We must be a world of peacemakers
Our most effective diplomats should be sent to Jerusalem to facilitate a two-state solution. Ye-ru-shalayim, a plural-ending Hebrew word that means “the city of peace,” should be the capital of both Palestine and Israel. Israelis and Palestinians are descended from Abraham, the father of the Arab and Jewish nations. They share the same DNA, the same blood as Jesus. They both belong to the same land and should demand and be given parity of esteem.
No country, no race and no religion or sect should be intolerant of any other. Intolerance is a diabolical heresy that dehumanizes the enemy. It supports revenge and supports even crusades that include the slaughter of children. Who said, “What good is it to hate your enemy?” Certainly it is better to be like Christ than to claim to be a Christian. We want peace to produce love including intermarriage. That means that at least one of us will have to be a saint.
Beyond saintly prayer, we must diplomatically demand peace in the troubled marriage between fragile political and religious allies polarized and paralyzed by hatred. War is not affordable. It adds to the cost of health care. Let’s help establish a United Holy Land Peace Academy to mirror and magnify a United States Peace Academy funded by donations. Education will give birth to an enlightened chosen race of Peacemakers who will be called the Children of the Most High God, of Allah, of Elohim.
We can and should stop complaining from now until Christmas, ignore our old and sore knee-locked inflexibility and rise with youthful elegance to join in a resolvent reverberating holiday toast, “To the indisputable benefits to be derived from friendship!”
George E. Bedingfield
Arlington Heights