It was not that long ago Israel and Jordon were bitter foes. Israel is a country that is surrounded by enemies that live to wipe them off the map. Israel entered into a peace accord with Jordan in 1994 and a recent minor discord shows the strength in this major treaty agreement.
What is the stink about?
A bovine facility nearby the town known as Eilat has been wafting its scent across the Red Sea and into the confines of the Jordanian King's Royal Palace in the town of Aqaba. It the spirit of the accord, Jordan's King Abdullah II used simple diplomatic avenues to convey his annoyance with this problem. This action is contrary to the pre-accord days when a bloody military skirmish may have occurred over the problem. Acting in good faith the Israeli government immediately set into motion about quelling the stink. First they rush to spread deodorant over the originating source, then scheduled a clean up of the waste causing the offensive smell.
Little things have major consequences.
This may seem like a small event of no historical significance. If you consider the decades past this is an important landmark in the achievement of cooperation between differing factions. One small event such as this may set the tone for the new year. The handling of the matter shows the true spirit of respect between two countries that were former blood rivals.
Respect, agreement and faith
These are the backbone of tolerance. You can agree to disagree, while respecting the differences that exist in religions, cultures, nations, states, towns, neighborhoods and your own family as well. When you have faith and act in good faith all problems have a step taken toward peaceful resolution.
Do on to others...
These are the core words that throughout time across the world that seemed to connect all people. The problems arose when everyone conveniently began forgetting the rest of the mantra and began to play "War Time Jeopardy." You know the game. It goes something like this. "Alex, I'll take conflicts for your life."
…As you would have them to do on to you.
No sane person would just walk up to another and say, "would you punch, shoot or kill me, please? While you are at it would you rape maim and kill my friends and family?" It sounds just as stupid as when someone kills another over a parking space.
We have more in common than you think.
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has done something unintentional that hurt someone else. We all have to eat and breathe to live. We all have blood in our veins. We all have been hurt by someone else. We have all done something really stupid. We all think, feel, and want to be loved. We all want respect. Unfortunately, we forget this when we all want to be right and win.
How important is this event between Israel and Jordan?
It is proof, we have the ability to achieve social tolerance. It proves we do not have to get bent out of shape because someone did not notice we were affected by his or her action. We can do this if we believe in respect, agreement, faith and ourselves. This event sets the bar for every man, woman and child in every region of the world.
The first man on the moon American Astronaut Neil Armstrong was supposed to coin the phrase, one small step for man, one large step for mankind as he put his foot on the surface. It did not go exactly as planned. This mantra should not stand for something menial as in technological or territorial accomplishments. It should be the battle cry of efforts to achieve tolerance and cooperation between all citizens of the planet earth. As we aim for this type of thinking, we should be more tolerant in our thinking. As with Neil Armstrong, no matter how hard we plan and practice things do not always go as planned.
