Meeting to never see each other
Is it really the hat I will feel closure to when I can’t see him? Do we have to continue a fight that has been going on for many years? Why does our generation have to continue a feud which our grandparents started? I am a 15 year old girl, born in Germany with true Aryan blood.
I live in Dubai and go to an amazing school, Dubai American Academy (DAA), that gave me the opportunity to travel to London for a Theater Workshop by an organization called Theatre arts Programme Symposium (TaPS). Schools from all over the world join in this program so it gives us students the chance to meet new people with the same interests as you and work together with more experienced adults who could have a great influence on your future. TaPS was held in London, England this year (2013) and during those three days I met someone from Israel.
This couldn’t probably get any worse. Since he is Israeli, he is not allowed to enter the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and I’m not allowed to go to Israel because I am not allowed to return to the UAE if I get a stamp from Israel. Lucky for me, he doesn’t live in Israel anymore but in Ghana so it is easy for me to visit him without getting banned from the UAE. So the only way we could ever meet is if I would fly to Ghana.
If you are not aware of this conflict, I have summarised it here for you:
The feud started because the Qur’an and the Hebrew Scriptures contradicted each other. The Qur’an stated that Abraham’s son Ishmael, who is represented by the UAE, was almost sacrificed to the Lord, and the Hebrew Scriptures stated that Abraham’s son Isaac, represented by Israel, was sacrificed. As the UAE does not officially recognise Israel, Israeli passport-holders cannot legally enter the UAE. Restrictions were tightened against the entry of Israeli citizens following Mahbouh's assassination in Dubai, blamed on Israeli intelligence. Jews bought land and started building up the Jewish community there. The Zionists were forced to defend themselves and, in one form or another, this same situation continues up to today. But why should this affect the way we see people?
Sure, I'm German. In World War 2 we weren't too nice to the Jews either; but I didn't care when I met him. The countries past should not affect the way we treat others. My generation has nothing to do with what happened in the past. All we know about what happened, we get from secondary sources and we keep reading those until they stick in our minds and we carry this hate to the other country on for years and years to come. But we cannot keep on hating something we have never experienced ourselves, and I do not want a hat to be a reminder of someone I was never allowed to see for 4 years.
I wore the hat to bed, when I woke up, until I went back to bed again. We have to put an end to this feud. We are all just human. What is it good for anyway? Can two middle aged kids change the view of these two countries? Probably not, but it is worth a try.
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It has now been 3 years since we have seen each other. We are so thankful for social media because that is the only thing that is keeping us close. Next year when we are both in University, we can finally see each other again. I don’t think we are the only ones out there, friends who met in a completely random country but could never see each other after that.
This is my first step to a better, more peaceful world. What is yours?
