8-25-2007
Dubrovnik,
So many preconceived notions. All it takes is one glance and it's easy to understand why people would want to fight over this land. An "untouched" jewel of a land. Vast coast line, clear turquoise, aqua, marine blue waters and in a world of commercial interests its no mystery that people would want to claim it for their own.
On the same token if you want to escape the influences of the modern world all it takes is a 10 min cab drive to the grad (old city) to re-enter a world long forgotten. A time in which buildings and roads were constructed from nothing more then stone and national security consisted of a big "un-scalable" wall (i guess some things haven't changed). But this city is not without its blemishes. Recently renovated one can yet see the scarred buildings and the jarring marks left by rocket shells and bullet fire, modern technology, a thing that has no regard for distinguishing friend from foe, innocent from guilty, valuable from valueless. Rendering everything in its path useless, people damaged, burned, hurt, forever changed. This place, the air about it, the people, the scarred buildings it reminds so much of Falasteen, my ancestral land, will my people ever find peace?
After seeing such beauty i am yet again forced to ask what is it about the human condition that makes us so callous, so willing to commit atrocities in the name of "beliefs", "rights". Can one truly embark on such a self righteous journey and hope to have retained enough of their original self to come home to? Do we not have a responsibility to the earth, or environment, or do we justify the long term effects of our selfish battles by arguing that its in our immediate best interest, because we have ownership over something? How can we even be arrogant enough to make such an argument when none of us retain anything after we die? I am plagued by these questions, to which i will never have answers....
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