I spent last Wednesday, the first night of Pesach, with my brother's family and friends. It was a quiet seder, with children playing in the background while we retold the story of the exodus from Egypt.
As I listened to and spoke the words calling for freedom for all people, I wondered why Israel, the Jewish state, can't put that prayer into practice when it comes to Palestinians.
The next morning, I read the paper. Suicide bomber, Pesach seder at the Netanya hotel, more people dead. Oh, the irony - killing people in the name of liberation, while they are gathered to celebrate liberation.
A great strategy, if your goal is to get as many Jews as pissed off as you possibly can.
Maybe the suicide bomber actually thought his self-sacrifice might scare the Israeli government into pulling out of the occupied territories. It would obviously have been a misguided belief, but possible. Maybe he was just pissed off enough himself to think it worthwhile to sacrifice his life to get revenge.
So now the Israeli government is pissed off. Well, more pissed off. And they're invading Ramallah and other parts of the occupied territories, killing more Palestinians.
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And clearly that was a great idea, too. It totally stopped two more people from blowing themselves up to kill more Israelis on Sunday.
But logic doesn't seem to have much to do with the cycle of retaliation that has been a constant factor throughout the history of the state of Israel.
In Israel, Jews live with the fear that the next time they go out to eat or get on a bus or walk down the street, a bomb will go off and make it their last. In the occupied territories, Palestinians live with the fear that Israeli soldiers will show up on their doorstep or stray artillery will find its way into their homes.
When people are breathing all that fear in with the air, supporting terrorists or soldiers who happen to be on "our" side doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
Meanwhile, some continue to resist the violence on both sides. The number of refuseniks - Israeli soldiers who refuse to serve in the occupied territories on ethical grounds - is on the rise, up to 383 as of Sunday afternoon. Foreign peace activists in the occupied territories are risking their lives to act as human shields in Palestinian communities and Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah. The Foreign Press Association is protesting Israel's attempt to keep the press out of Ramallah.
One of the earliest things I remember reading in a Haggadah - the book used for Pesach seders - is "None of us are free until we are all free." Even in the heart of fear, some still remember the spirit of the exodus. Some still remember to care for the strangers in our land, because we, too, were once strangers in a foreign land.
Someone was telling me the other day about an interview they saw, done with two random, run of the mill people. One was Israeli. The other was Palestinian. After they were each interviewed separately, they were then brought together and discovered that they got along pretty well and agreed on a number of things. At the end, the interviewer said that if the peace negotiations were left up to these guys, a deal would be hammered out by the end of the week.
Too bad we've got Yasser Arafat, Ariel Sharon and a host of politicians mucking up the process instead.
by Sari Krosinsky
Daily Lobo Columnist
Say something or other to Sari Krosinsky by e-mailing her at michal_kro@hotmail.com.
