Polar Opposite Days in Greece

Today and Yesterday might have been the two most opposite days that I have had on this trip.

Yesterday, I spent the morning in the ancient agora here in Athens, then I had free time in the old city. We knew that protests were scheduled to happen, and we knew where they were scheduled to happen. So, at the beginning of free time, a few of us decided to go and see what the protests were like. However, we quickly realized as we approached Syntagma Square, that it was no a protest we were going to see, it was a riot. Two blocks away from the square, the atmosphere changed from a normal Euro-urban street to something I don't know how to describe. The first thing that I noticed was that almost everyone had what looked to be white face paint and some sort of gas mask on. The next thing I noticed as we approached the square was that the air smelled funny. Then my nose began to burn a little and my eye watered. Tear gas had more or less filled the air of the entire square. The next thing I noticed was the smoke billowing up at different points around the square. Seems as if people had decided that fire was a good way to protest. Then I saw the protesters. They all had decided that throwing things at the police would get the attention of the parliament. In the same way, the police had decided that tear gas was a good way to calm the crowd. Neither of these things helped. As I was watching all of these things going on, I could tell that one of the girls in the group that was there was a little skiddish and didn't want to be there anymore. Then a tear gas canister exploded across the square and she turned white and turned right around and almost ran away. That is when we decided to leave. We wandered for a bit, and eventually I hooked up with another group heading down to the riot. We can from the same direction, and this time, things looked worse. The police had formed a wall right near where I had been standing before. So I stood a little further back. The riot police were assembling in a building close by. Rioters had set fire to bag of garbage in the middle of the intersection I was at. Tear gas canisters went off again. This time, not right across the square, but 20 yards away. It seems that the police had thrown them into the crowd, and someone in the crowd had kicked it back at them. The girls again flitted about a block away. I stayed for a few more minutes with 3 of the other guys. It was at this point, that I began to talk to one of the protestors. He explained to me the situation. He and other nonviolent protestors didn't want this bill to pass in Parliament. He wanted the country to declare bankruptcy and just start anew. The bill was planned to be voted on on Wednesday. He told me that a bulk of the people protesting did not want violence, just to be heard. He also said that most of the people in the square were not part of the political activists, but that they were just anarchists. So the fight was between 3 groups. The Police vs. All Protestors, and Activists Vs. Anarchists. It seemed to be an interesting dynamic. After talking with him, more tear gas went off, and the police holding the line seemed to slowly moving backwards. And indeed, they were. So, the riot police assembled across the street from me, and began to move up to support the police. At this point, the crowd around us began to boo and I decided to remove my self from the area.

In a polar opposite day, Today we went to the Special Olympics. It was SO MUCH FUN! I saw several events, including power lifting, swimming, basketball, and volleyball. AMAZING! For the most part, the fans there were family members or close friends. So, being one of 50 college students walking around and cheering on the teams was a distinct privilege. The athletes seemed to love it almost as much as we did. The amazing emotion of the events was what impressed me the most. The passion and the hard work was obviously there on every single athletes face. The love for all and not just the love for their own, was on the faces of each of the fans. It was truly a pinnacle of human kindness. Almost heaven on earth. I am pretty sure that Jesus would support the special olympics.

These two days were incredibly insightful in terms of a Christian and Psychological aspect. In these two days, I have seen the depth of human fallenness, and the ability of humanity to love. People often use the problem of pain and suffering as an argument against God. They say that God cannot exist because of pain, and that if He does, they want nothing to do with Him. However, the problem in their thinking, is that they believe that man is inherently good. We have no sin nature, according to them. But, I believe that we do have a sin nature. And, I believe the thing that is more important is that we as humans are capable of loving on another, exactly like Jesus said. He wasn't just talking about abstract ideals. He was giving an actual picture of what it will take from us as humans to see the Kingdom of God. Imagine what else Jesus had in mind. Given your cloak away lately? Just a thought...

Greco-Roman World Pt. 2

So I realize that I didn't get anything in the last post about how the Greco-Roman world affected the spread of the gospel. Well, I the last week has been tough in terms of getting a holistic view of this place/culture and how it relates to how I read the New Testament. We have seen some sights, like the ancient sight of Olympia (birth place of the Olympics). We have seen many Roman forums. We have seen Byzantine churches galore. But it hasn't clicked like it did in Jerusalem. It could be because I am tired. It could be because our tour guide, while great, is no Paul Wright (our professor in Israel). It could be that sights are so far spread apart that our time at each place is decreased. It could be that there are just less sights. Or it could be all of these things combined. No matter what, the fact is, this part of the trip is much harder academically. I feel like I went from doing a 1,000 piece puzzle in Jerusalem to a 10,000 piece puzzle in the ancient Greco-Roman world. So, what has stuck out to me during this part?

1.) Paul had to deal with Zeus. Well, not only Zeus, but all of the Greek gods. And not just all of them, but the whole mythology and religion surrounding them. I never really realized this. I have read Acts countless times. And I have read how the Ephesian metal workers wanted Paul out because their sales of Artemis statues was going down. However, I never realized that Artemis was the twin of Apollo, and a daughter a Zeus. If that is something commonly known, I have been in the dark for a long time. I saw a similar thing in Corinth. I knew that the people in Corinth struggled with sexual immorality. But why was this? Why did they struggle with this more than any of the other cities? Well, in the city of Corinth, there are 2 temples. One to the healing God. Here, people would place clay replicas of their body part that was plagued. Many different replicas of male and female sexual organs were found. Apparently this city was struggling with STD's. The second temple was a temple to Aphrodite. The Greek goddess of love and beauty. This temple was said to have over 1,000 temple prostitutes. Of course STD's would be a problem. Living in this culture, where sex was just a part of life, it is very easy to understand why the people of Corinth were struggling. There have been other interactions with the greek mythology that we have seen. But some of them relate to the greater subject of greek culture and the NT.

2.) Paul had to deal with the very very VERY different greek culture. Not only that, he was still dealing with the jewish culture, and was probably dealing with an combination of the two. He came from Tarsus, but also spent time in Jerusalem. He was probably comfortable in this situation, much more comfortable than that back country fisherman named Peter. In Jerusalem, the culture was based around the Pentateuch. It revolved around following the law of Moses. This was a very conservative, eastern culture. Greece however, was known as the birthplace of culture. Much more of an Ancient day New York, London, or Paris. Here, the people were open and welcoming to different perspectives. They were every changing. For example, their art became more and more realistic, and the styles of vases or patterns changed with the times. Comparatively, the art in Jerusalem was only ever patterns, and rarely changed. Israel was focused on living simply and praising and worshiping God by following the law. Similarly, the Greeks worshipped their gods. However, the methods were very different. They built buildings that housed shields, swords, statues, and figurines of animals. They used all these to show their devotion to their gods. In addition to this, they competed to win honor for their gods. This was the origin of the Olympics. They were played for individuals to honor Zeus. It was into this ever changing culture that Paul carried the Gospel.

(It kinda reminds me of what YHM does today. We take this Good News that applies to our worldview, and heads into a post-modern culture. Sometimes what we have to say is radical and unheard of to those in this post modern society..... plenty to say here, maybe another time though.)

These were the two main observations that I made. More to come when I get a chance to process this all.

Enter the Greco-Roman World

My journeys thus far have focused on things anywhere from 3000-4000 years old. Ancient sites, where mankind has deemed particular places as valuable living space. I have seen ancient houses on this sides of hills, I've trekked through tunnels built nearly 1500 years before Jesus walked the planet, I've swam in water that was once walked upon.

With all the focus on ancient things, I began to lose sight of the modern day world. I had a disconnect from the sights of Abraham, Joshua, King David, Herod the Great, and Jesus and Powell, Ohio or Wheaton, Illinois. How could I relate to events of all the archeological and geographical places to my life as a suburban student in the "New World"? Is the Jesus who I have been following this entire time, the real Jesus? Or is He a product of veggietales and sunday school stories? Did Jesus have heros?

All these questions swirl about in my mind, and I don't have answers for many of them. I have thoughts, I have the beginnings of answers, but to say I have answers already would only hinder the growth I can undergo in seeking out the truth.

As per the disconnect between what I saw in Israel and the life I live, the picture is beginning to become a little more clear. I tend to focus on the big picture things in life. (Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a detail oriented person.) So, as I traveled through Israel, I was looking for the big story. The grand narrative of the Bible. I saw a little bit of everything from Abraham to Jesus.

We ended our time at a cute little site where some people believe the resurrection took place. I have my doubts, but nevertheless, we ended focusing on the phrase "He is not here, He Is Risen!" Which is the crux of the Christian message. Without the Resurrection, we lose. Game over. But, He was raised. He ascended to the right hand of the father, and will return at the end of the age. Sounds like a great stopping place right? Sums everything up in a nice neat package.

But, the ascension of Christ was not the end of the story. We see this clearly in the first chapter of Acts. Acts 1:9, (when Jesus is taken out of the sight of the disciples on the Mt. of Olives) is not where the Bible ends. Acts 1:10 is a verse that I have come to love.

Much as Genesis 12 is a turning point for the Old Testament, Acts 1:10-12 is a turning point of the New Testament. The verse says, "They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city." I imagine 12 grown bearded men, standing on the Mt. of Olives, outside Jerusalem, looking up into the clouds with utter bewilderment. Maybe they were wondering where He was going to come down, maybe they were hoping it wouldn't be on top of their heads. Anyway, the angels come and tell them, He's gone to heaven. So, these 12 men have a choice. What next? Back to fishing? Or, do we really believe?

Side note: The road they were on is called the Ascent of Adumim. It is the natural route between Jerusalem and Jericho. From Jericho, the rift valley leads right up back up to the Sea of Galilee. These men would have associated this road with the start of going home, much like I associate Chicago Traffic with my returning home. They could have easily turned around, picked up their nets a week later, and been back to the normal, comfortable life. But they didn't.

The men made a choice; the verse tells us that they went into Jerusalem, about a Shabbat's days travel (Not far at all... like maybe a half mile.) They decided to heed the call Jesus gave them to spread the gospel unto all the nations. He called some of them to move out of their comfort zones (see earlier post on Peter), he called some of them to meet people in their back yards. He called one man (who my next several posts will focus on) as he was walking from Jerusalem to Damascus to persecute the early church. He called most to sacrifice, even a sacrifice of life.

It is within this call that I have realized two things. One, I have realized the connection of the time in Israel with the Turkey/Greece/Rome part. Now that I have the base of knowing and understanding the things that went on in Israel, I can better understand the events and places here. I have to know the message before understanding the movement.

Secondly, these verses have given me a clear connection from what I have been seeing and learning here to my life back in Powell and Wheaton. As most people know, I am involved in the Youth Hostel Ministry back at Wheaton. I participated last summer, spent the year working on cabinet, and now am the Chair of the ministry. I feel called to be outside of my comfort zone, to reside with people who think differently than me. I feel called to tell them about Jesus. Just like the 12 made the choice to return to Jerusalem, I have made a choice as well.

The grand narrative has started to take form. It has become person.

Fun stuff...

Transition Period

Well, I find myself at a similar place to my favorite college team. I am in a time of turmoil and transition. A time of trying to figure out what is going on. We left the country of Israel on Saturday. This is the biggest transition of the Holy Lands program. For the first three weeks, I have been inundated with information. I have had solid tests to gauge the degree to which I was absorbing the vast amounts of people, places, and events. All three given by a brilliant professor who made everything extremely interesting. Here in Istanbul, we have seen some of the most amazing sights in the world (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Ephesus' Amphitheater, ect.) and yet all I feel like I haven't learned one thing. Most of this is probably because our tour guide, Oz, as knowledgeable as he might be, is straight up boring. He seems to rush us through sights and not allow us to absorb the surroundings or understand how the sight flows. We push fast all day... but still I am left wondering what we saw. I could write pages on every sight we saw during our 3 weeks in Israel. I don't know if I could write a substantive page on our 2 days here in Turkey. Tour guides make all the difference apparently. Life will go on though. On the bright side, my only assignment for the next 3 weeks is a paper on what the church today could take from the church of Ancient Turkey, Greece, and Rome. I will probably end up talking about the value of Tradition, which is often overlooked or misrepresented in protestant circles. I will also talk about the need to constantly be learning from those who witnessed the work of Christ... i.e. the Apostles and those who wrote the New Testament. I hope that I get more information to talk about over the next few weeks. Otherwise, this second half of the trip would merely be a vacation.... which as nice as that would be, is not my goal for this excursion. I hope i gain some greater insight on the New Testament, particularly the Epistles in this second half of the trip, much like I did for the Old Testament and Gospels on the first half.

A Few Photo's

So, one thing my blog has been missing is beautiful photos from my travels. The reasons behind this are two fold. First, I can't take beautiful photos (nor do I want to, I am content with close up face shots. Just Kidding!) Secondly, I forgot my camera cord back in Columbus. Bummer. Well, I uploaded photos from the entirety of my past 2 and a half weeks, and here are some of

my favorites in No Particular Order:

Dome of the Rock

Typical... Lots of Stairs

Class in the Desert

David Vs. Goliath

Welcome to Israel- We Love our Flag

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Old City Jerusalem

Hezekiah's Tunnel-Real Small, Real Fun

Paul and I with Western Wall and Dome of the Rock in the Back

Class in a Roman Amphitheater in Caesarea Maritime

Jesus and Peter

My favorite moment of today, was probably at the place where Jesus asked Peter 3 times "Do you love me?" I was reading the passage, and Jesus responds to Peter every time with "Then feed my sheep." In the past, that hasn't really struck me as anything more than Jesus teaching Peter a lesson, or something of the sort. However, today a few things struck me about this particular passage. First off, when Jesus first calls Peter, the way He phrases the work Peter has to do is "be a fisher of men". This would be language that would be enticing to Peter, who was by trade a fisherman. So, why would Christ change the language? Several things could explain this. First, maybe Peter has become accustom to the life of a Shepherd in the past 3 years of hanging out with Jesus. Problem. Jesus was a carpenter and not a shepherd by trade. (Side note, carpenter does not just mean wood worker, it means he was a builder and used all kinds of materials, whatever the local stuff was.) So why would Jesus use a shepherd term? The land for shepherding is far from the land of fishing. I think it is two fold.

First, our professor made a good point. While fishing, the main goal is to catch fish and kill them to provide food. The goal of a shepherd is to keep his sheep alive. What Jesus is doing (among other more blatant things) is showing Peter his new role. Peter's main role has gone from being an Evangelist Preacher (getting folks to die to themselves) to a Care Preacher (keeping his congregation alive and well). This doesn't seem to mean that Peter is supposed to stop evangelizing. He in fact continues to do this throughout Acts. It simply means that his main job has changed.

Secondly, this could be a call from Jesus for Peter to prepare himself to leave his comfort zone. Peter had grown up around Galilee and was familiar with fishing. So equating following Christ with fishing helped Peter adjust to his role as a disciple. Not only that, but the area in which Peter was being a "Fisher of Men" was mainly in the North, and in fact was mostly around the lake where He grew up. This lake was mixed cultures of Jewish and Roman. Peter was used to the climate and Jesus was face of the movement called "The Way". But now, Christ was preparing to leave. This means 2 things for Peter. First, he will need to step up to be a leader. Maybe, he needs to reign in his impulsivity a bit. But the greater lesson is that Peter needs to prepare himself to leave the comfort of his own home. He needs to prepare to step out of the things he is used to (Galilee, the sea, the culture, the political climate, family and friends always by his side) and step into territory that is different and uncomfortable (Leadership, jail, Jerusalem, other cities, Rome, and even death). Christ is subtly telling Peter to step out of what is today called the "comfort zone".

Just a thought.

The Climax of Our Time in Israel

So, for the past 4 days, we have be "Working up to the Climax of our 3 weeks here in Israel" according the Paul Wright. (Paul is the President of the Institution here in Israel, and he is our Professor and personal tour guide. The man is Superman with an amazing knowledge of the land of Israel and the Bible). We spent our time in the north.

The First Day, we looked at approaches to Galilee. First, we went to Caesarea, an ancient city on the Northwest coast of Israel. This city was straight up Roman. It had theaters, a hippodrome (place where they could have chariot races or fight gladiators), Aquaducts, a Sea Palace (For Herod), and a Prison. Incidentally, in the 1st century, this prison held a jewish man from a place called Tarsus (in Modern-day Turkey). Apparently, he was going around to cities and stirring up a group of people who followed Jesus. Once he was put on trial, this man revealed that he had roman citizenship and was promptly shipped off to Rome. His boat crashed and he kept on preaching about Jesus. Later that day, we went to Mt. Carmel, Meggido, and other sights in the Jezreel valley. We spent the night in a Hotel overlooking Nazareth.

The second day, we continued from our resting spot, to a first century Roman settlement, which I can't remember the name of right now. The one with the Mona Lisa mosaic.... ZIPPORI! I remembered. We continued and looked over Nazareth, and eventually moved to the Cliffs of Arbel. From here, we could see the entirety of the Sea of Galilee. We climbed down these cliffs (actually literally climbing at parts), and ended the day south of the Sea at a Roman Settlement called Beth-Shean. This place was huge, and very VERY Roman. Corinthian Columns and everything. (As you can probably tell, we focused on the Helenization of Galilee for the first few days). We ended the day, staying at basically a resort right on the Sea of Galilee. We saw, ate dinner, watched the sunset over the Sea, and swam some more.

The Third day, we traveled north. (Just a note. The night before, some Syrian protesters decided to try and cross Israel's boarder. This happened up on the Golan Heights... which is where we ended up for the afternoon on the Third day. We went through an impromptu check-point, and overall didn't feel very threatened.) We say places like Hazor (the head of all the cities in the North), Caesarea Philipi (where Christ asked the Disciples who they thought he was), and saw from a mountain the place where that guy that I talked about earlier (the one in the roman prison, and ship wreck) would have been heading to Damascus to persecute Christians (the people who he would eventually come to lead and instruct) and would encounter Jesus. This day, my foot hurt the entire day. I'm not sure what happened to it. I woke up in the morning and the entire right side of my right foot hurt when I walked. (Yes dad, I know... just walk it off.) I limped through the day, avoiding putting a ton of pressure on that side of my foot. By the end of the day, the right side of my foot was feeling a little better, but the left side, where I had focused most of the pressure, was riddled with blisters. Not really sure what was wrong with it in the end, it was probably just a muscle strain from climbing down the cliffs. I wasn't going to complain about it though. Too many people on this trip have already gone to the hospital. I'm beginning to think that the professors are a bit over-cautious. In the end, my foot felt even better this morning and other than the blisters, it feels pretty normal now.

The final day (today), was our climax for the time in Israel. We spent the entire time circling the Sea of Galilee seeing sights. We saw the place where Christ cast legion into the pigs and they ran off the cliffs into the sea, we saw the place where Andrew, Peter, James, and John were supposedly from (we also talked about how these men were fishermen and might have lived multiple places along the Sea), we saw the Jordan river up close and personal, we saw the Mt. of the Beatitudes, we saw Capernaum, we saw the place where the feeding of the 5,000 took place, we saw the place where Jesus asked Peter 3 times if He loved Jesus, and we finally saw the 2,000 year old boat that was recovered and preserved. Quite a day. Feeling overwhelmed and tired, we returned to JUC finally after 4 long days. But Paul Wright was right. Today was the climax of our time here in Israel. I have really gained a better view of who Jesus was and who the disciples were.

Sweat, Salt, and Cheers

So, remember how Moses led the Israelites on a 40 year walk through the wilderness? I do. Remember how we just sorta skip over that 40 year period, and move onto Joshua? I used to do that. However, this past 3 days (more like 2) we spent in the wilderness of the Negev (means southern dry land). Trust me, it was hot and sunny. This land gets less than 4 inches of rain the entire year! I felt like I was sweating rivers the entire time... and I wasn't the only person doing so. Let me break down the different days:

Monday: We spent the day monday focused on the verse 1 Kings 4:25 (in fact most of the three days focused on this verse) and the open land to the west of Jerusalem. The verse talks about every person from Dan to Beer Sheva living under their own vine. This looks very different for many people in the land of Judah. For the people in the foothills, this was almost literal. We saw a cave where people lived for over 2,000 years. Coming to Israel, I would never have considered the hilly country to be the safe and comfortable land. Being from the flat land of Ohio, I would have thought the open plains to the west are the comfortable country. There you can see for leagues and leagues, you can easily talk to those surrounding you, and you don't have to deal with walking up and down all day. However, in ancient times, this meant that you were exposed and vulnerable. The hills provide safety at the expense of connectivity. (This is why Judah is always warring with someone around them.) Plus, up in the hills, you get a nice breeze which helps cool the noonday sun. In the afternoon, we looked at the plains. Here we focused on 2 Old Testament stories. First, we saw the place where Samson did all of his work. We saw the village where he came from and the village he set on fire via fox tails. (I also found a piece of possible philistine pottery but probable crusader era pottery here.) We then continued to the valley where David fought Goliath. Still can't believe I saw that place. We finished out the day by seeing Lachish (A Judean Stronghold that was overrun by both the Assyrians AND the Babylonians), seeing Ashkelon (A huge, ancient city on the coast), and some swimming in the Mediterranean sea. It was an amazing day, and I learned a ton.

Tuesday: We spent the day in the Negev. First, we went and saw Beer-Sheeba. This place was the place that Abraham was supposed to have settled, but the Archeology showed no middle bronze age remains. But not much should be expected to be found from that time, since Abraham would have had a goat hair tent. That would have totally decayed. But, we still should have found a well or something. But instead, it was merely and Iron Age city and well. However, this doesn't mean that Abraham was some fake, archetypal character. His well could be anywhere under the modern city or out in the desert surrounding the area known as Beer-Sheeba today. We then went to an archeological sight called "Arad". This was a fortress built out in the middle of no where seemingly. But at second glance, and prodding from the professor, we realized that this sight was an Egyptian area of control for the Salt and Tar route. Arad was also a spot, where they found some interesting finds in the Temple at the fortress. First off.... there was a temple. Secondly, the temple could have been used to worship both Yahweh and some other deity (or, the duel stones found at the sight, one standing one laying on the ground, could represent the power of Yahweh over all the other deities). We then climbed and hiked the Zin Wadi, a place of wilderness wandering. We saw a major sight on the great spice route from Saudi Arabia, and ended the day overlooking the worlds greatest erosion crater. It was far down (don't worry mom, I stayed away from the edge for the most part...)

Wednesday: Today, we spent the morning at Masada. This was the greatest of Herod's Palaces. I saw 1st Century mosaic, a million gallon cistern, and heard the possibly incongruous story of the Zealots vs. the Romans. We then did the grossest swimming ever... in the dead sea. It didn't feel gross getting in. But when in, it slowly goes from being novel to icky. My lips tasted of salt even though the water never got past my neck (from the evaporating water around me). One of the guys got water in his eye and freaked out. He said it hurt a ton. Once I left the water, I realized how nasty I actually felt. Luckily, all my scratched bug bites were cleaned nicely. We then went to natural springs and swam some, and ended the day at Qumran (the place where they found the dead sea scrolls). That is where we thought the day ended and we would head back to JUC (Jerusalem University College, our residence while in Israel). Well, not quite. Today was the beginning of a festival called "Jerusalem Day". And apparently it is where people from around the country come to celebrate Jerusalem. The streets were flowing with people and everyone was chanting in Hebrew, waving flags, and having a generally good time. However, on the other hand, it felt as if the people were at a near point of rioting. In fact, 24 people were arrested around the gate we entered into Old Jerusalem for throwing stones at Arabs. The tension in the city was possibly palpable, or maybe the place where we were was the only place of tension and everything else was peaceful. I felt ok once we got through the area, and the crowds thinned out.

But, while we were there, I was glad that I looked American and everyone there assumes most Americans support Israel whole-heartedly. Which brings us to the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think that it is a complex subject. Often, American Christians believe that we are told in the Bible that we are to support Israel. I agree we are told to support the people of God. Whether or not this is still the entirety of the Jewish people is still an area of debate. However, this entity occupying the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is not that. It is now a political entity. Still, that does not disclude them from any support. It simply keeps them from that wholesale inclusion of the people of God (at least in my eyes.) I believe that all who follow Jesus Christ, void of any ethnicity, culture, or nationality are the People of God. I believe that Jesus died and fulfilled and expanded the covenant that was given, like when he expanded it during Moses' and David's time. I always believe that we are told to love everyone and help those in need. I don't believe that we have a biblical mandate beyond those to support the political entity that is Israel. However, neither the Israeli's nor the Palestinians are without blame in the conflict. And generalizing a population on any single feature, such as religion, is a dangerous tactic. I do not know how to solve the problem here, but I do believe that violence (any kind, be it rockets or concrete walls) here only makes things worse. To make it clear, I am neither a supporter of Israel nor Hamas. I am a supporter of peace (I don't know how to enact this peace, nor do I feel that I am in a place to make a difference here.) And in the words of Forest Gump.... That's all I have to say about that.