Sinai

An emaciated road, through inhospitable terrain.

The road to peace is never an easy one and always a long one. The photo exhibition at the Art House, Israel - Birth of a Nation, was a brilliant example of photojournalism. I was particularly taken by a pair of photographs by David Rubinger, one showing the plight of Israeli children and the other that of an Arab Child, both victims of the still ongoing Arab Israeli conflict. David Rubinger in describing the pair of photos said that both sets of people were "Uprooted for different reasons, but does the reason matter?"

The sheer honesty of that phrase struck me. It is a disregard for Reason that gives rise to conflict. During conflicts, both sides have tried to legitimise their actions with attempts at reasonings. But it is all in vain for Reason has already taken flight; when the first shots were fired. It no longer matters. What matters are the people that are getting hurt or killed. But conflict does not discriminate between combatants and non-combatants, at least not anymore.

When I travelled through the Sinai Peninsula, I saw the remnants of the Sinai War and the Six Day War. The military installations and numerous army checkpoints were testament to the psychological remnants of those wars. The near empty holiday resorts along the red sea were testament to the then ongoing Palestinian intifada, part deux; a current and future consequence of those wars. Rubinger and Goldman's images not only document the conflict but also carry an important message. That we can still Hope for peace. For Hope is all thats left, since Reason has long been abandoned.