Work in progress

As it's near Christmas I started to think about the children of the holy land. I know from first hand experience how empty this time of year is for them. So what could I do to make their lives a little bit less empty? Then I thought about Zoo's. I mean, what children isn't fascinated by nature? I Googled Zoo's in the West Bank, as that's where Bethlehem is, and this is what I found:

A zoo in a small Palestinian town is one of the few tourist attractions in the whole of the West Bank, but its location, close to the tense Israeli border, means conflict has never been far from its walls.

As such, it has made the lives of the animals and their keepers almost unbearable. There are bullet holes in the buildings, and not so long ago the zebras were tear-gassed to death. It was the time of the second Intifada – or Palestinian uprising.

One of the monkeys was so scared by gunfire that he lost three of his fingers while trying to escape through the bars of his cage, while the prize male giraffe died out of panic from the noise.

........................................................................

If thats what its like for the animals, just think what it must be like for the children.

The children aren't spared at all, especially when it comes to the brainwashing.

I can't stop thinking of the 3 year old Israeli(Palestinian) girl who said when asked by Dian Sawyers what she though about Jews:

Diane Sawyers:
What do you think of Jewish People?

3 year old girl:
I hate them.

Diane Sawyers:
Why do you hate them?

3 year old girl:
Because they come from monkeys.


That area of the world is deeply troubled.

To hate and call a people who murder, starve and enslave your people 'ascendants from monkeys' is quite restrained if you ask me.

nix001 so what's the point about the zoo. it's a terrible situaion going back thousands of years to Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael when Sarah told Abraham to turn out Hagar and her son Ishmael into the desert to die. before the six day war in 1967 Israel was pretty much a secular state. with the victory of Israel in 1967 the religious factions saw their victory as a biblical fulfillment of prophecy of their devine right to take over all the land given to them by God in the old testament. today, one of the main issues in the conflict is the continued taking of land from the Palestinians by Israeli settlers and further diplacing the Palestinians. it's a very complex situation and one that will fester until there is not only a political settlement but also a religious evolution by all parties recognizing that God wants all his children to live in peace and harmony. without a miricle and i do believe in miricles, i don't think thi

Hey, if we all thought like that then it wont happen in our life time.
Is a zoo not a place that can bring peace and harmony to his children? A place where they can escape into the life of another being?
I don't know. But without the zoo, what else do the children of the Holy land have?
Surely it's the least we can do for them.

i'm still not sure what you're suggesting. give to the zoo? how about giving to schools and hospitals/clinics. medical aid to reconstruct lost limbs/burns etc. for those children.