There is a photograph in The New York Times today (June 19) that breaks
your heart and captures the sadness of the situation in Israel and
Gaza. It shows a young father who was allowed into the Gaza strip
the day before. On the customs counter is a bundle holding the body
of his 4-month-old son, Mahmoud, who had died of heart disease at an
Israel hospital. The father was going home to bury his son. He was one
of the small number of people allowed into Gaza after the terrible
fighting last week between Fatah and Hamas. When will the fighting
end? When will peace ever come to the region? When will things get
better? How terrible to lose a child? How must the father feel?
How sad the mother who must be waiting at home? The indignity of
having to wrap a tiny body in blue plastic in order to transport
him home.
When you lose a child or someone you love, you must
want the whole world to stop and take notice. But life goes on,
fighting goes on, madness and hate go on.
These thoughts are not written to attack Israel or the Palestinians,
they are offered just as a reflection on the sadness of life in
the world we now live in, a world that seems at times dominated by
hate and anger and frustration. As a father, I had hoped I was
bringing my daughter into a world that would improve and become
more wonderful as new discoveries were made to improve life and
health. But, I was mistaken. All I seem to see is a world grown
madder and uncaring. No peace is in sight. My heart aches for
what has happened.
What are your own thoughts?

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