Eyes To See

My father is asking me, great, you see the history, you see the Bible, you see the holy land, but you don't see the Palestinians. What about the Palestinians? The first time I was arguing, and the second time he asked, I said, you're a right. I don't see them. I went to our spiritual leader here in our community, and I've asked him, do we have to see them? And he said, of course, of course, we do. They're a part of this land, and, like we've been taught in the Bible, we have to take care of them but, of course, not to forget that this is our homeland.
Tamar Asraf "Israeli Woman Describes Journey From Criticizing Settlers To Becoming One"

"Do we have to see them?"

I will be the first to admit that I cannot know the minds of those other than myself, but when I heard Ms. Asraf ask the question "Do we have to see them?" the subtext that I heard was "Is it right to see them?" But when I thought about the whole sentence, then entirety of: "I went to our spiritual leader here in our community, and I've asked him, do we have to see them?" the subtext I heard was "I don't want to see them. Tell me that it is right not to see them."

In life, we often see what we want to see, and we do not see the rest. And we all have reasons for seeing what we see and being blind to the rest, just as we have reasons why others should see the things that we see, and be blind to those things that we do not see. And we seek out authorities to tell us what we should see, and what it is justified for us not to see.

And we declare that the selectivity of our vision is the truth.