Ross... and Hazards of Our Civilization...

Ross was living in a basement apartment which opened to the garden... it did not feel like a basement because of the walk out to the garden... and was very sunny and bright from the sunlight... He loved it... I loved “his” garden too...
But the landlady passed away... she was in her late 80s... and the family decided to sell the house...
Ross had to look for a new place to live...
His searches for a similar setting did not produce results... and he went into an apartment on the 11th floor near the lake and consoled himself that he had a beautiful view to the lake to the south and the city to his north...
I knew that he was not as happy with his place as he was before! He became more an outdoor person than he was before... He just visited his apartment for a nap or a night sleep... and Darted out again in the morning for espresso and other things...
He told me once that the elevator makes him claustrophobic...So he began taking the stairs to climb to the 11th... But the stairs were designed for emergencies and they were like climbing in a narrow tube... That did not help too...
After few months... maybe 6 or 7... he decided to look for another basement-opening-to-the-backyard-garden place...
It took a month, a bit more, but he found one... with the help of friends and ladies at the school...
...And once he went back to the garden-basement living he admitted that he hated the high rise... 
It was nice to see him happy again...and as mischievous as ever !

***

Blaze devours UAE residential towers  

Looking at the photos of the huge fire that engulfed the residential towers in the United Arab Emirates... I remembered Ross and his adventure with high-rise apartment living for few months...

He Hated the experience... He was claustrophobic in the elevators... in the stairwells... and in the apartment he was afraid that fire or another emergency will  cause trouble... But despite his misgivings... He shared the apartment with a young homeless student whom he knew from years before... He could not imagine himself living comfortably... and leaving the student homeless on the street... 

That was Ross...

He hated to share the elevator with others... specially young and rowdy people... and they were quite a few of them in the building...

Ross always was aware the hazards of modern civilization... The fires in the highrises and carcinogenic elements in food and on the streets with the fumes of the cars... He could not tolerate the exhaust and the smell of the fuel... 
Modern living has its comforts... but made people sick too...
They even got trapped in hirerise fires...
Rose wanted to live in a basement-garden dwelling... and he loved it... It was cheaper and not pretentious... He did not want to show off... He even gave his car away for a $1... and liver happily ever after... 

*** 

"People change, Greeks don't."...

  Reads the poster... and I find it not funny and a bit offensive...
If it was referring to Muslims... or Jews or blacks or other "minorities" people would have noticed... There would have been protests... demonstrations... riots... 
People are too "politically correct" when it comes to minorities with some muscle... But Greeks like Christians are freebies for all... 
It never amazes me... and I wonder why people abuse others and find it funny too...
I agree "people change...,"but why Greeks do not...? Are they out of this world...? Are not they people too...?
I guess that's part of the hazards of modern civilization too...

It is Easter again... and Ross would have been HAPPY again...

I am sure it is SPRING wherever YOU are... The world rises up and celebrates the blessings that the Earth provides us...
For three days I am attempting to post something on the blog... But I am being interrupted... Hopefully I will be able to have this completed to day... 
I received few emails... telling me that Christ is Risen... and referring to global violence and refugees... displaced people...
One of the emails included the line; "I hope next Easter we will celebrate world peace...!"
Wouldn't that be wonderful...? 
But, please do not hold your breath... Humans are still greedy and run after profit... Humans are narcissistic                                                                                                         essentially...
So do not hold your breath... but please to not hesitate to work for world peace...
I am listening to Holy Mass and spiritual chants right now... and all is peaceful inside and around me... and I am thinking about the more than 60 million displaced people who have a tent... piece of canvas on their head... and trying to survive... I am thinking of the millions of women who are walking miles to bring water to their families... and I am thinking of the men who are at war and are killing other human beings... 
But... thinking does not help anyone... action counts...
I hope men will stop the killing and we will have globalized PEACE...
They say; "May PEACE be with you...," I hope they mean it too... I hope they work for it too...
Easter for PEACE and HARMONY... 
Indeed, may peace and Salam and Shalom...  be with you...

***

While I was working on the blog... I received an email... a friend wrote couple of lines... and it took me few years back... I remembered Ross, the chaplain at my school chatting with me... Ross knew my friend too... He was our colleague... we had dined and drank with him... many times... But he always was shy and introvert... and very peaceful... So people, women too, took advantage of him...

My friend wrote...                                     

Hi... Happy Easter.  Sorry, I am in some tricky time in my life.  I read your blog. I am enjoying it. Great reflections and Ross. How we miss HIM!

Ross told me once that we can simplify our lives or if we want we can complicate them too... The "tricky times..." in our lives are created by us... and the solution of the trick lies deep inside us... If we want we can solve it... and if we want we can prolong the agony as long as we desire... All is within our reach and we determine the path ahead... 

It is Easter and I hope my friend finds peace of mind and determines to solve his "tricky" situation... I know that he is smart enough to be able to cut the Godian Knot... I hope he will be willing to use his wisdom as his sword and cut all the knots drowning him in "tricky" trips of mind...

Alexander the Great attempted to untie the Gordian Knot... He could not... So he drew his sword and cut it ...

I hope my friend does the same too...

***

And the Holy Week...                                           

60 million people are refugees or internally displaced... in the world... and statistics indicates that we are witnessing the largest globalized, world-wide forced displacement since World War II... 

The factors which are primarily contributing to the migration... are the same... They never changed... since the times of Jesus and Mohammad and the ancient Gods of Greece and Rome and Egypt...

Wars and internal conflicts and persecution... also policies adopted by governments such as forces conscription... lack of health care... and jobs and education... also natural forces like droughts and unchecked exploitation of natural resources and contamination of rivers and lakes ... in general, the down grading...  degradation of the environment... 

   Mass migration of crabs... they are looking for a place to rest... for a place to call home...

The Middle East, the Horn of Africa (Somalia and Eritrea...) and Central Asia... are the main contributors to people's migration... But unlike the myth... most of the displaced people remain  in or near their home counties... hoping against hope that they will return to their homes soon enough and cook and be happy... again... These people are satisfied with their very meager belongings and they live a simple life... ONLY if the rich and powerful of the world live them ALONE... 

The 60 million displaced people is our collective shame...  
The Global Village must be able to stop the agony of forced migration... otherwise we will long for another Alexander the Great... cutting the Gordian Knot... by unconventional ways...

***

Ross was a very spiritual person... It did not matter at all where he was expressing his spiritually... and later in his life he had began to visit various downtown churches... He wanted to be close to the educated people near the university where one could talk uninhibited and discuss the "tricky" knots which were grinding ones existence and bothering his being... For him it did not matter which denomination the church belonged to... Ross was not sectarian... and, he did not appreciate the dogmatic rule of the Organized Church... He did not shy away from critiquing the dogmas and accepted traditions... That's why some did not like him and others did not tolerate him...

He always challenged the dogma and the ossified traditions of the churches... whenever they did not make sense to him... and he walked away... so as not to paddle and waddle in the mud...

Ross would have loved Pope's Maundy Thursday pilgrimage to the prison... He would have followed Pope's example the year after... at Easter...
Ross loved to rebel against the dogmas... which imprisoned the soul and the mind... which essentially lacked any human logic...

Maundy Thursday... and I am hopeful ... for YOU and for ME and for WORLD PEACE...

In a brief, unscripted homily, the Pope told the young inmates that everyone, including him, had to be in the service of others.

“It is the example of the Lord. He was the most important but he washed the feet of others. The most important must be at the service of others,” he said.

The Pope visited a prison in Rome and knelt down in front of 12 inmates... six men and six women, to wash, dry and kiss their feet...

 

12 refugees participated in the ritual, including three Eritrean Coptic Christian migrants, four Catholics from Nigeria, three Muslims from Mali, Syria and Pakistan, and a Hindu man from India. As is reported, several of the migrants then wept as Pope Francis knelt before them, poured holy water from a brass pitcher over their feet, wiped them clean and kissed them...

The Pope's Message...

"All of us together: Muslims, Hindus, Catholics, Copts, Evangelicals. But all brothers and children of the same God,” the Pope said. “We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace."

***

I do not particularly appreciate Organized Religion...But also, I am not blind to good deeds by people...
On Maundy Thursday the Pope shattered few of the dogmatic traditions of the Church... and I am very happy for it... 

The Pope broke new ground and cracked more the glass ceiling of bigotry and ignorance... By washing the feet of Muslims and Hindus and Copts and Evangelicals... he demonstrated much more than just humility... He embraced the down trodden and preached inclusion of ALL... despite their faith and race and gender...

The Church cannot be ONLY for some privileged men... in riches and glitter... The Church, like governments, belongs to the people and the Pope has lit the candle to show the way...

The Pope is attempting to make Organized religion more relevant and also more humane... 

The "Traditionalists" by criticizing his attempts are upholding the ossification of religion and transforming Christianity into a dogma which excludes the people and upholds the privileges of the few. 

Muslim-Jihadists are bombing and maiming... but they are not showing the way out of the current Global turmoil... Maybe the humility of the Pope... Maybe embracing the downtrodden and his inclusive gestures will enlighten ALL "Traditionalists" and open up the Church for all... 

***

Another friend wrote... "It was snow day... things froze  everywhere and the school day was cancelled... but I went to nthe school anyway..." 

My friend concluded his email... "Immigrants have come here to work..."

I thought about his sentiment... Ross would have loved it...
..................

Some Syrian refugees are training in Germany for the Olympics... They hope they will be selected to participate in the Olympics...

"In the water," she says, "there is no difference if you are a refugee or a Syrian or German."

Yusra Mardini, 17, was one of the million-plus refugees who headed for Europe last year, fleeing her native Syria in a boat stuffed with about 20 others... When the engine died and the vessel started taking on water, she and her sister jumped overboard. Together they swam and pushed the boat for three and a half hours until it reached Lesbos in Greece... safely. Now Mardini, who found refuge in Germany, is among 43 migrant athletes looking to compete in the Rio Olympics this summer. I hope she will succeed... I hope the Easter lilies usher in                                                                                                  PEACE...

***

It is Easter... and the Peace of Humanity maybe with you...

Children and Maybe Hope... It's Easter. after all...

Ross,the chaplain at my school, taught me to be generous and share my blessings, both spiritual and material, with others... he said, “No one can be happy if they do not share with others... and I want you to be happy...”                                       I agreed with him...                                                  I do not remember exactly when, but it was one of the "food drives" at our school... I had a "homeroom" class... They were one of the graduating classes... They were supposed to bring their donations to my class... Every morning I spent a few initial minutes talking about sharing and the less fortunate kids... the kids were good and responsive... The young are always good and responsive... They donated much...That made me happy... I invited Ross to my class to talk to them and thank them... He did...                                                                 But, there was one kid... very smart and focussed...,he had a lovely, smart and focussed girlfriend too..., who did not participate... and the days were ticking... and the deadline fast approaching...                                                         I told Ross about it... "I am at a loss... I do not want to target him specifically, but i do not know how to get to him...! It is a bit depressing... and I feel defeated..."                           "You have done all you can...Let it rest...," Ross advised me... But eventually on the last day... in the morning, I noticed the kid come furtively to the classroom with a bag and placed his donation on the big pile with the rest...                         The kids are always good and generous and sharing... at times, when they imitate the elders...they are mean too...               I run to the chapel and shared the wonderful news with Ross... and we celebrated the day... later in the afternoon we had our happy hour...                                                                                         ***  

Very intimate, intensely dramatic, and deeply human telling of the Passion narrative, J. S. Bach sets scripture and poetry in music of heartbreaking emotion and beauty.                We always chose the concert which was in a church... The churches always have very good acoustics... Ross and I enjoyed it very much...

 Today, is Thursday... and Ross and I always attended a concert of Saint John Passion... enchanting passion and magical voices... of course couple of glasses of vodka transformed the voices much more charming... 
I loved the chanting... Back is superb with the music... at times I tapped on my knees...Ross noticed that and smiled... he did not say anything... Today, I will listen to the Saint John passion alone... and will remember all the kid who brought a bag of food, he is a medical doctor now... and married with his high school girl friend... and I will remember Ross too... and will pour a glass of brandy on the floor just for him... in my happy hour...today...                                      ***

The kids are good... but the adults bomb and maim...and kids imitate them...

   

The Manneken Pis (or Little Man Pee...), at a famous junction in Brussels... close to the Town hall, stands proud and peeing... 

Brussels has many popular attractions such as The Cinquantenaire Park, The Palace of Justice and The King’s House, but none are as amusing as this rather small bronze figure. Manneken Pis is a statue of a young boy who urinates into the fountain bowl below and standing only 61cm high, it is a wonder that he draws such a crowd. He is thought to have originated in the Middle Ages as a mere decoration upon a fountain, but as the boy began to wither, the city ordered a new one to be made by sculptor Jerome Duquesnoy in 1619. The purpose of this monument has always been a mystery and many interesting legends surround his meaning. One was the story of a young boy who relieved himself against the door of a witch’s house, which was situated on this site. The witch was so angry that she turned the boy to stone. Another tale is of a two-year-old lord, Duke Godfrey III of Leuven, who in 1142 was placed in a basket in a tree to watch over his men as they fought the Berthouts. Legend has it that the boy then urinated all over the enemy troops who eventually lost the battle.

The bombs kill and maim... But the bombers can never have fun... and can never enjoy the Manneken Pis... They never will enjoy peace... .

The Civilized world says... we piss on your bombs...an on you too.        

The Islamist-Jihadists not only bomb Europe, but they bomb and maim their own people too...

The kids are good... but the adults bomb and maim... Let the kids dream... and leave them alone...

Zaytoun and Zaytouna … a cultural pillar in Saraqeb, Syria...

A recent cover for Zaytoun and Zaytouna encourages children to hang on to their dreams and avoid joining the war...

"The magazine has given me a way to reach Syria's children," said illustrator Jubran Jubran. "I feel happy when I write or illustrate for them. I transcend reality to reach a child-like state."

Umm Saeed, a resident of Saraqeb, says that the magazine has become popular with her son and the neighborhood kids.

“My son learned many English words from the pictures and the educational model they present, as well as the stories I read to him from the magazine,” she said.

Saraqeb resident Abu Jamil, however, criticizes the magazine's exclusively secular tone. “I wish they would include more about the Quran and the prophetic sayings. I wish it would focus on instilling Islamic values, morals and traditions within our children, especially since Islam is systematically coming under attack,” he said.

Artist Diala Brisly fled Syria in 2013. She now lives in Beirut but she's well known inside Syria for her work on a children's magazine that, amazingly, is still printed and distributed inside the country. 

Check the marvels that Diala Brisly creates...

Close your eyes and imagine your home... the good old days... and the harvest... and peace...

Imagine the rainbow and people in harmony...

Smile and defeat the leaders of war...

All are the same... The leaders just come and bomb and disappear... The kids are abandoned... alone...

Imagine the dolls at your home... Are they still "alive?"...

Did they burn them too...? Maybe had the doll did not obey the Islamic-Jihadists rule for head cover... and so they hung her... maybe they burned her...
And then they went and bombed Paris... and bombed Brussels...
Maybe the bombers will be able to locate the kid's doll... Maybe the West will be able to find the doll...!!!
Maybe the doll is still "alive"...

The Jihadists parade their might... Who gave these trucks to 

them...? Who sold them these trucks...?

Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that the United States has determined that ISIS(Islamic Jihadist Satate) action against the Yazidis and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria constitutes genocide... "My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims," he said, during a news conference at the State Department. Kerry said that in 2014, ISIS trapped Yazidis, killed them, enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and girls, "selling them at auction, raping them at will and destroying the communities in which they had lived for countless generations," executed Christians "solely for their faith" and also "forced Christian women and girls into slavery." "Without our intervention, it is clear that those people would have been slaughtered," he said. This is the first time that the United States has declared a genocide since Darfur in 2004.

The West condemned the Darfur tragedy as genocide too... But then nothing happened... The people of Darfur still are in the desert and are suffering... 
Ross, the chaplain at my school, advised me not to take what people say at face value... He said that adults most of the time have an ulterior motive... and are expert cheaters and skilled, experienced "double talkers"...

***

But back to the art and artist...

 The artists explains...

 He's selling cotton candy. It's symbolic. He's a kid but he's selling things for other kids because he has to make a living. Most people who get this magazine are in the same situation. That's why I drew this boy happy. I can't find a solution for him but I want him to be happy anyway. He will keep working, he doesn't have any solution. 

The artist wanted the kid to be happy... 
Kids all over the world should be happy... But some work as slave labour... and then we buy those shoes!
But some are child soldiers and we supply the bombs and the weapons to them... 

The young girl lost her brother... But she still supports others... They support each other... The adults have gone to war... The adults have migrated to Europe... But the kids are still in Syria... and do not have much... They are the war orphans... 

War orphans are the other tragedy of war... 

The adults fight... and the kids pay...

What is it that adults can not share...?

Ross said they are just stupid... 

I had happier times teaching to the kids than associating with the adults... They were two faced hypocrites... and back stabbers...

The kid is begging for his last hand...
Will the adults leave him/her alone... 
The kids are good... The adults bomb and maim... 
The adults are greedy... and greed creates conflict...

I am note sure if we will ever learn how to share... 
I am not sure if we will be able to harness our greed and share...

I am not sure if we will listen to the kid begging for his/her last limb...

The adults began the wars... in the Middle East... and now they blame each other for the migrant crisis... and they blame each other for the Paris bombings... for the Brussels bombings...
Adults bomb and maim... and the kids pay the price...  




It may be the end... 
But the guy in the boat wants to document it... Both the horror and the peril...

It maybe the end... they may drown the next moment... but the guy wants us to remember... the sea... the sinking boat... the drowning people...

The adults bomb and maim...

But the kids pay the price...

  

No need for comment... 

Just a PEACE...

It was World Poetry Day, Yesterday...

Ross wanted to visit Europe with me... He though it will be more worthwhile and pleasurable with me...because I have been there and because I have many friends their... He wanted to see Europe and meet my friends too...
Today I woke I to the sad situation in Brussels where bombs exploded and human beings killed a maimed other human beings...
and Ross was on my mind...
He wanted to see Europe and celebrate life...  But Organized Religion... this time Islamic-Jihadists...spew their hated and Organized Religion becomes organized violence... 
Ross wanted to see Europe... celebrate culture and civilization... He was a happy man from Montreal... and he liked good things... In holy week we attended Saint John Passion concert together and talked of good things and raised our glasses for world peace... 
He wanted to visit Europe and travel beyond...but it never happen... and the Islamic-Jihadists will sill kill and maim...

***

Yesterday, March 21 was World Poetry Day...
French priest and poet said: "Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes." When people were still dressing for Sunday and celebrating a "restful day..." This day, that is yesterday, the world recognizes the moving spirit of poetry and its perpetually transformative, and indeed metamorphosing effect of poetry on culture and on civilization...  
In the math department I had a poet-math teacher...
I asked him many times to open to the students and initiate a poetry club... He was shy and did not want the responsibility...
Ross entreated him... but he was shy and neglected him...
Today I remembered him too... and I hope he is writing still...
Writing is good and purifies the thinking process... writing explores new crevices deep inside you...   
So, 
Write a poem today... Hand it to the wind... Let it whirl around...  wonder with the wind... Let it be filled with love... Let it shower peace among people...

Just write a poem... and kiss it goodbye... Let it hop on flowers... Let it hug trees... and embrace people with lasting peace...

Just write a poem... One line or two and maybe three... let it go free with the breeze... and let it rain peace... 

It is the Holy Week... so just write a poem... and let it promise PEACE...

***

Oscar Wilde and Pablo Neruda and Langston Hughes...

           Pablo Neruda

The Portrait In The Rock


Oh yes I knew him, I spent years with him,
with his golden and stony substance,
he was a man who was tired -
in Paraguay he left his father and mother,
his sons, his nephews,
his latest in-laws,
his house, his chickens,
and some half-opened books.
They called him to the door.
When he opened it, the police took him,
and they beat him up so much
that he spat blood in France, in Denmark,
in Spain, in Italy, moving about,
and so he died and I stopped seeing his face,
stopped hearing his profound silence ;
then once, on a night of storms,
with snow spreading
a smooth cloak on the mountains,
on horseback, there, far off,
I looked and there was my friend -
his face was formed in stone,
his profile defied the wild weather,
in his nose the wind was muffling
the moaning of the persecuted.
There the exile came to ground.
Changed into stone, he lives in his own country. 
Pablo Neruda
  

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967      Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? 
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free?  Not me?
Surely not me?  The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!

***
It was  World Poetry Day yesterday, and I was celebrating when the reality struck in Belgium and it cut my celebration short...                                                                                 Organized Religion, this time Islamic Jihadists, in the service of hate and violence...without borders...
  

Hate and violence has been integral part of Islam... and I wish Muslim governments like Turkey and Saudi Arabia and Iran and Indonesia and ALL the rest will loudly condemn the violence...

  

Hate and violence has been part and parcel of organized religion and I hope the faithful will condemn the violence perpetrated in their name... Hate and violence have never brought peace and never have corrected the mistakes of the past...

Violence only begets violence and blood begets blood... I know that an eye for an eye... will only make TWO people blind... and never cure anything...

Turkey has manipulated the migrant situation to his benefit... and as usual the European governments even after the bombings in Paris and in Brussels... are giving way to Turkish manipulations and blackmail...
This mother with her child is the victim of Turkish-Islamic manipulations and European greed... So the agreement says... 
All "irregular migrants" crossing from Turkey into Greece from 20 March will be sent back. Each arrival will be individually assessed by the Greek authorities...
and, For each Syrian returned to Turkey, a Syrian migrant will be resettled in the EU. Priority will be given to those who have not tried to illegally enter the EU and the number is capped at 72,000
Also European Union will lift visa restrictions from Turkey... Give Turkey financial aid and expedite negotiations for Turkish EU membership...Governments 
So Turkey plays politics with the Syrian migrants and manipulates the European governments and harvests the benefits...

***
A Sad Contradiction... a soldier in the flowers...

What a sad combination... An agent of death in the blooming spring...

Yet maybe Easter will bring PEACE...