There is only a small minority within the cultures, religions and mindset of every society that wishes to destroy us. Out of all of humanity I believe that number to be about 5%.
However, those who fit into that bracket are sensationalized by the media, who are largely toxic and bottom feeders by nature. They give the murderers the space to grow, like parasites, within the collective imagination, stoking fears and eradicating dreams.
Jordan is a good example of what I mean. I just left Amman and sit on a plane as I write this. Of course, I do not write this on my tablet today as British Airways placed a security embargo on all leaving Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. This meant that in the early hours of the morning, from the Dead Sea, I and those who were traveling with me had to place these items in our checked luggage, for the first time. Security at the airport was extraordinary, right down to the boarding gate, where we were searched again.
Two days ago, a friend emailed me from Tel Aviv. We traveled as a group through Israel with both Jewish and Palestinian guides with National Geographic's G Adventures. I was continuing with a small contingent into Jordan and my friend was to meet us in Petra with another company. The trip was cancelled on the day of her flight for security reasons. On the way to the airport her cab driver told her that Al Quaeda had entered into Jordan and that it was a good thing that she would not be entering. She texted me. By this time, we were leaving Petra and heading towards Wadi Rum, next to the border of Saudi Arabia, to spend some time with the Bedouin in a desert camp.
I knew she was right when I mentioned this to our guide, though he carefully set his features in an attempt to neutralize my query and to calm me, perhaps. I am always calm, so that wasn't a problem. But I am also leaving Jordan (and now sit in London to send this). The majority of the people of that very peaceful, poor country who are trying to get on their feet again financially, are being left behind.
I am not calm for them. I am sad for them. The fact that notices quickly appeared on the website of airlines like British Airlines an hour or so after my friend's text, coupled with our reception at the airport, told me that this threat is real. A friend of mine was traveling with Qatar Air in a transit to Melbourne and on their site it said that all flights to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain had been suspended.
We must all finally stand up and say "enough is enough"! We must recognize our collective humanity, our beauty, our kindness, and I certainly experienced this on my trip, and say to the bullies, "fight if you must, but among yourselves, leave the innocents alone. Eliminate yourself, if you feel the need to. If you hate yourself that much or you are in that much pain.
You are no longer welcome in our world in your current toxic state. May God, however you define God to be, have mercy on you.
However, those who fit into that bracket are sensationalized by the media, who are largely toxic and bottom feeders by nature. They give the murderers the space to grow, like parasites, within the collective imagination, stoking fears and eradicating dreams.
Jordan is a good example of what I mean. I just left Amman and sit on a plane as I write this. Of course, I do not write this on my tablet today as British Airways placed a security embargo on all leaving Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. This meant that in the early hours of the morning, from the Dead Sea, I and those who were traveling with me had to place these items in our checked luggage, for the first time. Security at the airport was extraordinary, right down to the boarding gate, where we were searched again.
Two days ago, a friend emailed me from Tel Aviv. We traveled as a group through Israel with both Jewish and Palestinian guides with National Geographic's G Adventures. I was continuing with a small contingent into Jordan and my friend was to meet us in Petra with another company. The trip was cancelled on the day of her flight for security reasons. On the way to the airport her cab driver told her that Al Quaeda had entered into Jordan and that it was a good thing that she would not be entering. She texted me. By this time, we were leaving Petra and heading towards Wadi Rum, next to the border of Saudi Arabia, to spend some time with the Bedouin in a desert camp.
I knew she was right when I mentioned this to our guide, though he carefully set his features in an attempt to neutralize my query and to calm me, perhaps. I am always calm, so that wasn't a problem. But I am also leaving Jordan (and now sit in London to send this). The majority of the people of that very peaceful, poor country who are trying to get on their feet again financially, are being left behind.
I am not calm for them. I am sad for them. The fact that notices quickly appeared on the website of airlines like British Airlines an hour or so after my friend's text, coupled with our reception at the airport, told me that this threat is real. A friend of mine was traveling with Qatar Air in a transit to Melbourne and on their site it said that all flights to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain had been suspended.
We must all finally stand up and say "enough is enough"! We must recognize our collective humanity, our beauty, our kindness, and I certainly experienced this on my trip, and say to the bullies, "fight if you must, but among yourselves, leave the innocents alone. Eliminate yourself, if you feel the need to. If you hate yourself that much or you are in that much pain.
You are no longer welcome in our world in your current toxic state. May God, however you define God to be, have mercy on you.