I wish I will never learn to hate

To all my friends and readers...

I thank you for keeping track...

and for supporting me...through the weird moments...

and for keeping up with the transformation that I am going through...

and for traveling with me in my journeys to the past, the present and the future...

and I would like to end the year with a quotation that I read few days ago...

During his acceptance speech at the Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle Eastern Journalism, Yaron London (For those who do not know who Yaron London is please google him) said:

"I am secular, but enjoy reading the Bible, extracting from it support for my humanist perspectives." 

 This is exactly what I have been doing in 2010, going back to the religious events and stories to build bridges with the whole of humanity...


And this is what I will keep on doing in 2011, and other things...

I will keep on taking care of my soul and my body (3 times a week to the gym)...

According to astrologists, 2011 will be a difficult year for Libras....Lets say...It will be a good learning process...

To be always positive...


And I wish I will be seeing people that I havent seen for a long time...

And I wish I will be able to give love...and spread happiness around me...

And I wish I will never learn to hate...

Happy New Year...

Last Days in Jerusalem...

Yesterday, Jesus was born...in Bethlehem...few kilometers away from where I live in Lebanon...

If it were for other times...I could have driven my car crossing the borders and the green mountains to celebrate the birth of another peace seeker...

Instead, I watched and listened to the celebration on TV...waiting for better times...

Christ was born...yesterday...and he waited 33 years till he entered Jerusalem as an unusual king on a donkey...

The Donkey was the sign of modesty and peace...

Jesus could have entered Jerusalem on a horse...it could have been a sign of war...and bloodshed...

He waited 33 years to enter to Jerusalem...He preached...he got killed...and his faith was spread...

From Jerusalem...to Armenia...

In 301 AD...another king in Armenia adopted Christianity and declared his State a Christian State...

That was the first Christian State in the World...

And Armenian Priests ascended to Jerusalem...to become one of the 3 major sects of Christianity that were given the responsibility to watch over the Holy Places in the Holy Land...

Armenians and Jerusalem is a story of faith, love, convictions and peace...

An Armenian is not fully Armenian until he/she goes back to the source...to Jerusalem...

Blessed is the Armenian who has refused to leave his homeland in Jerusalem...to seek refuge in other places...

And blessed will be the Armenian who decides to move into Jerusalem...

Jesus waited 33 years...to enter Jerusalem

His ancestors waited 2000 years to go back to Jerusalem...

Arabs are still dreaming of going back to Jerusalem...

and I am giving myself 15 years from this day to enter to Jerusalem...no matter under which flag the city will be...

I will end my days in Jerusalem...buried in the Holy Land...

Next year to Jerusalem

Once again...and all over again...first page of newspapers...a picture from East Jerusalem...

On Christmas...with same headlines for years: Jerusalem under Occupation...Sad Jerusalem...

And so on...

On 26 December...Jerusalem is forgotten again till the year after...

It has become like the Christmas tree...you take it out of the attic in December and put it back in January...

you don't even bother to take a look at it during the whole year...

Why should the Christians of this East be punished and forgiven access to Jerusalem?

While there is no meaning of Nationalism in this part of the world and the most importnat component is sect, religion and confession, why should we bother with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?

What concerns me is the survival of the Christians in the Middle East...

And the survival of the Christians of the East will be guaranteed if they have access to the Holy Places in Israel and Palestine...

Pilgrimage to the Holy Places...special access permits...this is what Christians of the Middle East should be lobbying for...

Dividing Jerusalem, or not dividing it... should be the least of our concerns..
.
Jews have control of the Holy Land...Muslims have their Mecca...and Christians have only their tears and wishes...to reunite with their creator...

Indeed they are acting as an insignificant minority!

Something that is unacceptable...by all means...

Merry Christmas...anyways...and I raise my glass shouting...Next year to Jerusalem...

Dilusional conversations (im not even sure if the word dilusional exists)

Human beings are so stupid...

They are the champions of lost opportunities...

The moment they lose a dear person...they start remembering all the good things about that person...

They wish they had listened more to his/her stories...

They wish they told him/her things that they kept in their hearts...

They start delusional conversations with that dear person...

They wish he/she answered back...

But that person is already gone...

I lost my father-in-law yesterday...

It is raining

Finally...it is raining again...