I am having trouble making sense of two extraordinary deeds.
In one case (from The Washington Post Nov. 12, ”Life and Hope Flow From Palestinian Boy’s Death”), a 12 year-old child, Ahmed Khatib, was shot twice by Israel soldiers in what the military said ”was a mistake during the heat of street fighting near their house” in Jenin, West Bank in Israel. The boy, who had been holding a toy gun, died two days later in an Israel hospital, and, says the article, ”the Khatibs made the surpising choice of allowing his organs to be harvested for transplant to Israelis.” Six people, including five Israeli Jews, have received the boy’s heart, lungs, liver and kidneys since then. The donation of the boy’s organs was described by the parents as a peace overture. ”My son has died, God rest his soul,” said his father. ”Maybe he can give life to others.”
A few days later a woman was arrested who Jordanian security officials is closely linked to the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and was the fourth bomber, including her husband, in suicide bombing attacks that killed 57 people at hotels in Amman, Jordan, including people attending a wedding party. The 35 year-old woman was shown on TV giving a taped confession and wearing an explosive belt packed with ball bearings. She described how she had tried unsuccessfully to blow herself up. Her brother was said to have been killed last year by American forces in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
How can anyone make sense of all this? The fighting in Israel never seems to stop, although a family tries to find some solace in the terrible tragedy of their child’s death by trying to help the ”enemy” and offering a peace gesture: his organs. In the other situation, a group of Iraqis, so crazed by hatred, takes the lives of innocent people. I read about these developments and feel a sense of hopelessness and wonder how will there ever be peace in the Mideastern part of the world. What will it take to stop people from hating and killing one another? How can we hate one another so?
Can you share your thoughts with me?

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