We are Interconnected: A Call for Compassion
The Young Buddhist Editorial (YBE) expresses its support and compassion for all the lives lost and people impacted by the senseless violence in the Israeli state’s occupation of Palestine. Because the world has allowed this situation to remain unresolved, Palestinian and Israeli people continue to be caught in the crossfire of state-sanctioned violence and acts of terror. However, Palestinians bear the greatest burden as the occupied people whose rights to live according to their own determination remain out of reach. Currently, the Israeli government is forcibly removing Palestinians from their homes despite many knowing no other home than Palestine. Violence and oppression has filled the vacuum of peace and justice.
Religious hate radiates beyond this region and around the world in the form of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. The YBE also rejects this hate and violence in all its forms. Anti-Semitic violence is part of a long global history of Jewish persecution which culminated in their mass genocide during the Holocaust. The trauma of these atrocities extends to the present day, and impacts their lives in ways beyond our understanding.
The lives, histories, and religions of all people residing in the Israel-Palestine region are deeply interconnected and deserve respect and compassion. This compassion is missing from the Israeli government’s treatment of the Palestinian people, and this respect is not found in anti-Semitic or Islamophobic rhetoric.
We see currents of these injustices run through our own national borders and cycle through our own generations. In the United States, people continue to attack or falsely blame Jewish Americans on the basis of their religious identity for Israel’s actions. During World War II, Japanese Americans were pulled from their homes and incarcerated by the U.S. government because of the actions of the Japanese government. Since 9/11, Muslim Americans as well as people who are perceived as Muslims have faced discrimination and are blamed for the actions of extremists on the other side of the world. We must recognize the causes and conditions that lie at the heart of these injustices and stop these cycles of harm.
Buddhism teaches us that when one suffers we all suffer, as we are all interconnected. Buddhism also teaches us to have compassion for all beings. When we lose sight of our interconnectedness, our divided view of the world limits compassion, and our hearts grow hard. Seeing the pain and loss these past weeks, we stand in compassion and solidarity with all those who continue to be impacted by violence and hate. They deserve better from us, our leaders, and the world.
As we learn about these issues, it is important to think critically about each resource as we all hold bias, news sources included. We must be mindful of these different perspectives and the contexts, backgrounds, and agendas that shape them.
The Young Buddhist Editorial (YBE), Social Justice Committee
