Working for Peace
Aug. 4th, 2004 04:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakFrom ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wearemany, an encouraging story about the father of Daniel Pearl (the journalist murdered last year) and a Pakistani diplomat working together for interfaith understanding. It reminds me of the late Edward Said's and Daniel Barenboim's "West-Eastern Divan", the orchestra founded for Palestinian and Jewish musicians to play together. (I understand one memorial concert for Edward Said is played in Londo tonight.)
These kind of efforts are often dismissed as quixotic and fruitless, and of course they won't change the world. But they can make a difference to a lot of inviduals, and that makes them heroic in my book. Also, all the people involved - Mr. Pearl coming most glaringly to mind - could have reacted with hatred as many others did, but instead, they did the opposite. Human beings can be incredibly cruel to each other. But stories like this remind me that we're also capable of splendid stuff.
wearemany, an encouraging story about the father of Daniel Pearl (the journalist murdered last year) and a Pakistani diplomat working together for interfaith understanding. It reminds me of the late Edward Said's and Daniel Barenboim's "West-Eastern Divan", the orchestra founded for Palestinian and Jewish musicians to play together. (I understand one memorial concert for Edward Said is played in Londo tonight.) These kind of efforts are often dismissed as quixotic and fruitless, and of course they won't change the world. But they can make a difference to a lot of inviduals, and that makes them heroic in my book. Also, all the people involved - Mr. Pearl coming most glaringly to mind - could have reacted with hatred as many others did, but instead, they did the opposite. Human beings can be incredibly cruel to each other. But stories like this remind me that we're also capable of splendid stuff.
