There is no region richer in history and tradition than the Middle East. It is a vibrant terrain where millions of pious Jews, Muslims and Christians flock to practice their religion seeking redemption, forgiveness or fulfillment of a pillar of duties. It has captivated Western historians and archeologists, as well as numerous weapons arms dealers who find that the region of eternal strife and conflict leads to more “dinero" --> money.
You would think that as an Arab I would be more interested to find out what’s going on in Palestine and Israel, I should be fighting to regain the Golan Heights, and securing the southern borders of Lebanon- I should be politically motivated and throw my fist in the air and rush to protest against the red hands of the Zionists whenever I get the chance to- but instead I am apathetic. As a lover of history I should learn more about the complex modern history that has lead to the current dislocations, however, my interest in Middle Eastern history was purely restricted to early civilization- ask me anything about 20th century Middle East and I am as dumb as that Miss Teen USA contestant. Why? Because unsolvable matters that endure the clash of egos and that are confound to early scriptures and religious text simply don’t interest me.
What does interest me is finding a way to coexist.
In my last trip to see my Grandma, I took this photo. I found this single spot- from Baghdad Street in Aleppo (Syria), to, at least architecturally and landscape wise, depict exactly the reasons why I am not a fighter or an extremist or a politician. As utopian as my vision is, I find that juxtaposing the St. George Cathedral with the Tawheed (Oneness) Mosque, symbolizes a harmony and coexistence that could transpire in the Middle East, and indeed all over the world.
Egos too often clash to create differences, and differences lead to debates, debating escalates to arguments and arguments lead to bloodshed. Bloodshed leads to revenge and revenge invigorates fundamentalists. Fundamentalists breed terrorists and terrorists inflict fear, and fear once created is never destroyed. Fear becomes embedded in the DNA of the society, and the poor feed off of it- like hungry birds of prey, and it regenerates into the new generation. This is a vortex that Middle Easterners find no escape from- and haven’t found an escape from since the first historically recorded war which was the Battle of Kadesh (now located in modern day Syria) in 1274 BCE—that was over 3200 years ago!!!
So really who is Celine to make a difference or put an end to the war, if 3000 years couldn’t? And I know as the Arab saying goes “droplets of water could erode a rock” – but our damn rocks are non-erodible! So what else can I offer but a vision, and be in my own life what I believe governments and leaders should be- open, liberal and coexisting. Don’t misunderstand it that we should be spineless and hippy like, we have certain things we should defend, but the defense should be about defending humanity, not territory. It should be about coexisting in a space- not separating. May be we should learn from our Buddhist friends who believe that peace comes from within, not from without- if a man is at peace with himself he will not create calamity around him. Borrowing a quote from Buddha “You should respect each other and refrain from disputes; you should not, like water and oil, repel each other, but should, like milk and water, mingle together.”
You would think that as an Arab I would be more interested to find out what’s going on in Palestine and Israel, I should be fighting to regain the Golan Heights, and securing the southern borders of Lebanon- I should be politically motivated and throw my fist in the air and rush to protest against the red hands of the Zionists whenever I get the chance to- but instead I am apathetic. As a lover of history I should learn more about the complex modern history that has lead to the current dislocations, however, my interest in Middle Eastern history was purely restricted to early civilization- ask me anything about 20th century Middle East and I am as dumb as that Miss Teen USA contestant. Why? Because unsolvable matters that endure the clash of egos and that are confound to early scriptures and religious text simply don’t interest me.
What does interest me is finding a way to coexist.
In my last trip to see my Grandma, I took this photo. I found this single spot- from Baghdad Street in Aleppo (Syria), to, at least architecturally and landscape wise, depict exactly the reasons why I am not a fighter or an extremist or a politician. As utopian as my vision is, I find that juxtaposing the St. George Cathedral with the Tawheed (Oneness) Mosque, symbolizes a harmony and coexistence that could transpire in the Middle East, and indeed all over the world.
Egos too often clash to create differences, and differences lead to debates, debating escalates to arguments and arguments lead to bloodshed. Bloodshed leads to revenge and revenge invigorates fundamentalists. Fundamentalists breed terrorists and terrorists inflict fear, and fear once created is never destroyed. Fear becomes embedded in the DNA of the society, and the poor feed off of it- like hungry birds of prey, and it regenerates into the new generation. This is a vortex that Middle Easterners find no escape from- and haven’t found an escape from since the first historically recorded war which was the Battle of Kadesh (now located in modern day Syria) in 1274 BCE—that was over 3200 years ago!!!
So really who is Celine to make a difference or put an end to the war, if 3000 years couldn’t? And I know as the Arab saying goes “droplets of water could erode a rock” – but our damn rocks are non-erodible! So what else can I offer but a vision, and be in my own life what I believe governments and leaders should be- open, liberal and coexisting. Don’t misunderstand it that we should be spineless and hippy like, we have certain things we should defend, but the defense should be about defending humanity, not territory. It should be about coexisting in a space- not separating. May be we should learn from our Buddhist friends who believe that peace comes from within, not from without- if a man is at peace with himself he will not create calamity around him. Borrowing a quote from Buddha “You should respect each other and refrain from disputes; you should not, like water and oil, repel each other, but should, like milk and water, mingle together.”
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