There is no “big” progress made – just tiny drops in the sea.. That’s all we have – we can’t influence the “big” and “BIGGER” politics going on above our heads – at least not much.. What most of us are trying to do it, as I called it once in a Blog: “Prepare the territory in which peace, one day, can live”.. Just tonight in a chat with a young Palestinian student from Ramallah, he said he considers it a big victory for himself if he can change/influence the mind of even only one person. We, and most of these groups try to establish links between us – the “people” on both sides. If one only watches the news and listens to declarations of politicians and leaders, the situation looks indeed hopeless. There are times (like right now) it even looks hopeless to me, but if we give up hope and belief (in our way and our cause) we’ll certainly NEVER reach it. So we just refuse to give up and continue – whatever catastrophes and barriers we face. We just don’t want to stay silent and do nothing – even if our “real” impact is low… I often refer to a very famous poem written by a German Pastor after WWII:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Niemoeller, Germany 1946

To me it’s the same issue. Not to stay silent, speak up and “do”, even if it seems tiny and insignificant… Maybe one day, when enough of us will have joined hands, we’ll just “not show up” when they call for war.. (Yah, I know, I’m a bit of a dreamer, too )