I’ve been thinking more and more about this. A good friend of mine once told me how sometimes the sheer sincere intentionality of our thoughts can bring about that which we hope for. I like to think that’s true. When we start feeling that our individual efforts don’t matter - that’s when we have a problem.

This is one of the best blog posts I’ve read!

Personally I feel that there is no choice - once you know of the suffering and take it seriously enough to always feel its pain - you cannot turn back.

It is easy for people to forget which is why a passion to end suffering leads to a daily renewal of that commitment. If you really care you will naturally be driven not to forget. If you can switch the TV off and forget then I don’t think you’ve truely sympathised.

Thank you for bookmarking my blog “Israel’s 60th” and I look forward to more of your writing.

Dave

And yes, I’m one of those who can watch the news and not even blink upon hearing that 50 people were swiped in an attack. Sometimes we can’t help becoming desensitized. I think what I was trying to say is that there is some danger to that. I’ll dwell on that some more in another post maybe. One last thing, I agree with you on affecting change within our close environment. But this also makes me think of those who are in desperate need who don’t have people around them to help, especially if you were made aware of their need. I just think that sometimes, you need to determine within yourself the scale and level of involvement that fits your capabilities as a person with knowledge and a conscience. Then you can act accordingly. This might involve many difficult decisions that may remove you from your comfort zone but the outcome will surely be rewarding. If only because you were willing to try.

Dino$, I’m flattered! I’ll write more but my mind is occupied with too many things for me to be coherent. I know why you want to ‘unknow’ many things you know, but I believe everything reveals itself for a reason. It’s how you choose to work with that knowledge that makes a difference. Don’t worry, hun..things will work out in the end.

i personally would like to “unknow many things” many things i thought iwanted to know. Btw i loved what you wrote

” I now live a state of mental intifada, every thought surging up with an urgency to surface against the darkness that threatens to silence it forever.”

wow… ba3dien 3aklik fee intifada walkay! falasteeeniyeh ko7 inti! hehe

WAYn il next post?!?!? yalla write write write

*dino is waiting

I’ve got no qualms with altruism. In fact, I try to be charitable as much as I could. My personal gripe with your original post was when you referred to us not being moved by recurrent images of suffering on TV or otherwise as living a less meaningful life when you, yourself, have pointed out that the TV screen indeed feels like a wall.

I think we’re obliged to do good things whether there’s a pressing motive or not. But again, within the circle of people we can affect, and giving priority to those closer to us.

I believe that Allah shows us things for a reason. in my own microcosm, I have experienced problems with mental health. This makes me feel that I must study psychology and help others in a similiar position, because there is a need and I see it very clearly.

Calf, perhaps the best way to answer your questions is to illustrate through a real-life experience I had recently. I visited a refugee camp last summer for the first time ever in my life - somehow ironic considering I am Palestinian. I simply didn’t know what to expect so I just went expectation-free. What I saw was both jarring and enlightening at once.

I saw people, mostly women and children, living on the fringes of every aspect of life, literally and metaphorically. I saw how a family of 10 lived in a single room with its roof barely holding together. Drugs, destitution, severe depression, striking poverty, and the worst part: absolutely no hope for the future. It put things in perspective for me to say the least because I suddenly felt that the course I need to take in my life will undergo a dramatic change. I’ll explain why in a bit.

Now I know this may seem different from the tragedies taking place everyday everywhere because there are no death tolls so to speak, but it is a tragedy nonetheless. One that has lasted 50+ years and that gets no media coverage whatsoever. I understand your point about empathizing not sympathizing, but I really believe that you have to see it with your own eyes to really believe you need to do something. That glass screen on a TV feels more like a wall.

I used to think one person’s actions can’t possibly make a tangible difference like you said. Until I stood in the home of a woman in that refugee camp and listened to her tell me how she would love her kitchen to be. She lived in a room and a half and she spoke of how she would like a tiny, sunny kitchen to cook for her grandchildren. She wasn’t asking for much, yet I sensed that that sunny kitchen meant the world to her. I’m an architect; a simple contribution on my side could make this woman’s wish a reality.

I saw how these people live. I was made aware of their living conditions. They need help. My question is, do I have a choice in whether I should help them or not? Given my background, education, and skills, am I not in a sense, obliged to help those less privileged than I am?