"Israel Loves Iran Campaign;" Viewing it Through a Lens

View it first through the lens of You Tube. On March 14th, 2012, a campaign created by Ronny Edri, an Israeli graphic artist and teacher, designed a poster reading “Iranians we will never bomb your country. We love you.” After posting it on You Tube, it has been the catalyst for thousands in Israel, Iran and now across the world, to take a closer look at how citizens of these two countries, on the verge of potential war, really feel about each other. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_WXeQ7iRS0

It was a simple message of a desire for peace, for a changed future, rather than the present fear. Both Israeli and Iranian citizens are listening to the awakening of sentiment for each other as people who don’t really know why they are supposed to hate each other. They are being enlightened to viewing each other through new lenses of transparency as they share comments, opinions and messages via Facebook for the first time. As they do, they are discovering that they do not hate each other as they have been taught, but rather share an overwhelming desire for peace and unity as well as a true connect as human beings.

Now here it may be asked, is it through rose-colored glasses that so many Israelis might be seeing and joining the “love bomb” campaign as it is now dubbed? They see it hopefully as an avenue for peace. However, not every citizen is on board, perhaps not having a pair of rose-colored glasses. Many still view war as the only answer to Iranian threats of war.

In Iran, the ordinary citizens’ rose-colored glasses are at best, dimmed and viewed in secrecy, for the government lens sees it all quite differently and attempts to keep the citizens with little lens at all. Government laws and internet censorship there are very strict. Iranian citizens are held to laws forbidding them use of internet communication or viewing and are criminally charged for a peek at the outside world via Facebook. Iranians put themselves at great risk for expressing online, any solidarity with Israelis. The Iranian people hold onto the hope for a quiet life of peace. The government holds onto the power, the answers to their pleas.

Regardless, both Israeli and Iranian citizens are doing what they can to communicate their love for each other and perpetuate the momentum of the “love bomb” campaign all in hopes of staving off war and finding peace.

To get one more perspective and peek at one more view, let’s look through another lens at this current event. People might consider looking to find real peace through the lens of Scripture. For there, God reveals His truths for each and every person, because of His great love for them. It is the only peace and love worthy of the search. It is there, in His Word, that we can view the future—not through a shade or strength of a lens or man’s limited sight, but through the power, hope and grace that is in Jesus, the Messiah. It is He who holds the answer to the peace the “love bomb” so earnestly is after and through His lens of salvation that peace eternal is truly possible.

So which lens will you choose to view your hopes, your dreams for your life, peace, your future? Will they be rose-colored, transparent, dimmed, or will you choose no lens, relying on your own limited sight? Or, will you seek to find all you need for this life and all eternity through God’s perfect lens, that is, His Word, and His Son, Jesus the Messiah?

As the “Israel Loves Iran” campaign continues, Ronny Edri and all those who have exchanged words and sought unity, continue to hope for peace. Keep your glasses handy as the story unfolds for these two nations and remember to choose your lenses wisely.