These extraordinary places are supposed to mark the spot where divinity touches down on earth, where people feel a special communion with the infinite. But if that communion is used to justify even one killing of another human being, one stoning in anger of another human being, then we submit to you, dear readers, that something very much other than divinity is involved. Every single square inch of planet Earth is holy. This differentiation of sacred from profane, of holy from worthless, allows us to desecrate God s earth, allows us to kill each other over a mound of ancient relics in Jerusalem or dump toxic wastes here at home. Both the Palestinian and Jewish peoples, who share among many things the historical experience of being discarded, roaming peoples, should consider what this means.
Blame can cover up feelings of shame and powerlessness.
In the Jews and Palestinians we have two rejected peoples, two peoples who share the experience of displacement, the history of being not always welcome guests in other countries, and who are determined not to have that experience in the future. We are not innocent bystanders. We have become a cheering section for revenge and recrimination. We can help Israelis and Arabs to break the cycle of insensitivity and arrogance, insecurity and defensiveness. To be proud of one s bloody hands invites this cycle to continue forever.