Over the weekend we woke up to the news that Palestine, more specifically the extremist group Hamas, had surprisingly attacked Israel. Thousands of bombs, hundreds of dead and wounded, structures destroyed and a conflict that has been going on for thousands of years that has not come to an end.

Jews and Muslims, cultures born of the same father Abraham, take different paths when their sons, Isaac and Ishmael, are conceived. Isaac, son of his wife Sarah, Ishmael was born from the relationship with Sarah's handmaid Hagar.

Sibling feuds are part of the bible, Cain fought with Abel and Esau with Jacob. What does this sibling rivalry and their relationship between Jews and Palestinians teach us?

BIRTH OF ISHMAEL, BEGINNING OF MUSLIMS

"The angel also said, 'Now you are with child and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael (which means "God hears"), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. [12] This son of yours will be an untamable man, as untamable as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against all, and all will be against him. He will live in open opposition to all his relatives" Genesis 16:11-12.

BIRTH OF ISAAC, PEOPLE OF THE JEWS.

But God said to him, "No. Sarah your wife will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant" Genesis 17:19.

THE PROMISE OF DISCORD

God makes the promise to Abraham to give that land to his descendants and bless them.

"I will confirm my covenant with you and with your descendants after you from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of all your descendants, [8] and I will give to you and your descendants all the land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner. It shall be their possession forever, and I will be their God" Genesis 17:7-8.

"As for Ishmael, him also I will bless, just as you have asked me. I will make him very fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make of him a great nation; [21] but my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah within a year" Genesis 17:20-21

FIGHTING AMONG SIBLINGS

Anyone who has siblings knows what it's like to fight about anything with them. Get upset and the angrier you get the better, but in the end we make up and move on; unfortunately it is not always like that.

One of the dates of more murders between siblings is Mother's Day, it is a statistic that surprises when we would expect it to be completely the opposite.

"LOVE ONE ANOTHER" is a clear and precise instruction for Jews and Palestinians. In the Torah and the Koran, love of neighbor is the basis of faith and the true life of God. Allah or Allah is the same God in Arabic language.

The signs that the end times are coming is the impossibility of reconciliation between brothers even though in both faiths it is declared that it should be so.

May this example of sibling rivalry leading to destruction teach us where arguments and strife end if we do not focus on reconciliation, forgiveness and love. It is our duty as children of God to love everyone, to pray for everyone, because they are our brothers.

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may all who love this city prosper. [7] O Jerusalem, let there be peace within your walls and prosperity in your palaces. [8] For the sake of my family and my friends, I will say, "May you have peace" Psalm 122:6-8.

May the Lord protect and keep all those in the conflict. Keep Jerusalem in these days of war, your children who are in strife for centuries and somehow, although you said Lord that it would pass, everything comes to an end, being necessary that you come again to impose peace and love as law, your law.

God bless you!