Israel-Hamas war requires peacemakers to step up and protect especially the children

As a peacemaker, my heart aches.

Far too many people are justifying violence. This is a frightening place to live. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are dehumanizing entire ethnicities, religions, and genders. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are watching the horror unfold in the Holy Land and believe this is simply a continuation of age-old patterns. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are saying that killing people is the only way to find justice. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are witnessing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed without a plan in place to prosecute these crimes through the rule of law. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are issuing death sentences without evidence or due process of law. Our children deserve better.

Why can't peace, not war, be inevitable?

Far too many people are misinterpreting calls to cease the spilling of blood with calls for continuous acts of violence. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are trading on communal trauma on the backs of vulnerable families living in the Holy Land who are paying the price. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are reducing each other to a social media post or a painful meme. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people think war is inevitable rather than believing peace is inevitable. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are watching as diplomacy is shut down, as peacemakers are silenced,  and replaced with aggressors authorizing environments for brutality. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are abandoning policymaking channels to resolve conflict and are instead reducing humanity to tribalism. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people think their safety is only achieved at the expense of another’s safety. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are forgetting to practice grace and have mercy as justice is sought. Our children deserve better.

Far too many people are watching as Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem this week. Our children deserve better.

We must create a pathway that is just and humane for all

In the spirit of the Prince of Peace himself, we should prepare for peace. This is what our children deserve.

It is here where we are reminded of the imperishable words spoken by Jesus, “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you.”

Humbled by these words and this moment in time, please join me in working for peace through a soul-filled pathway from America’s Heartland to the world’s Holy Land.

May it be a pathway that is as wide and open for as many people to join as possible. A pathway that includes ways to realize security, justice, and accountability, while anchored in decency and dignity for all mankind.

A pathway that is just and humane for all involved. A pathway that is lit by a guiding moral light that will inspire responsible acts of leadership. A pathway that our children will be thankful for and admire, for generations to come.

It is this that I pray for as we all close out 2023 and begin a new year rooted in our principles.

Samar Ali is founding president and CEO of Millions of Conversations, based in Nashville. She is a research professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University and co-chair of the school's Project on Unity and American Democracy.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Israel-Hamas war: Peacemakers must create a pathway for all humankind