Oge Young MD lives in Concord.

The skies over the Middle East are frightening. Missiles bellow “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” words from the Book of Exodus declaring the principle of reciprocal justice, rooted in Lex Talionis, the Latin expression for “the law of retaliation.”

The truth is that we can never achieve peace through violence. People romanticize and mythologize war. It has never brought peace. The conflicts in the Middle East and most wars are an attempt to seek control, of being superior, not a means of seeking peace.

Unforgettable for me are the words from a Palestinian Dartmouth medical student from Gaza. When asked how she felt being in class next to Jewish students, she responded, “It is hard to be with people who have killed your brother and your cousin.” Sorrowfully, I lost track of her after she left medical school.

Unlike many foreign medical students who stay and practice in the U.S. after their training, she seemed intent on returning home to care for her Palestinian people and stay close to her family.

I think of her when there are photographs depicting the bombings of hospitals in Gaza, and hope that she is still alive and safe among the rubble.

The feelings she shared came from a very compassionate human being. Her words arose from a lifetime of deep hatred for those who have brought suffering to her and her loved ones, even knowing that Israelis, too, have experienced the same painful losses. Peace begins with the belief that life is sacred, that we are all equal sisters and brothers.

We need to question how as humans, we can remain silent while the fighting rages, people die in poverty, nuclear weapons and environmental destruction threaten us all. Pope Paul VI once said, “If you want peace, seek justice.” Gandhi showed that nonviolence is not passive. It is a form of active love that seeks justice for all humankind.

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My hope is that my Palestinian medical student will someday open herself to love, to the beauty of this earth and contribute to its healing even though she, her family, and her people have been so violated. That someday, she will greet Jewish people with an open hand and heart, not a clenched fist.

This world is rich with different countries, different cultures and many different languages, but there is a common human experience that we must find, know and respect. “Look into yourself and find how deep is the place from which life flows.” (Maria Rilke)

Our moral task is a revolution of peace in this 21st century. And by revolution, I do not mean violence.