This has reference to “Importance of emotions in the struggle for peace” by Uri Avnery (April 20). Len E. Goodman’s book “Islamic Humanism” starts with the following lines, “Oppression comes from the heart. It begins in fear and loathing of what one finds within, inclinations too frightening to be acknowledged.”
The emotion of fear is the enemy of peace. The psychological fear of the unknown or the psychological insecurity is the ground where fear and suspicion nurture. In a multicultural society, mutual trust is the bond that holds the society together. Politicians and “clergies” sow the seed of mistrust and fan the fear in the society to create some kind of psychological insecurity. Rational voices will be suppressed in the hawkish environment that now exists in Israel and the Palestinian territories. For all human beings, pain and tears are the same, that’s what Uri Aynery witnessed on Israel’s Remembrance Day, sharing and identifying the loss, pain and grief on either side. - A.S. Ansar, Shuqaiq, Jazan
Importance of emotions
