While I have become quite cynical about the Middle East peace process, I still believe peace can be achieved if left to the people, not the politicians. My quilt square is from a series of tapestries I wove in the early 90's. This one is entitled Broken Promises.

One of our cats is a hunter: he kills birds. He brings them into the house and usually eats them, so that the next morning we only find blood stains on the carpet and a few feathers. I am a vegetarian, an environmentalist, a pacifist, yet my cat is a killer. Is the fact that he is programmed to kill for food a mitigating circumstance? Is he part of the balance of nature? Are people also programmed to kill? Can killing ever be justified? Out of these moral dilemmas, and my sorrow over the needless deaths of these birds, came a series of small tapestries.

As I sat at my loom weaving images of death and listening to the news of senseless killings by both Palestinians and Israelis, my purpose in these tapestries grew to encompass my response to the ritual killing in wars, especially "holy wars," and to all murder, no matter what justification is given by fanatics for it's necessity. This is no way for people to act to one another. We must honour the spirit within.

Barbara Heller, Vancouver British Columbia Canada