Let’s think about this together. One might say there is the Old Conversation or the old way of looking at war and peace and now there is a New Conversation. The old way of thinking says “War will always be with us” and “There is nothing we can do to change the violence in the world.” It says, “We must defend ourselves from attack,” and, “You have to retaliate for attack or you look like a wimp.” You can go on and on with these examples. We all know this rhetoric. We all grew up on it, and not just Americans. It is a world-wide conversationand it’s thousands of years old.

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There is a universal longing for peace and yet we never seem to achieve it despite our longings and good intentions. We are pervaded with cynicism and a deep-seated belief that war will always be with us because, well, “that’s just how humans are.” The intention of this blog is to start a new and very different conversation: that peace is possible if we say we want it, and if we are committed to creating it so it thrives on the planet. We can design and live into the kind of world we want to inhabit. This blog is about inquiring deeply into all our conversations from the past, exploring what keeps us in a violence-filled world, the costs of living in such a world and what it would take for us to deliberately create a world which works for every one, not just for a select few. A second intention of this blog is to create a community of readers who see the possibility in the ideas presented here and who will take hold of this new idea about creating peace intentionally on the planet. Toward that end, I am strongly encouraging readers to comment on posts and to interact with me, guest bloggers and with each other.

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 Why Israel Feels Threatened In a powerful Op-Ed piece in the NYT, Benny Morris does a wonderful job of describing the vulnerability and fear that Israelis feel in their 60 year old state.   Morris’s article helped me to own up to my arrogance in the blog I wrote about Israel’s victimization. Recognizing My Own Arrogance Towards Israel I indulged in talking down to the state of Israel like a child.  In truth, I am yearning desperately for the killing on both sides to stop.   I directed my remarks to Israel, rather than to Hamas, because I see Israelis as having more capacity to effect change in this situation. These opponents are not evenly matched.  The majority of Palestinians in Gaza are starving!  Perhaps I underestimate the power of Hamas to make rational choices in the current circumstances.  A Fight Over Human Feelings and Needs The key word in Morris’s column is feels.  Israel has the 5th largest Army in the world.  Two peoples are fighting over feelings and perceptions. These needs are so important to Jews and Palestinians they are willing to die for them, and yet they are so passionate they are unable to communicate the depth of their importance to the other side with any coherence.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Interpretations of What the Trauma Meant Fuels Violence Both peoples hold themselves as victims.  Both were hurt by traumas in the past. Those hurts are held in several ways: physical wounds, emotional experiences, but most importantly, in interpretations (i.e.

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We live in a world with a tremendous amount of violence and suffering, much of it brought on by human beings themselves. And yet, with so much grief, loss and pain, caused by our own actions, it seems we human beings have not learned much in the past several thousand years. Yes, we have made amazing advances in technology and health care, gone to the moon and back, but we are still killing and murdering our fellow beings with a ferocity and cunning that is chilling. We could be having such a different experience of being alive. This planet is breathtaking in its beauty and human beings are capable of acts of grace, generosity and wonder. Why don’t we love each other more and hurt each other less?

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