[HANASHIR:11279] Arab Peace Songs

[Rosalie Boxt <cantorboxt...>]

I finally felt I had to weigh in on the discussion of Arab peace songs.  I 
agree with both Judah and Shirona.  While we have to be aware and cannot ignore 
the anti-semitism that is rampant in the Arab world (as well as Europe and 
parts of this country) we also cannot unequivically say that we are aware of 
the entirety of a situation.  

I can't help but think about the one-sided media portrayal in Arab nations, and 
the lack of free and democratic press there.  We may be unaware of Arab songs 
yearning for peace for the same reason -- they are kept underground, or we 
simply are not aware of them.  But just as we all would encourage (and do 
vocally) each other and people of the world to become educated and look more 
deeply into an issue to find "truth" (what ever that is) or minimally more 
information than is presented on the surface, we might be surprised about what 
we discover if we do the same about the Arab community.  This is not to deny 
Shirona's and Sholom's point -- they are accurate.  But one accuracy does not 
deny another reality -- we must search for information that is not easily 
available in order to keep ourselves truly democratic and peace seeking.

This is the only issue I've responded to in the past few weeks, on any list 
discussing Israel, probably because it is less emotional and more easy to 
"bear" and discuss than much else for me.

Praying for peace,
Rosalie
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Rosalie Boxt, Cantor
Temple Emanuel, Kensington, MD
301-942-2000
cantorboxt (at) erols(dot)com