The Death of Peace

With all this talk of Sheik Yassin I feel the need to draw attention to the death of a true Martyr.

George Khoury was only twenty. But in his twenty years he managed to be a microcosm of Middle East Peace.

He had friends of every race and religion.

He was a Palestinian, and an Israeli Arab, and a Muslim. Most of all, his family fought for freedom for their people in the most noble way, through civil litigation and peaceful protest in the courts.

George was an example of what Palestine needs. He was rational, free of racism, he took people for who they were as people, not what their bloodline or color indicated.

George is dead today. He died one day before the racist hate leader Yassin, and his death has gone virtually unnoticed. He was slain while jogging in Jerusalem, because Al Aqsa thought he was Jewish. I guess only Jews jog in Jerusalem.

I would trade a thousand Yassins for one George. Unfortunately that is not the way it works. But perhaps I can trade the thousand words I was going to spend rejoicing in the death of Hitler like Yassin, for a few thousand on the glory of an educated boy who was the pinnacle of his people's achievement in this century.

I would like to wish the Khoury family my condolences.

As I have said before, I would wish this for all of Israel.

When people like George die it is very bad for Israel. Moderate rational people are hard to come by in Palestinian leadership. George might have been an educator, a lawyer, or a politician. He was studying law at the time of his assasination. He might have been one of the few men who could have brought peace.

The irony is that the Khoury family patriarch, George's father, spent his life defending Palestinians accused of terrorism. He did this despite the fact that his own father had been killed in a suicide bombing. Today, after the second death caused by racist ignorance his family has had to endure, it has not been asked whether he will defend these men again.

Clearly Israel is attempting to start an all out war on Hamas. Perhaps this type of war will defeat Hamas itself and provide room for rational leaders who really advocate peace. Sadly, George will not be among the new leadership.

When I argue with the few members of my family who do not believe any Palestinians are peaceful, I will always remember George. And despite the fact that my people are being slaughtered, I will always call for the Georges of the world to be protected. I can only hope that the Palestinians are smart enough to leave some people like him alive.