The Middle East
Every day, as I watch the continued destruction in Beirut, I keep wondering about the how hate like that can be sustained. I don't know as much as I should about the history of the conflict and the reasons that there is so much anger towards Israel, but I can't relate to ongoing hatred, passed on from parents to children without end.

Last night, I watched a show about art history on PBS. There was a study about death and what motivates people to harm those with different beliefs. It proved that when people are forced to think about their own mortality on a daily basis, they are almost always more vindictive and aggresively harmful to people who think differently. And I think that's why I can't understand the war in the Middle East. I rarely need to think about death; mostly I avoid thinking about it at all. When every choice you make is life or death, your enemies must seem much clearer. So maybe forcing representations of the humanity in the apparent enemy is the only solution. There's a program in Israel, like the Boys' and Girls' Club, where Muslim, Christian, and Jewish teens perform community service together. It doesn't seem like education alone can promote peace- there needs to be friendship, and the fear of death needs to end. Which I think would work better than my mom's idea, which is to put all of Israel and Palestine on cruise ships for a month long vacation, while the debris is removed, the bullet holes covered over, the signs of hate removed, and everyone can return to the holy land with great tans and no lines of division:)