Clubbing Together

This is a picture of young people partying at a club in Beit Jallah, a town in the West Bank.

Read the full article by clicking on this link.

The point that I'm making is this:

I understand the tensions in the middle east. I comprehend how the different ideologies clash and conflict with each other, and I know which ideology best represents my interests.

However, regardless of ideology and identity, the truth is that I am unable to distance myself from the human element of the crisis. Just as Israelis have been under attack from Palestinian Militants, so too are the residents of the west bank and gaza under constant threat from Internal militancy as well as Israeli Aggression. I can't ignore my conscience - the human cost is too high, and ultimately, destroys hope of there ever being a sustainable palestinian state. I have an unashamedly idealistic approach to the situation. As impossible as it may seem, I hope that both parties will one day find a way to compromise, and that both sets of people will be liberated from this conflict.

When i saw this picture, it was on the website of the leftish Israeli Newspaper, Ha'aretz. I found it to be quite poignant - through the suffering, the shootings, the violence, the hardship, young Palestinians resist being pigeonholed by their suffering in the only possible way...by having a good time; by dancing and drinking away their troubles. This is real partying. In South Africa, we go out to clubs to party after the stress of exams, but the truth is that we don't understand stress. The people in this picture do.

Another thing that this picture reminded me of was of the bombing that took place in that club on the Boardwalk in Tel Aviv a few years back, and it would be remiss of me to mention that event in light of this article. In that case, young Israelis were killed while partying in a club. In many ways, a club is a sacred place. Blind devotion to partying overwhelms one's problems, just as praying would do. In effect, bombing a club is like bombing a house of prayer. An attack on everything that we, as youth, stand for.

Ultimately, my point is that a club acts as a universal sanctuary. From South Africa to Tel Aviv to the West Bank, young people around the world are united in their desire to party away their troubles. This is the common ground, this is something shared, this is something universal. As young people in the world today, we need to be capable of seeing past ideological divisions and hierarchies in order to unite the world. As citizens of the world, we must have common needs, a common respect for human life, and a common desire to celebrate our lives.

Let's open a new club - We'll call it "Planet Earth".

I'm smelling that sweet Tequila right now.