To my fellow Counselors- An appeal for help!

Devastation looms in the the wake of Israel's "Operation Protective Edge" and my heart literally hurts. It is a dull ache that will not go away and I find myself scrambling to do anything and everything  I can to bring about an end to this madness.

This is not a political post. This is not a religious post. I am not particularly fond of either politics or religion. Frankly both religion and politics are the biggest perpetrators of aggression in my opinion. The amount of bloodshed in the name of both religion and politics is unbelievable and yet there is an even bigger killer than both combined. That, killer my friends, is silence and inaction.

Silence and inaction in the face of wrongdoing is an even bigger crime than the aggression itself. Because it strengthens the aggressor and makes them more confident while completely breaking the spirit of those transgressed against.

Like I said earlier, I don't understand politics. And I am no politician! But I am a counselor and I understand the psychology of aggression and oppression. It is an insidious weapon, more debilitating than any bomb. A bomb kills and then is done. Psychological aggression and oppression renders any form of a normal existence impossible for those still alive and breaks the very fabric of a human society. That I understand all too well because I am a therapist. Therapists are still healing the wounds of the victims from other times of psychological aggression and oppression.

For me what is happening in Palestine is personal. Not because of race or skin color or ethnicity or religion. It is personal because I am a HUMAN. What happens to humanity is personal to me!

My appeal is not to politicians and religions. My appeal is to my fellow Counselors. My appeal is to their humanity. My appeal is for them to wake up and take a moment to see the madness of what is going on. 

I have the utmost respect for a soldier, ANY soldier! Both sides are THE SAME. A soldier bears arms to protect what he believes in. Both sides have a right to their beliefs. That is not the point! The point is when the passion of that soldier is manipulated by the policy makers to thier own ends. A silent humanity is not an effective democracy. We only create an imbalance of power in such a system. 

Think in terms of human factors psychology for a moment- apply that concept to the situation in Gaza. Let's play what if...

What if we were free to express our opinion of what is happening on the ground there in Gaza without being afraid of coming across as "anti" something?

What if we were free to have access to an unfiltered and unbiased media so that we had accurate information?

What if we realized that every human life is valuable- a Palestinian's and an Israeli's?

What if we just focused on that? And what if we made every "what if" mentioned here a reality? 

That is possible! It is in our power to educate ourselves and speak up and gain access to the truth, not just allow ourselves to be spoofed by a filtered and biased media.

Those what ifs are questions that Counselors are uniquely  qualified and able to consider at present, because we are healers, and experts at conflict resolution! Because we know of empathy and can understand both perspectives.

I appeal to my fellow healers-

I have had enough of war. Let us let the weary soldiers rest. Let us hold the line. Let us heal instead.

Please help me!