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Abstract

In this essay, I reflect on my life story as an Armenian-Lebanese, and analyze my experiences with war and peace in terms of the Armenian Genocide, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Lebanon’s civil war. In light of these experiences, I concluded that the message and example of peace, which I had learned at home, church, and school, were in severe contrast with each other, and difficult to reconcile. During the earlier periods in my life, I knew that providentially my disappointment was with human nature, and that the frame of peace had to be larger, and its reach had to be deeper than what I had witnessed. Within a Christian framework, I began to believe that humans’ task was to reconstruct hope in life among one another. Rooted in these experiences and perspectives, I conclude my essay by offering practical advice for peacebuilding in educational institutions and beyond, while sharing a story from my childhood as an illustration for hope and bridgebuilding.

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