Came across this image shared by a #Yemeni friend on Twitter, and activist living in the warzone, explaining how the war on #Yemen has changed everything, this merciless massacre has driven Yemen to the caveman era. Wars take away the years of hard work & life and never bring peace, regardless of what war monger politicians claim, as Ernest Hemingway rightly said
“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.”
— 1946
Hemingway was 18 years old when he volunteered to be an ambulance driver for WWI. He suffered physically and mentally from the horrors of war, As a novelist, he used his writing to show the barbarism wars bring.
Starvation, hunger, diseases, depression, destruction is what happening from Yemen, Syria to Iraq, Afghanistan Somalia, Libya, and elsewhere, where bombs are dropped mercilessly. Humans in war zones struggle to keep their limbs intact & keep their families alive. And everything else is just forgotten.
Thought the Yemenis are fighting this with bravery courage & creativity, making ways to keep floating & paddling their canoe in these dark days, like this man in the picture on the horse.
Walk Two Steps In Their Shoes
On every land where the unfortunate homeless, whom we call refugees have traveled to, you can hear the whining and complaints of those who have been living in the luxury of peace and have no idea how it's like to leave your life you’ve loved for generations, every penny you’ve worked for to build a home, your memories and from your tinniest to your biggest item you own, from your favorite blanket to your hometown, your street, the coffee shop you loved to visit, and everything on your own land, more importantly, your pride & dignity.
A few years ago there was a Twitter storm on Twitter #LifeOfRefugees, sharing how dreadful, distressing & harrowing details of the refugees, how much mental and physical Inconvenience they go through.
And not just that, whatever horrors they face on their own land is one thing, but this nightmare is endless for them when they pack and drag themselves to their nearby lands, there begin another misery, They don’t know from where they can begin, how they are going to provide for themselves and their families, and above all that the amount of hatred, racism, language & communication barriers they face, the ignorance & arrogance they tolerate makes everything unbearable.
This statement hurled by the uncompassionate “Go back to your land” or “you are taking away our jobs ” or ” we have surged in crime rate since refugees arrived ” is absolutely excruciating.
Walk two steps in the shoes of these unfortunate ones and you will never be able to repeat those words.
A Way To Empathy
While asking for some information from a Turkish citizen, and receiving a rude reply, One of my Somali friends said something very simple, yet profound
“Majority of these people never travel abroad, most of them don’t even know the next city, their lives are so limited , they don’t know how to treat anyone who is not one of them “
That’s an absolute reality of anyone who’s been living in a pond for years & only accepts the frogs from their own pond, anyone or anything else is alien to them.
People who travel frequently or at least rarely, it had a huge impact on their abilities to understand, respect accept differences, they empathize more with others, as their vision is broader than the pond frogs, traveling helps us to become familiar with the unfamiliar and also unfamiliar with the familiar, which means we think that we know something, but in reality, we either don’t know it well or otherwise needed to be changed, that’s when the familiar becomes unfamiliar.
Travelling gives us opportunities to learn new things, new behaviours & while doing that the universe & its elements teach us about our own shortcomings & weaknesses, which makes us more empathetic & understanding towards others .when we remember our own hardships & adversity, we help others better. Travel & undo what you know & add more to what you want to know.
“Travel brings power and love back into your life” ~ Rumi
By Khush
Editor-at-large
WEDA