Peace in the Middle East. We grew up in the 80’s and 90’s hearing this as everyone’s wish. This may have even been your wish when you blew out your birthday candles. But what were we really wishing for? We didn’t know we just heard the people on the news talk about the fighting and we knew fighting was bad. Maybe some more progressive/conservative schools taught students the nuances of geo politics but my small public school only slightly touched on the subject. Maybe there were some sophisticated 10 year olds’ out there who understood what was happening but I was not one of them.
I believe my generation was probably the most spoiled when it comes to hate and war. We didn’t even have enough sense to hate each other. In fact in my small New Jersey town, we all ate at each others houses, went to each others birthday parties and walked to school together. We didn’t know that our friend Harvey with the pretty curls on each side of his face was anything but our friend.
We then went on to get married and raise our kids the same way. So when it happened we didn’t really know what to tell them.
I remember watching a democratic leaning news agency asking the 2020 republican candidate what he would do if he did not win the election to stay POTUS (President Of The United States). That was the first moment that I, a forty something year old mother of 5, learned that our democracy may actually be fragile. Then that candidate went on to say that he didn’t know what he would do. And he was right. That candidate went on to do everything in his power (and beyond) to stop the peaceful exchange of power from one President to another. This had never been seen in American History. This caused violence and mayhem in America. The two man political parties were/are not getting along nor agreeing on anything and the country is in total chaos. How were we to explain this to our children?
Today, the news is filled with the same stories that I grew up, with except I understand precisely what is going on. I now know why there isn’t peace in the Middle East. In fact the fighting has caused more death in 2023 than in all years past. There isn’t peace in the United States either. There is daily reports of violence, death and destruction.
When a group of people feel that something is being taken from them sometimes some of them want to fight. This is the explanation that the news caster gave when reporting one of the violent acts.
Now today fighting in the Middle East continues for the same reason but it’s not stopping. It’s so bad that here in the US where tensions are already high due to the political unrest. Some of the people from the Two groups that are fighting in the Middle East have supporters here in the US and they are hunting, fighting, bullying and even threatening each other.
Both member states, with two groups, who both feel like they were wronged. They may have two styles of war but the deaths are totaling up all the same.
Both conflicts are basically about greed, grievance, retaliation, survival, determination and the value of life.
Unfortunately, this cycle will continue as long as one group feels it’s ok to take from another group and expect them to just give in freely and that will never happen.
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About The Author: Nefertari Williams is a jewelry maker, activist for women with heart disease and the mother of five beautiful children. She lives in Willingboro, New Jersey. To access additional articles by Nefertari Williams link here: https://tonyward.com/nefertari-williams-my-broken-heart/