The Middle East is celebrating with the West the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazism.

Wars, invasions and reckless military adventures have claimed millions of innocent lives, cost the world billions of dollars and caused misery that make blood turn cold. Peace in Europe has healed physical and psychological wounds, reinforced friendships and promoted prosperity, security and stability.

Let us celebrate this happy occasion by using the power of imagination that God Almighty has blessed us with so we can escape from a sordid reality into a joyful dream.

Imagine the happy life we would enjoy if armies stopped bombarding cities, demolishing homes and killing civilians, and engaged instead in feeding the hungry, nursing the sick and helping the needy as they did when the tsunami hit countries in Asia.

Imagine what the world would be like if soldiers used their energy and their machinery to build homes for the homeless, and if industries that manufacture war machinery produced food, clothing and medicine, instead of mines, smart bombs, conventional and unconventional weapons that kill, blind and maim.

Imagine how much safer we would be if efforts were directed toward stabilizing the Middle East and resolving every conflict before it escalates into a full-fledged war, hard to extinguish.

Imagine how much richer our world and our souls would be if all our resources were put into good use and if the media and the press helped in promoting an education that teaches coexistence, compassion, mercy, love of mankind and love of nature.

Imagine how happy we would be if we were all taught to take pride in our national, cultural and religious identity, while at the same time showing great respect to all faiths and great appreciation of all cultures.

Imagine how much more secure we would be if we engaged in constructive dialogue and in building bridges of understanding and trust, instead of a fence of hatred, suspicion and discrimination.

While the Middle East is celebrating with its Western friends the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II, people are watching a gruesome reality, worthy of a Hollywood horror movie, more scary than any produced so far, differing only in one respect. It has a beginning, a long middle and no end in sight.

The scary beginning started with the destruction of the Twin Towers 11 Sept. 11, 2001, the war on Afghanistan, the search for Bin Laden , the emergence and rise of Al-Qaeda, the bombardment of Tora Bora and Kandahar and the transfer of unknown number of hooded prisoners to Guantanamo and an unofficial, strong campaign by evil spirits to tarnish the image of Islam, portray all Muslims as terrorists and promote a clash of cultures.

Before people had a chance to take a deep breath, the scene suddenly changed and ushered in the sordid middle. Suddenly and unexpectedly, they found themselves in the midst of mayhem beyond all description, where sickening disasters and heavy catastrophes follow one another like rain drops.

In Iraq, Gaza and the West Bank, people have seen bloody assassinations, cruel subjugation, arrests and release of innocent suspects, kidnapping and beheading of hostages, slaughter of innocent civilians, extensive damage to historical cities, physical, moral, psychological and sexual torture, humiliation of male and female prisoners, a barrage of car bombs and suicide bombers, demolished homes, bombarded cities, looted museums, homeless people, dead children in the arm of their dead mothers, burned corpses, smashed skulls, scattered brains, amputated legs , broken arms, wounded babies, orphaned children, wailing widows, moaning widowers, bereaved parents, helpless toddlers gazing in fear and bewilderment.

Not only is the reality people are watching sickening and gruesome. It is also ironical and ambiguous.

In Iraq, Nicola Calipari, the Italian secret agent, who succeeded in securing the freedom of the journalist Giuliana, was shot dead by an American soldier as he and Segrena were heading to the airport.

In Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, a man much loved by his people and much respected in the Arab world and the West, was assassinated on Valentine Day leaving behind a mourning nation. No one knows who assassinated him or why he was assassinated. The perpetrators of the horrific crime may never be known, or may never be brought to justice. The reasons behind the cruel assassination will probably remain forever a mystery.

In Egypt a suicide bomber killed three tourists then killed himself in a Cairo bazaar at the beginning of the month of April. On the last day of the same month a suicide bomber wounded four tourists near the Egyptian museums, while his sister and fiancé shot at a tourist bus in another part of the city.

Soon after, one of the women shot her companion and then shot herself. Both were left dead. The incident sounds like Greek mythology.

Saudi Arabia, one of the safest countries in the world, is not immune. Shooting has occurred in Riyadh and Jeddah. It has even occurred in Makkah, the holiest place on earth for all Muslims!

Enough is enough are the words people in the Middle East have repeated over and over again ...enough hatred, enough injustice, enough bloodshed, enough hostility, enough destruction, enough killing, enough pain, enough sorrow, enough weapons, enough lies, enough invasions, enough corruption, enough conspiracies to set neighbors against each other, enough plots to turn religions into enemies, nations into warring sects and countries into bonfires.

Peace-lovers around the world are calling for a cessation of violence and people in the Middle East are craving for peace. Yet peace will only be possible when justice and truth prevail and the real, not the hypothetical, causes of the mounting cruelty, hatred, terrorism and violence are known.

Peace will be within reach when the devils who hijack religions, exploit poverty and brainwash the credulous are captured and destroyed.

The cradle of three great world religions should be an oasis of peace and justice, not a bastion of violence, hatred and bloodshed. Let us celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II in style. Let us work together to spread love and mercy to all corners of the world.

— Ibtissam Al-Bassam is a former dean of King Fahd Academy in London and a present staff member of UNESCO. The views expressed are hers.