Little one looks at
me, clutching her mother’s hand.
She knows I don’t belong
in her village.
Does she know I am a Jew?
I don't know.
Something in my
clothes or possibly the way I was standing declares to her that I do not
belong.
She doesn’t know if
this is good, bad or indifferent.
Her family knows I
am a Jew. They say nothing. It wouldn’t be polite. Obviously, someone had
invited me, there is no way that I would be at the wedding by accident. I
wasn't bothering them so it was not necessary to acknowledge me.
Little one stared.
She couldn't help herself and no one told her not to.
Hesitation in her
eyes it seems she is considering, "Is this lady nice? Can we be
friends?" I smiled at her and her smile grew in return. Not a full smile
but a half smile, as if hoping but unsure.
When she grows
older, will she learn to hate me?
Will her parents teach
her to be a proud Israeli-Arab-Muslim?
Or will they teach her that she is a victim ‘Palestinian’? That she can only attain pride when the Jews are gone?
The eyes of
this little one speak of potential. I look at her and see both the possibility
of greatness and, the flipside, the potential for nothingness, stagnation,
anger and hate.
It all depends
on what she is taught.
You have to
be taught to hate. Preferably before you are six, or seven or eight.
It doesn’t come naturally, you have to be carefully taught.
“What do you want to be little one? A doctor? A lawyer? A scientist? An artist? You can be anything you want, if you work hard enough and take advantage of the opportunities this country, your country, Israel offers you.”
“Freedom and
opportunity are yours by right of birth in this unique land. Grasp it and use
it! It is your choice, what do you want? To grow or to stagnate? To achieve or
complain? Walk in gratitude or anger? Do you realize that you are blessed
beyond the wildest dreams of anyone in our neighboring countries and most
places around the world?”
“And your
neighbors? We can live side by side, little one. Maybe, one day, I can come celebrate your
wedding too.”
That is the
truth, but is that what she will be taught? I don’t know. What I know is that
those who choose what to teach this little one shape not only her future but mine
as well.