Enemy

We all face problems that aren’t presented to the world every second of the day, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Sometimes these problems can be external and come from others, but is this true?Recently I found out I will be going to Israel-Palestine with the David Project, an organization that has teamed up with Hillel to present the nation to non-Jewish students. This semester I have been taking a course specifically on the conflict and for the most part I’ve been pro-Palestine before I entered the course. However, as the course progressed, we learned about the Israeli-narrative and the Palestinian-narrative.

Regardless of politics, both narratives paint a very similar picture and ultimately they are used as a tactic to legitimize why they deserve to have a nation more than the “other side”. The biggest issue I have with this is pride. There’s nothing wrong with having it, but if it means trying to reduce a nation of people and generalize them, hoping that their nation comes to an end so that your nation can benefit, then there is an issue with pride. If you look at the size of the planet and compare that to the size of humans, I believe that the planet is large enough to foster these two nations.

“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).” (S. 49:13, Surat l-hujarat)

When Gautama Buddha was close to reaching Nirvana under the Bodhi tree his greatest enemy, Mara, attempted to seduce him with his own desires. It did not work and Siddhartha was able to reach his goal, but it was not by overcoming a simple demon, but the demon of temptation, that the Buddha became the Buddha. Mara was not an external force, but his own internal desire.

The true enemy of an individual is not their neighbor;  the true enemy of an individual is the individual. That is who we need to “fix”; ourselves.

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