Ross Opposed ALL Walls...

Ross celebrated the goodness in human beings every day... But the absurdities of people never escaped him... The accumulated puss and contradictions... the conundrum of paradoxes saddened him... He always wanted to believe in the humanity of human beings... But then, he was depressed to observe adults rapped up in their selfish greed... Adults who abused each other... [In class whenever I used the word "abused" students giggled... They always associated "abuse" with sex... and that infuriated me...] But Ross was amused with the naive world view of the students...

"You cannot change the adults... Focus on the youth..." he advised.

***

The year end celebrations of student achievements and graduation were very special to Ross... and he worked very hard to innovate and bring new ways and means to engage students in the celebrations... He wanted them to lead the adults and become leaders in the community... 
... and one year he commissioned six graduates from his Romero Justice Group to select a teacher who had made a difference in their lives while at school... Ross, at the ceremonies, was careful to introduce these six as mere anecdotal incidents... and said; "I am sure ALL teachers have tried very hard and tremendous effort to make a difference and they absolutely have done so... These six are just anecdotal picks from six students who worked with me all year round in the Romero Justice Group..." He was careful to include all and offend none...

But adults - educated, semi-educated or just merely ignorant - are selfish... adults are greedy regardless of their years in universities and teaching ...

The six students chose six teachers... but there were 93 teachers at the school... One of them chose me... not because she was successful in my class, but because she improved herself a lot and she said; "My outlook changed and my focus on marks diminished and my priorities changed... I began to emphasize knowledge and that in turn improved my marks..." And she concluded; "I liked his class so much that I am took the course with him again... in the second semester..." 
Everyone laughed...  Of course she was joking... she just wanted to improve her marks... and learn more...! Then she presented me a lit candle to guide my steps in the future...  and I took the candle to our department head and to the rest of the math teachers and presented it to them... What I achieved and thought was a group effort and endeavour, after all... 

Some teachers were furious at Ross... They visited the Chapel right after the ceremonies and rebuked him for selecting six teachers and neglecting the rest... That was not what Ross had done... That was not Ross's intention... and a rational person would have placed things in perspective and appreciated the anecdotal nature of the the entire ceremony... Ross was attempting to celebrate ALL the teachers through the eyes of the six students who had helped him all year round...

Afterwards Ross said; "These teachers are not educated enough... they need a refresher... Human beings are selfish and greedy... They have not learned yet to value the community above their narrow and selfish interests... "

He never repeated that part of the ceremony again... He just introduced a one liner... and thanked ALL for their efforts and sacrifices...

 ***

Ross advocated the interests of the community above the narrow interests of individuals... He wanted to bring people together... He wanted to bring the world together... He was not a tech-person, he barely used a computer... but comprehended the tech-revolution and appreciated the new possibilities that the young people had in front of them...
He wanted them to smash the barriers... topple all the walls... Bring the peoples of the world together... and live in harmony... in peace...
The educators were in need of education... 
Ross and I needed our "Happy Hour..." to snap out of the absurdities of the day... He wanted to be alone... He said; "No adults allowed..." He wanted to lead his wounds... and be ready for tomorrow...

                                                                ***                                                                                                                            

... And Now... Diogenes and his Lantern...                                   Check the walls...

Iraqi security forces have begum building a WALL around the capital Baghdad... in an effort to prevent attacks by the Islamist Jihadists... The proposed wall will be 300 km, about 186 miles, barrier that will surround the city from all sides...

Baghdad - Iraqi security forces have begun building a concrete wall surrounding the capital Baghdad in a bid to prevent attacks by Islamic Jihadists... It was announced two days ago...

Remember The Great Wall of China...

  
The wall was built in antiquity... Not in the 21st century...
The Chinese are participating in the largest trading bloc in the world... Now they understand thaat barriers and walls have to come down and people should leave in peace... 
It will take more time for the leaders of the world to grasp the simple truth that Ross advocated... to share and live in harmony... 
The wall will keep the good people out but never the thieves and terrorists... and Ross was right...  

Check the wall that the Israelis built to protect Israelis from Palestinian attacks...

  

The wall is there... 

The wall separates... But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is continues unabated... with no end in sight... People still bleed in the Holy Land... and blood begets blood, a wise man wrote centuries ago...

Ross hated walls... Maybe people learn to live in harmony and peace when they visit each other... and share their falafel and hamus with each other... Ross wanted people to sit at a table and break bread together... that will bond them in friendship and peace...
...the other proposal... The other wall... The new wall...

 

When people are naive enough to hide behind a wall... 

During the year-end ceremonies, Ross insisted that educators need a refresher... educators need to be re-educated...

And he was right...

The walls have never brought peace... 

The wall between Israel and the West Bank is a sorry witness of the violence... in the Holy Land...

... The conflict in Syria has no end in sight... and people are fleeing the war... and invading more peaceful places.

They again are massing up at the Turkish border... asking for a passage to Europe...

The Turkish military has closed the border... There is no wall, but the soldiers are very much acting as a wall...  

Turkey and its allies, Saudis and the rest, initiated the Syrian conflict... and the Syrian people is paying the price for the selfish greed of the leaders...