Nishanto Pishon

I had just finished a grueling workout session and a dance class, feeling exhausted but exhilarated. On my way out, on the corridor of Hart House I heard some distant mumbling. As I walked closer, the voice became clearer and with it, a remarkable face of a woman. The passion in her speech was so radiant that I was immediately captured in her aura. I wanted to hear more of what she wanted to say and join in the conversation. As I stepped closer with a curios outlook, she greeted me with the most beautiful, kind and accepting smile. That’s how I met Liza.
That conversation lasted almost two hours and only stopped when the staff insinuated that we leave the compound. Needless to say, it was one of the most memorable conversations I have ever had. We spoke of religions, cultures, philosophy and art. We spoke with our hearts and the more we spoke the more I was drawn. Our friendship continued through the dance classes and beyond them.
The famous Greek philosopher Epicurus said “"Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship." A true friend can be the only help you ever need. He/she is the mirror of objective truth, to help you adjust your course when you’ve lost your way. Khalil Gibran in his masterpiece, The Prophet, says “Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field that you sow with love and reap with Thanksgiving”. Liza is a friend as such.
Every conversation I have ever had with Liza has invigorated me, filled me with hope. Even when I found her struggling with difficulties in life, she always greeted me with that same familiar radiant smile. True honesty isn’t measurable, it isn’t objective science. Instead, it is measured with the intensity of the strong desire to stand up for what one believes to be true. I found that speaking with her. At the same time the intensity of her passion wasn’t revolutionary, she didn’t want her truth to be established at the cost of others. I always found her integrity to be as solid as a rock, but approach as smooth as silk.
Liza and I come from completely different upbringings, different cultures, religions, language, and ethnicity. And yet, through our communication with genuine intentions, I found a friend, an adversary, a beacon of hope. Liza wants to heal the world with love and her beautiful smile. I not only commend her for it, but I also encourage her.
We are going through a difficult time. The boundaries between us and them are being drawn everywhere. Who is an Israeli and who is a Palestinian isn’t separated through the walls that stand tall, not even the lines we like to draw on maps, not the language we speak, not the difference in religions, not in the wealth and not in the power of military that can bring upon mutual anhilation. Separation is in our minds, it can identify anyone it chooses to be different, only the reasonings differ each time to fulfill the agenda of division. When we open our hearts and have a conversation with genuine intent, we will find that we are much more alike than not. Liza taught me that. I grew up in an Islamic country that condemned Israel and the Jews as the “others”. Through these conversations, Liza and I became “us”, two clearly flawed human beings in search for truth, with honesty, sincerity, and integrity. A relationship that transcends our birthplaces, our religions, and our cultures.
Only love and cooperation builds the world, everything else is working to break it apart.