosphere, is it any wonder that when one looks at the humanity on the other side, observing one minute of silence for the victims on both sides is considered to be scandalous?
With such harsh speakings, despair rises once again.  However, especially now is the time to pour cold water to douse these fiery flames.  When everyone is busy with revenge and war, it is our duty to make a sensible and clear voice heard and explain over and over again that threats and promises of attacks and blows are not productive in the least, they only increase the anger and the vicious circle of bloodshed.  We must continue to say that the way to putting a halt to terror is through talking and negotiations.  Negotiations with the Hamas to bring about a ceasefire that will finally bring quiet to the south and for the return of Gilad Shalit, and negotiations with chairman Mahmoud Abass for a permanent status agreement that will bring an end to the conflict.  And that is very hard to do.

Despair could give birth To Hope
The morning after the horrifying attack on the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, I was once again faced with despair.  A friend who had accompanied me on a tour in Bethlehem area had to listen the whole time to my sad reflections regarding the difficulties of trying to persuade people, the arguments I run into every time I try to present the complex picture.  It’s hard.
We met a Palestinian friend, a peace activist, who is trying to organize his community towards non-violent activities against occupation.  He was very sad..  “It’s hard” he said to me, in Hebrew and in Arabic.   It is hard to persuade people that there is a chance for a non-violence action, people feel it is useless. The atmosphere is a hard one.  I thought that he would talk about the terrible images from Gaza, and about the suffering of the Palestinians, but he surprised me:  “You know what’s the worst of all?” he asked, and he answered himself: “the pictures last night of children in Gaza rejoicing over the attack, over the attack on innocent people.”
Of course, he knows that not all Palestinians think like that, and that it is enough for one stupid group of children to rejoice and the media will swoop down upon them as if a great treasure has been uncovered.  “But the other children who see them, in Qalqilya, in Bethlehem, in Ramallah, they will think that it’s legitimate, and that’s terrible.”
The encounter with him renewed hope in me:  I know, just as he knows, that beyond the conflict, there are people, people in Sderot, in Ashkelon, in Gaza and in Nablus who simply want to live, nothing more.  There are people on both sides who, despite the anger and the violence, can continue to believe that it is possible to break out of this vicious circle, that it’s possible to live together, Israelis and Palestinians, side by side.
Our sages said:  “Where there are no people, try to be human” (The Tractates, B/E).  If everyone is speaking harshly and being zealous, if it seems that the “consensus” has gone mad – we must try “to be human”, to continue to talk, to convince, even when it is difficult, so that we can be people.