warning for israel and the nations:
peace begins at home
peace begins in our ultimate
home, inside our beautiful brains, with inner peace and self-acceptance.
then we each can try to make
more peace with our partner or our friends.
and we can work for peace in
our communities, and work for more unity within our tribes and nations.
israel, make more peace among
your different political factions before you try to make more peace with your
arab neighbors, for peace begins at home. the governments of your arab
neighbors will need to make more peace and share more power with their own
peoples before they can make a deep and lasting peace with you, for peace begins
at home. know that you will only be able to make a deep and lasting peace with
arab muslins after they reject and forbid the "honor" killings of their closest
female relatives, for peace begins at home. these “honor” killings have been
based on sexual rumors or sexual facts or on refusing to agree to an arranged
marriage. how can a man make peace with his distant cousin if he hasn't yet
made sufficient peace with his sister, mother or daughter? arab muslims will
also need to renounce jihad killings. the "honor" killings psychologically
prepare the way for the jihad killings - one who thinks that under certain
circumstances he has the right to kill his sister or mother or daughter might
then think he has the right to wage jihad on the world.
the arab-israeli conflict is
not mostly about territory; instead it's mostly a religious and cultural and ethnic conflict,
and it’s very much about the treatment of women and the freedom given to women
by different cultures. it is also very much about the hatred for yehudim
(jews) that is sometimes expressed in the koran, the hadith and the sira. there are some
problematic texts in every religion. there are some problematic texts in the
torah, the new testament, the koran, etc. let us talk about the problematic
texts respectfully and peacefully.
arab
muslim brothers and sisters, please reject
and forbid "honor" killings and jihad killings and incitement. you need to and you can find
another way to deal with and heal from the painful and negative emotions that
have led you to this behavior, and when you do you will be a great light to the
world. let jihad become the constructive work that we do on our own selves,
instead of being hatred and violence that we unleash on others, g-d forbid.
we have been living in a
love-starved and touch-starved world. i urge all people in this world to dress
modestly, not to commit adultery, to practice non-violence, and to be kind.