What I Learned About Peace From a Dancer Friend
Insights on Resilience and Humanity from a Syrian Dancer
Video of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been posted tonight by many brave people who have captured the aftermath of the unprovoked bombing of families in Gaza. Apart from worrying, there are also many comments asking: why Gazans cling to this corner and stay in this place?
Poverty or lack of options may be the main reason, but it occurred to me that a friend of mine who went to a dance program in Turkey at the time told me.
She was my roommate at the time a Syrian, who later lived in Sweden but remained active in public opinion for women’s rights and Syrians. She’s smart and sharp. We talked a lot in that week. It profoundly refreshed my understanding of the world, which I could have never seen, on the whole.
To this day, there are still biological fathers who killed their daughter because she posted a photo with her boyfriend on Instagram, but they were convicted of “honor crime” and sentenced to only one month.
When she ate with us, she would also take photos but never post food to Instagram. When I ask why, she just said “Since Syrian people are hungry.”
I had only heard that it was a very close sense of what the world is like today that we can’t see. It still happens every day.
What was even more impressive, was the confusion similar to today’s comments. We were staying in Cappadocia at that time and the hostel manager’s family happened to be Syrian too — we had a little chat with him when we were on the rooftop together. The butler also came to Cappadocia early because of the war. I was surprised that they both said they love Syria when they’ve managed to get out and live a stable and safe life. They were frustrated that the government cannot or chooses not to protect its people but they still love Syria. When I asked why, they only said, “It’s home.”
I suddenly realized that no matter what happened to the culture of the race, they were just like us at that moment. The people are the same.
They love their homes and their native land.
They want (and a lot of them really just want) three safe and happy meals in a day, one meter of tea.
The grandest basic logic often comes down to the simplest facts. The great conflicts and tragedies of mankind are more perched above it. It may be something that is of interest to a small number of people or it may concern a large number of people, but is not fundamentally logical.
When I was a kid, I liked to use complex logic to analyze things because it felt smart.
I am now much more grateful and appreciative of the things that dancing girls and other equally pure and sincere people have shared with me. I just want to share it with more people.
Human intelligence is great. There are always good people in mankind who are greater.
May mankind be free.