Awareness Day- Bearing witness day
On November 11th, about 15 Israelis from all over Israel and one Vietnamese Zen teacher gathered to come and hear from the people living on the other side of the fence, in the occupied territories.
We met two young men who lived in a small, quiet village in the heart of the mountains and heard about their lives, how much they loved life, cared about the earth and about humanity. Despite difficulties in their lives, their hearts are not bitter and full of hatred. They just want to continue living well. In another village, we had lunch and heard the life story of an older man. He experience in his life few demolitions. As a child he suffered greatly from repeated uprooting and episodes of violence in all its forms. The hardships he described led many of us to tears and feelings of suffocation.
We then went to another village in the heart of the mountains and sat in a welcoming home. Two young family members opened their hearts to us and to life. They spoke of their desire to live in peace with their neighbors and to get know them.
These experiences shook up some of our group, but there was also something balanced about the possibility of containing both sides of the equation without deciding which side was right.
In the evening, one of the young men called me and told me how excited he was that members of our group listened to him. That was very meaningful to himThey all received flower plants gift, and after a week, I visited the flower and the people who blossomed in their hearts.
A few days later, a friend who joined me, summed up his experience with these words:
"Yesterday I submitted myself to the kind leadership and hosting of a friend, and had a wonderful day in many ways. Two moments out of thousands: 1:30 pm - making funny faces with 3 children in a tiny ( remove “cute” is a bit demeaning) village and then discussing comic books with their older brother.1 pm - playing domino with 5 children in a tiny village and then playing hand games with their little sister. All children were huge and gorgeous souls with beautiful windows of eyes. Some are defined by some adults as Palestinians, some as Jews, some as settlers, some as Muslims, some as Israelis, some as illegal, some as traitors...But I saw neighbors, huge and gorgeous souls with beautiful windows of eyes, souls and eyes so powerful I had to look away after a few seconds. Thank you my friend, thank you kids."
Positive reality
In the last episode of the movie "Life of Brian" when all the members of the group were crucified, they started to sing while on the cross "Always look on the bright side of life ..."
I recently received criticism that I present an optimistic reality when it is not. So, indeed, my friend was right. This is deliberate and selective. I have done this in order to provide some balance to the other stories that color our consciousness towards the "dark side of life". Therefore, while I cannot hide the evil in the world, I wish to bring some sense of balance where we can see that within our complex reality there are moments of happiness, of togetherness, of hope and of a caring humanity.
May these moments grow into hours, days to weeks and a lifetime, where a variety people of all colors, ethnicities, and religions can live in peace and freedom.
As always, I am leaving you now with an open invitation to join me and if you would like to support me in my ongoing building up relationships, I will appreciate it a lot.
With love
Eyal
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