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October 13, 2000/14 Tishri 5761, Vol. 53, No.3
Seeds of peaceEditorialSticks and stones can break your bones - and names can surely hurt you.The truth of the childhood rhyme is being borne out in Israel right now as Palestinian youths take to the streets with rocks and as hateful epithets ricochet through the holy city like pebbles in a slingshot. Viewing even a few minutes of Ted Koppel's "Nightline" this week underscored the complexities of the conflict in the Middle East and the deep-seated animosities that propel the continuing violence. Stones can kill; names cut deep. Palestinians are frustrated with a peace process that has delivered too little too late; Israelis are frustrated with a peace process that has conceded too much and demanded too little. A twisted rendition of the Passover refrain "dayenu," enough, echoes through the streets. Enough land, enough concessions, enough risk, cry the Israelis. Not enough land, not enough autonomy, not enough power, respond the Palestinians. The roiling conflict has overtaken the Jewish state and subsumed the Jewish consciousness just as we embrace the New Year 5761. After several painful days, the violence appears to be ebbing. As the holiday of Sukkot beckons, hope glimmers that negotiations will once again resume. Suffused with images of fulfillment, the harvest festival beginning Oct. 14 reminds of the rewards of sowing and reaping - not the bitter gleanings of what sticks and stones have wrought, but a harvest of the bountiful fruits of Israel's labors. It is telling that teenagers on Koppel's stage set wore T-shirts emblazoned with olive branches and the words "Seeds of peace." Even as they spoke wrenchingly of bullets and rocks, of soldiers and snipers, the teens' youthful idealism hinted at the potential for renewal and regeneration and the incipient promise in the seeds of peace. That hope must infuse our words as we speak to our friends and neighbors; and as we write letters to our elected officials and pen op-ed pieces. The prospect of a stable and secure Israel lives; the promise of a better world remains within reach. |
