Traveling Through Hate

What is it, in a region of the world where people are warm, welcoming, friendly and full of good values built on a foundation of love that causes so much fighting, hatred and violence? Is it religion, politics, money, the simple differences between cultures and social norms or maybe it is because the people here know nothing else. Ask people in each of the different regions, or heck, just ask different people on the same street and they will tell you unlike opinions. As previously stated, I recently had the opportunity to travel through a bit of the Middle East for nearly three weeks. Especially after this journey, it is hard to understand just what makes this region such a hotbed for aggression. I met Jordanians, Palestinians, Israelis, and people from just about every other area of the world who talked about the war, its faults, America’s aid, and hopes for the future.
Every cab driver from Jordan to Syria had their two cents, along with the other passengers we rode with. I feel like in the states, we tend to shy away from casual conversation that could invoke disagreement. Not the case over here. Everyone has their opinion and they seem to be bursting to share it. Outlooks shared ranged from an old man in Israel (which was paraphrased to me by a friend since the discussion took place completely in Hebrew) which was pro-war and complaining about the state of the youth in his country, to a seemingly well-to-do Palestinian passenger in the cab from Jordan to Syria who began by mading good points about the war not being about religion but about power and ownership but later took a turn to explain how Jews are an octopus taking over America. I wish I would have had a recorder in order to better remember all of the opinions shared and conversations had.
One thing I found especially interesting is the fact that most people realize that the people of a region do not make its policies or have a huge impact on the actions of its government. For example they would meet Nate and I, ask where we were from and upon hearing America they would say we like Americans, Bush, no good, but American people not Bush, we like Americans…we heard this more than once. My personal opinion is that most of them like American’s money but that is beside the point. They would acknowledge this for other nationalities as well. And yet there is all of this hostility and hate wandering around. Do governments impose hate upon people? Do the policies, military action and general propaganda inflict these attitudes in the minds of civilians? While people have the ability to discern the difference between a people and its government during a casual cab ride on a Tuesday afternoon, in the heat of anger this discernment is often lost. A person is judged based on his/her ethnicity and placed in a group with everyone else in that country. Violence begins and retaliation ensues. Retaliation. As long as any sort of action happens, there is almost always retaliation which leads to more and more fighting. It is a cycle that, in this day and age, it seems no one is willing to end. As a result, this region of the country is home to wonderful individuals who are full of generosity and loving hearts but it will continue to breed a culture of hate and house a constant showering of rockets until someone can rise up and say enough. It is about power; who can become the most powerful. It is about ownership; who does this land “belong” to. It is about revenge; you killed my family so I must kill yours. Unfortunately, it is hard to say if this conflict will ever be resolved, if these people, my friends, will ever find peace. If they all just took time to meet the people of “the other side” they would see that they are not that different after all.