“Peace is harder to make than war." - YJ Draiman

“Peace is harder to make than war." 

quotes

“Peace is harder to make than war."

If you know how to make peace in your home, with your families (your aunts, your uncles, even distant cousins), and with all of the Jewish people, you will know how to do it with your Arab neighbor. Once we learn peace with each other as Jews we can and will teach it to the rest of the world.

BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS TO PONDER
Question 1: Which peace is more important, inner peace, peace in the home, or peace with enemies?
Question 2: Which kind of war is worse: between enemies or between friends and family?

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.

 

In peace, sons bury their fathers; in war, fathers bury their sons.

 

Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.

Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions by many people in many countries. It is an attitude, a way of life, a way of solving problems and resolving conflicts. It cannot be forced on the smallest nation or enforced by the largest. It cannot ignore our differences or overlook our common interests. It requires us to work and live together.

The definition of peace—tranquility and quiet. I think we take our peace for granted. It is a simple luxury we enjoy for reading, writing, meeting people, discussing ideas and even developing our strategies for helping the poor. Imagine how difficult our work would be in an environment without tranquility and quiet? And then imagine trying to build a future for your family and country without peace. This explains why peace is a foundation of development.

 

Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue; a state of mind; a disposition for benevolence, confidence, and justice.

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.

 

"We must learn to live together as brothers, or we are going to perish together as fools."

"The peace we seek in the world cannot appear until its flame is first lit in our hearts. It is a divine force that whispers gently but insistently, coaxing us ever deeper into the dark recesses of our souls, shedding its healing light and liberating us from our fears. It is a wondrous journey of personal liberation that, for some continues to this day."

 

"Hatred and conflict are often rooted in differences between people of different races and religions. We all need to respect people of different races as well as people of different faiths and religions. We need to unite by recognizing our common desire and need for a harmonious society -- a society in which we and our children and families and friends and communities can all live our lives in peace and harmony. Regardless of our race or religion, we all want and need such social harmony."

"Without respect for people of different races or ethnicities or religions, how can we have a peaceful and harmonious society or world? And without a harmonious society, how can there be the necessary economic development and atmosphere conducive to spiritual happiness and self-realization?"

But now it is time for all of us to show civil courage, in order to pro­claim to our peoples and to others: no more war, no more bloodshed, no more bereavement - peace unto you; shalom, salaam, forever." And then, husky with emotion, "This is the proper place, and the appropriate time, to bring back to memory the song and the prayer of thanksgiving I learned as a child in the home of my father and mother, that doesn't exist anymore because they were among the six million people - men, women and children - who sanctified the Lord's name with their sacred blood which reddened the rivers of Europe from the Rhine to the Dan­ube, from the Bug to the Volga, because -only because -they were born Jews; and because they didn't have a country of their own, nor a valiant Jewish army to defend them; and because nobody - nobody - came to their rescue, although they cried out 'Save us! Save us!' deprofundis, from the depths of the pit and agony: that is the Song of Degrees written two millennia and five hundred years ago when our forefathers returned from their first exile to Jerusalem, to Zion."

 

"Peace is the beauty of life," sentimentalized. "It is sunshine. It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togeth­erness of a family. It is the advancement of man, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth."

 

"How is it that half a billion hostile Arabs have managed to successfully portray themselves as the victims of five million Israeli Jews? . . . . . How did more than a dozen Arab tyrannies successfully portray Israel, the region's lone democracy, as the bad guys in the Middle East? . . . . What Israel has failed at utterly is framing the conflict with the Palestinians in moral terms. This is not a dispute over land. Rather it is a conflict between good and evil . . . . . . . Whatever grievances the Palestinians claim to have against Israel, choosing to settle them by maiming and murdering innocent men, women and children is a crime against God and a sin against humanity. The Jews were put into ghettos and turned into piles of ashes by the Nazis. But they never retaliated by machine-gunning German schoolgirls. . . . . "