It was once a tale of peace…

Last night I had the most wonderful flamenco class – my teacher this term shows us how to put joy, fire, and precision into every move. The choreography is only 2 minutes but there is a lot packed in there!

After class I was walking to the Eaton Centre to buy cotton underwear (story of my life that I keep running out), and walked by Yuk Yuk’s and noticed that the “The Rising Stars of Comedy” show was about to start. “They’re not pros, but almost there,” the guy at the front door said. Ok, I’ll take a chance, I thought. It’s only $12.

The MC was an Indian guy, pretty funny and able to smooth over some of the more awkward moments. And there were many. There was one guy that was so cringe-worthy, borderline racist – I felt so much second-hand embarrassment watching him it made me squirm. One guy was so distressed with what was happening in the middle east that I thought he was just going to cry right there on stage. Luckily they had one pro headliner, the amazing Martha Chavez, who I’d seen perform years ago at an event at the Native Earth Performing Arts Centre. I’d met her in the bathroom, and she was funny even in our brief encounter. She told a joke about cocaine and how back in the 80’s everyone were coke-heads without knowing it, since cocaine was actually in Coca Cola! Strange coincidence that we were discussing that at dinner on Sunday with my brother and his wife’s family. There was also one more female comedian who was funny – she joked about how after she cut her hair she looks like Ellen, and is often bypassed by men who think she must be gay. And a young Asian girl comedian who joked about being a 29-year-old virgin.

Anyhow, the show did allow me to catch up on my text messages and also get my mind off of what’s happening in the world. It’s so devastating, and to add to the devastation is the complete degeneration of compassion and civil discourse. People are so angry at each other, and feel compelled to voice a thousand opinions to vent their anger, which probably only serves to make them angrier. Go meditate before you say something. Then decide if it’s worth saying. I read in a David Sedaris book the other day, that the internet forever changed dialogue. Back in the day, people used to mail letters to the newspaper, so they would have to decide whether their opinion was worth the effort and the cost of a stamp. Now everyone gets to complain for free! I think we should charge people $2 before they’re allowed to express an opinion on social media. There may be a few more thoughtful comments.

It’s unfortunate that intelligence did not detect what Hamas was planning prior to it happening. You hear of so much advanced intelligence these days – I remember around 10 years ago, the RCMP subverted a plot of two men to attack a VIA Rail train in Toronto. How did no one detect these sophisticated plans to launch rockets from every angle?

Many years my sister and I read a book called Esther’s Child by Jean Sasson, which tells two intersecting stories – one of Palestinian refugees who are forced to flee their homes in Haifa and forced to raise their young child in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut; and the other of Holocaust survivors who lost their family members in Auschwitz and dream of a Jewish state. The way these two stories intertwine invoke compassion; the primary lens of viewing conflict, suffering, and hopes and dreams should be based on the human heart, not on idealogy. I remember being surprised to read that Arabs and Jews actually lived peacefully on the same land for thousands of years.

But oh, the fight for land…

In elementary school, I had two best friends – one was Jewish, and the other Palestinian. I never thought of their race until one day at a remembrance day assembly we were discussing war and they started arguing about who was right. After the assembly was over, they hugged and apologized to one another. If only it were that easy now.