I just *have to* believe that one day the entire western community will see this crisis for what it really is *and will side with us*.

I've just come back from a trip to Italy where I tried to engage people in conversation about the Israeli-Arab conflict. I tried to explain my people's plight to them. I tried to open them up to the reality of our situation and make them aware of all the lies that are spread against us. I explained the situations in which I've found myself face to face with terrorists and the times in which I was disappointed by complete strangers who accused me of crimes I've never committed. I told them about the brutal religious persecution we suffer at home, about the one we suffer in the rest of the world, about the one we suffered *across the recent centuries*. I told them all of this and more but no matter how much I talked or how well I tried to speak their language, they just wouldn't listen. "The problem is Israel" they kept saying. It's always about Israel. The crisis seems endless and I just can't keep fighting. I think I just have to *believe* in a better future for my people.