BLOG 225 November 19, 2014
A number of interesting insights came across my path this past week that I thought you might find interesting. First, for my Middle-east readers I want to recommend a new book I believe you’ll enjoy. Network of Deception is by one of my favorite authors. Spence E. Moses writes about intrigue and mystery involving one of the recent actual events that could have plunged the world into nuclear chaos. You’ll find the story line spellbinding and a good, fast read. Revell published Network and it’s on the newsstand and in bookstores right now.
That said – let me take you to California. Keeping with my Halloween ritual of visiting grandchildren and watching them trick or treat, I flew out and stopped at the Health Careers Academy High School started by my daughter Traci Miller where she is principal. The Health Careers Academy has been an experiment in taking struggling students and training them to eventually become everything from doctors to nurses to x-ray technicians to you name it.
Traci and I were walking through her school building, inspecting sections where the school had expanded to over 450 students. Traci introduced me to Anna Lisa Butcher, a math teacher. The bright-eyed hard-working teacher had just finished teaching a classroom full of kids. Anna told me she read these weekly blogs and they had helped her understand the Middle-east situation.
“I have two friends — one being Jewish and the other a Palestinian,” Anna explained. “I discovered that they were apprehensive about meeting each other because they both assumed the other would hate them They had political issues.”
I nodded and understood the problem.
Anna continued, “I shared with them some of the explanations that I’ve picked up from your blogs and attempted to help them grasp each other’s perspective. After they admitted their initial apprehensions about each other, I was able to bring them to a new relationship. They actually became friends.”
I thanked Anna for sharing the experience. She had touched one of the objectives of this blog. I hope readers can cut through the propaganda and misreporting to discover underlying themes that could create understanding and improved relationships. Insight may be painful at times, but a more profound grasp of the issues can hopefully bring the world to a higher level of understanding that might result in reconciliation.
Speaking of reconciliation – you may be surprised to learn that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait are discussing a joint military pact to fight Islamic militants. Such a show of solidarity would also counterbalance the influence of Iran. If the coalition comes together, it would be outside the coalition of Western nations that the United States is now promoting. This additional Arab group would be a considerable political and military ingredient in the war on terrorism. Sunni Islamic militants and political movements are increasingly seen by Arabs as a threat to the entire Middle East.
Stay tuned.
Dr. Robert L. Wise 