Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

A sign at the Garden Tomb

Today I saw a headline that students at the BYU Jerusalem Center had to take cover in the bomb shelters for protection.  I was heartbroken.  It's hard to take sides in the conflict when I have such a deep love for both people.  The Palestinian Arabs are honestly some of the kindest people I have ever met in my life.  It was rare to walk into one of their shops without being offered tea, coffee, or juice to drink.  However, the Jews were such a strong, powerful, God-fearing people.  I learned so much from their devotion.  How could I not love them too?

Last week, I was at work and I received a notification from CNN telling me that the three missing Jewish teenagers had been found dead.  My heart dropped because I knew that regardless of how tragic these deaths were, there were bound to be more senseless deaths because of this tragedy.  Although Jerusalem is pretty stable for the most part, tiny things can send the city into riots.  When I was in Jerusalem, there were several times that we weren't allowed into certain parts of the city because there were riots, especially around holidays.

I remember one time I went out with a group of people and we wanted to go into the city.  We walked up to one of the gates and the Jewish soldiers told us that it wasn't safe for us in the city that day.  We called the security at the Jerusalem Center to make sure things were ok, and they told us to go to a different area.  About 10 minutes later security called us back and told us to RUN back to the center.  Riots had broken out and the city wasn't safe.  We were under "house arrest" that day, or at least that's what we called it when we weren't allowed to leave the center.

I knew that once the Jewish boys were found that there would be riots at the very least.  True enough, riots broke out, but even worse the bombs started.  Every news story I've read breaks my heart, especially because I don't trust the western media to cover the Palestinian perspective.  I'm certain that what we are seeing in the news is only a portion of what is truly happening over there.  As one of my Palestinian friends and former Relief Society President at the Jerusalem Center wrote "If you don't watch the news you are uninformed.  if you watch the news you are misinformed."

I hate that people are calling the Palestinians Terrorists.  I hate that we don't hear both sides of the story.  I hate that Palestinians are forced to live in the Israeli Occupation.  I hate that I don't have a solution, and it doesn't appear that anyone else does either.  Most of what I hear about the situation is from the Relief Society President.  Today she wrote: 

As a person who was born in Jerusalem and grew up near Bethlehem all my life and as an LDS member of the church this saddens me. I hope some day there will be peace in my country. I assure you that there is no danger for those at the BYU center. Certainly not from terrorists and not missile attacks. This is not a war between two countries, but a war between Israeli soldiers and palestinians who for the most part try to respond to the Israeli attacks on them. I hope though that we are careful about who we call a terrorist. Someone who bombs civilians killing women and children, or a suicide bomber? (Would it help to know that the suicide bomber watched their son killed in front of him and had been tortured and arrested by the Israelis soldiers in the past?) I am not justifying terrorism in any form, but just saying we should look at facts before we take sides.  

I wanted to be a suicide bomber myself. Not because I wanted to hurt someone, but because the Israeli occupation made my life so miserable that I wanted to die. I probably would not have gone through with it, but I am telling you that someone CAN be that desperate. After finding the gospel I was able to forgive and love and find peace. Peace is only possible through the prince of peace, Jesus Christ. We as LDS people must stand for justice. But we must seek to find love for everyone and not judge before we know all facts. I heard an amazing Israeli woman on the news the other day. She lost a son, but said she was only able to forgive when she understood that the Palestinian who killed her son saw his uncle brutally killed in front of him and had two other uncles killed by the Israelis. She spoke of the peace that comes from not being angry and forgiving and letting go. Let us pray for the safety of all people in the holy land.

In the end, all we can do is pray.  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.