Dear Ahmed…

Dear Ahmed,
Where do I begin. That was corny. But it is a start. It is so late, but I couldn’t go to sleep, because there was a horrible terrorist attack that killed dozens of people in your country just a few hours ago. CNN called it “militant,” but I know how you feel. Are you scared? Is everyone safe?

We spoke a few days ago on my radio show because we wanted to get your voice out there. It’s not everyday you see someone named Ahmed posting jokes on your Jewish friend’s Facebook page. So I decided to write to you. I was curious about who you were.

In our interview you said it was curiosity that led you from ‘Jew Hater’ to present day Peace Activist. How is that possible Ahmed? I couldn’t wait to post our show because I knew it was important for peace.

But now there was a terrorist attack on your land. And yesterday there was a terrorist attack on ours.

So now your words are stuck in my head. And I can’t go to sleep. Because if I sleep and wake up and there is more terror, or if CNN was writing this blog post, more ‘militants’, then where do we go from here Ahmed? I can’t roll the dice on where the next war will be and with which terrorist group that wants to kill us. Is that me? Or you too?

You have been jailed for your Pro-Israel activism. Then again you wore a shirt with the word peace written in Hebrew on TV in Egypt…so you must of seen that one coming–fair or not. You lost your family, your friends, you have been called a traitor…and your response: “To try and fail. Then to try and fail, and fail again. They will call you stubborn. Then try again and succeed. They will call you determined. While they are busy calling you names, you are busy improving. This is Israel. This is the Jewish people.”

I think what struck me most when we spoke was that you are a proud Muslim. You don’t see religion as the problem or let’s say the force behind the fighting, terrorism and wars…you see the issue with religious leaders that must take responsibility for today’s hate.

You and I are so similar. We like to laugh. Except you smoke which is gross. I told you to stop. After all death threats and being pro-Israel is really enough to get you…I refuse to finish that sentence.

I know it is really late Ahmed, but I hope you write back. Just so you can tell me something good. Or funny. Or comforting.

And just when I felt too tired to hit refresh one more time…the most refreshing thing happened. A response from Ahmed:
“Please lets rock the world together and try to give people hope that PEACE is right around the Corner. Trust me all we need is for one to take the step towards the other instead of avoiding and Hating each other.
Just a Step dear Molly.”