No. Words.

Is there anything left to say? The fact that the latest mass school shooting in the United States is hardly a surprise says it all.

The bits and pieces of data are stunning: since Sandy Hook in 2012, when 20 first-graders and 6 adult educators were murdered, there have been over 1600 mass shootings in the United States, 240 of these in schools. Since the beginning of 2018, there have been 18, a rate of 3 a week. Today I heard that while the United States represents only about 5% of the world’s population, we account for more than 30% of gun deaths world-wide. What is wrong with us?

Here in Israel, guns are ubiquitous. We see them everywhere, mostly on the young IDF soldiers (Israeli Defense Force) — 18, 19 and 20-year-olds, both women and men, who are obliged to serve (with some exceptions, but that’s another story). Everywhere I go, on  the public busses, at the sights to which pilgrims and visitors flock, in the shopping districts, outside the revered holy places — they are there, with a handgun casually swinging from their belts or a rifle slung over their shoulders.

Yet mass shootings of the type we have in the U.S. are virtually unknown here. For any civilian to get a gun for personal ownership involves months of applications, interviews, background checks, classes, and more. Months. And no one thinks that is too intrusive or a violation of rights.

Israelis and Palestinians are, however, deeply astonished, befuddled, and shocked at what we “allow” to happen in the United States. With the recent massacre at Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, however, I think I see a change.

When the gunman in Las Vegas killed scores of concert goers last October, Israeli after Israeli, Palestinian after Palestinian, asked me, “Why?” “Why do you Americans allow this to happen?? “Why don’t you DO something to stop it?”

Why indeed.

But now, hardly anyone asks anymore. They just shrug their shoulders and even if shocked, they have begun to just assume that this is the way America works, this is what Americans tolerate.

And indeed, we do allow this to happen. All the “prayers and thoughts” in the world don’t mask the fact that we allow this to happen.

I heard two heartbreaking stories yesterday: one mother of a young boy reported that her son asked, as she dropped him off at school, “Are those windows bullet-proof?”

How does a young child even know the term “bullet-proof”??

And the second — a young girl came home from school in tears, telling her mother that she HAD TO HAVE new shoes. Her sneakers, which she initially treasured because they blinked colorful flashing lights, were too dangerous now because they would reveal her whereabouts to a gunman.

How can we tolerate a nation in which children have to consider such scenarios?

Many people are now heartened to see the rising anger and activism among the young people who were survivors at Parkland … and beyond. The high school students (and younger) have begun to assume that since the adults won’t fix the problem, they’re going to have to do it. Marches and protests are planned. The youth are calling their elders to account.

That’s better than, once again, no change, I suppose. But what does it say about us that we have to look to children and youth to solve this problem for us?

It’s the season of Lent, time for some soul-searching. We’d better give those young people all the support they need, and then some.

Godde won’t help us if we don’t.

Author: kathleenschatzberg

I'm a writer, an educator -- 45 years in education, 35 of them in community colleges -- and a lifelong advocate for justice (community colleges are, in fact, instruments of social justice). I have always been passionate about learning, traveling, and understanding the world's religions and political systems. This "Crossroads" blog offers my reflections on living for 7 months as a volunteer at Tantur Ecumenical Institute. On a hill in Jerusalem, within sight of Bethlehem, Tantur hosts students, scholars, and seeker for interfaith engagement and theological and biblical study. View all posts by kathleenschatzberg