ACCEPTANCE OF THE "OTHER"

We live a world of constant conflict. Much of it is based on religious differences supported by huge amounts of money that in turn bring wealth to the few while the many are killed and dying. Only acceptance of others will bring peace. Sadly, rejection is taught with mothers’ milk.
The Arab-Israeli conflict will never end. All the parties to the conflict never sit at the same table. And, aside from Israel, few of the parties who do sit at the peace table have little power to affect the outcome of their meetings. That is simply because the beneficiaries of the conflict happily support it and see no good reason to end it. Only their wealth will be spilled at the peace table; not their blood.
Israel’s power lies in its ability to say, “Yes.” And the Yes comes because of the benefits it can bring to those who are powerful and control the wealth of the country. Even so, were the decision in the hands of the religious bloc, they and their Arab brethren in war, will operate to destroy peace.
Acceptance of the “Other,” in all its ramifications, cannot be attained through religious teachings, through propaganda of the wealth-controlled media, through the profits of the arms makers and arms merchants, and finally, from the existing political hierarchies that control and are controlled by wealth. Rejection is the password to all peaceful manifestations. The mistrust of the other by the masses, engendered, supported, and educated by the power elites of the warring nations, will continue forever as a “necessity” of national defense, patriotism, and religious purity.
Following that state of affairs, the peace movements serve up the citizenry of their countries as tender food for warlords, enthusiastically waving their banners for peace, marching in peace rallies, occasionally contributing their lives for the cause of peace, always unaware of the legalized power of war-mongers laughing in opposition to their naivete. For they who know, know that if by mistake peace is achieved, it will be short-lived.