REHMAN RASHID: We've grown accustomed to these wars

Sarah Creech

11/15/09

3:41

This article is about how the citizens of countries, in which war has raged since World War II, have become so accustomed to war that they don’t know how to function without it.  It states in the very first paragraph that infants in war zones have difficulty sleeping without the sound of distant gunfire. We are now in the third Generation since World War II and these people have lived in constant war since then. So all of these third generation children have known nothing but war their entire lives. The article states that among Palestinians, Israelis, and Koreans, no one under 60 could remember a time before war. Because these people have been born into a constant state of war, they have started to shape their culture, politics, and rites of passage based on war. Many people in these places actually like war, it offers purpose and meaning, without it they wouldn’t know what to do.

I think this is a very sad article. The fact that the people of these countries base their lives around war is increadibly disturbing. It’s the only life they have ever known and that is very depressing to think about. Here in America we are in war and it’s so distressing for us when we lose soldiers. Even though we know war and we have experienced it, we know that it is not a good thing and we know how to live without it. The thing about the babies bothered me the most. Babies should be going to sleep to the sound of lullabies or rattles. I can’t help but think about the children in these countries growing up thinking that the only way to live is in war. They are being taught that killing is okay. The whole thing just makes me very sad.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/22reh-3/Article/index_html