WASHINGTON — The street, normally quiet, was abuzz. The block lit up with flashing police cruisers and officers in tactical vests. Some had covered their faces. Neighbors came out of homes. Some hurled insults at the police, telling them to leave — or worse. Dozens joined in a chant: “Shame on you.”
Aaron Goldstein approached two officers. “Can you tell me why you couldn’t do this at 10:30 or 9:30, and why you had to terrorize the children in our neighborhood?” the man asked the officers as they turned their gazes away from him. Both wore dark sunglasses against the morning sun.
They said nothing.
The arrest shattered the routine of the neighborhood around Bancroft Elementary School, a public school where more than 60% of students are Latino. It came on the third day of a new school year, and immigration fears had already left the neighborhood on edge. Groups of residents had started escorting students to school from two nearby apartment complexes.
It was just another morning in Washington, D.C., in Summer 2025 — the summer of President Trump’s federal law-enforcement intervention in the nation’s capital.
A confrontation that was one among many
Some interludes unfold calmly. During others, nothing happens at all. But the boil-over Wednesday morning was one among many that have erupted across the city since Trump’s police takeover, offering a glimpse into daily life in a city where emotions have been pulled taut. Sightings of police activity spread quickly, attracting residents who say the federal infusion is unwelcome.
Families and children had been making their way toward a bilingual elementary school in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood when federal and local police officers descended on an apartment building just blocks from the school. Neighbors had been on high alert amid fears of increased immigration enforcement.
Now officers were flooding the street, some in plainclothes and face coverings. Some carried rifles or riot shields. Neighbors gathered outside and began yelling at the police to leave. Blocks away, as word spread, an assistant principal waiting to greet students sprinted to the scene.
In an interview, Goldstein, the Mount Pleasant resident, said it felt like a violation of the neighborhood, which he described as a “peaceful mix of white professionals and migrant neighbors, with a lot of love in it.”
“People are on Signal chats and they’re absolutely terrified, and everyone is following this,” said Goldstein, 55, who had just dropped off his third-grade daughter at Bancroft. “It’s distressful. We feel invaded, and it’s really terrible.”
The standoff continued after police arrested a man who they said is accused of drug and firearm crimes. Dozens of residents trailed officers down a side street and continued the jeers. “Quit your jobs.” “Nobody wants you here.” “You’re ruining the country.”
Asked about the episode later at a news conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it attracted “a significant number of protesters” but “we were able to maintain calm.” Said Bowser: “I know there’s a lot of anxiety in the District.”
One officer, in the middle of it all, tries to talk
The conflict was punctuated by a remarkably candid conversation led by a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant who took questions from neighbors in what he described as “not an official press conference.”
“This is just me talking to community members,” Sgt. Michael Millsaps said, leaning back against the rear bumper of a cruiser.
Millsaps said the city’s police department was carrying out a planned arrest of a “suspected drug dealer” with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The suspect was taken into custody and a search of his apartment uncovered narcotics and an illegal firearm, Millsaps said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers joined only as a distraction to prevent protesters from disrupting the operation, he said.
“The immigration folks were parked over there to get y’all to leave us alone,” he said. ICE officials did not immediately comment.
Residents told Millsaps that their trust of the city’s police had been broken. They said they felt less safe amid Trump’s crackdown. Millsaps said he was sorry to hear it. “I hear your frustrations. My job is to take it.”
Still, he described a different response from residents east of the Anacostia River, in some of the city’s highest crime areas. “I go on the other side of the river now, it’s the opposite. People come outside and thank us,” he said.
Mount Pleasant resident Nancy Petrovic was among those yelling at city and ATF officers after the arrest. Petrovic, a lifelong resident of the area, rushed out of her home when she heard yelling shortly after 8 a.m. She counted at least 10 police cars lined up across the block.
“Kids are going to school, they’re walking to school, and it’s frightening to them and their parents,” said Petrovic, who said the street is usually quiet and has no need for more police. “We want them to go away.”
Asked about the timing of the arrest, Millsaps said it was a planned operation similar to countless others.
“I’ve been doing this for 14 years, serving these warrants at the same time of day,” he said. “The only difference is you’ve got a big crowd here, which added even more police presence. But this was just a normal police operation.”
Welcome to June. We’re halfway through this tumultuous year and there’s only one thing I can say for certain about 2025: It’s moving fast.
I have lots to share in this newsletter, including a long list of plant-related events and activities, but let’s start with goats, sheep and this question: What’s the best way to clear highly flammable weeds from L.A.’s steep urban slopes?
Clearing those hills with weed whackers to knock down black mustard and oats, two invasive plants that burn easily once they’re dry, is noisy, difficult work, and hiring others to do it is expensive.
It is much easier to instead use goats and sheep to nimbly devour all the offending plants, leaving fresh fertilizer (a.k.a. manure) along the way to enrich the soil and give native plants a running chance to reappear. And it is wonderful to see a fluid herd moving slowly along the hill, with little lambs and kids frisking behind their mothers, making sweet bleating sounds instead of the polluting, teeth-grinding whine of gasoline-powered weed whackers.
Goats and sheep seem unbothered by the steep grade on Kite Hill in Mount Washington as they chow down on invasive oat grass.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
A group of Mount Washington small-parcel landowners banded together this spring to create such a pastoral scene, drawing small crowds of delighted neighbors. The goats and sheep got rave reviews, and everyone hopes to see it happen again next year.
Except (you knew this was coming) here’s the problem:
Between transportation and labor costs, the job was a money-losing proposition for the herder, said Brittany “Cole” Bush, owner of Shepherdess Land & Livestock in Ojai and program director of the nonprofit Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council.
Bush agreed to bring 100 of her nearly 600 head of goats and dorper sheep (a.k.a. hair sheep that molt their coats) to Mount Washington as an experiment this spring. Neighbors who own small parcels from a quarter acre to 6 acres banded together to make it happen. Many of those parcels are adjoined, so if enough landowners came together to cover the cost, it seemed like a win-win for everyone.
But there weren’t enough collaborators to make the project pencil out, Bush said, and without a firm partnership, “it’s just not economically viable for small landowners to hire us.” Her company, she said, needs at least $10,000 to clear at least 10 acres before it can cover all its considerable costs.
For example, Bush said she can comfortably fit 100 animals in one of her 24-foot-long double deck trailers, but big rigs like that can’t navigate narrow windy roads, “and the roads around Mount Washington are absolutely bonkers, so we had to use an 18-foot trailer and make three 100-mile round trips to get all the animals we needed up there, about 101 goats and sheep.”
Pliable, solar-powered electric fences have to be erected even on the steepest hills to keep grazers out of yards and both two-legged and four-legged predators away from the herd.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
And then it takes a day for a shepherd to set up 1,000 to 2,000 feet of pliable, solar-powered electric fences around the grazing area, something they must do repeatedly as the herd moves to new grazing areas. And the shepherds must be on guard 24 hours a day to protect the herd from predators like coyotes, neighborhood dogs and humans who think they’re tasty, or just think it would be fun to knock down the fence to watch the whole herd wander out onto a street, which happened in Santa Clarita in April.
So if you have a landowner with just a small parcel, say a quarter or half acre, they only want to pay around $500, Bush said, “but $500 doesn’t cover my cost for the day. For small acreage it would need to be closer to $2,000 an acre for it to work.”
The solution, she said, will require more cohesive partnerships between small landowners, nonprofits and public entities such as fire safe councils (there are several around L.A. County), resource conservation districts and even county parks and recreation programs to go after state grant money that, thanks to a new law, can now be used to help pay for prescribed grazing.
There is an L.A.-based company that uses goats to clear small parcels of land, typically an acre or less, but even for Party Goats LA, those costs typically run around $1,200 to $2,000 for a parcel under an acre, said owner Scout Raskin, with the cost largely dependent on how much fencing she has to use to contain the herd.
A billy goat munches on a tall, slender stalk of invasive black mustard at the top of Kite Hill in Mount Washington.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Raskin has been raising and training a small herd of goats and sheep for seven years, renting them out for parties, films and other special events, but when she lost her job as a television animation producer in 2023, she turned her side hustle into a full-time gig by adding brush clearance to their duties.
She had to increase her flock first, to 28 goats and eight sheep, all of whom she bottle fed, trained and named, and get some lessons in rolling out electric fencing on near-vertical slopes. But the phone has been ringing off the hook this year, she said.
It’s a lot of work, Raskin said, “but the benefits of grazing are insane, because the goats eat the seeds, so the vegetation density goes down every year because the seeds don’t germinate … and they’re depositing their nutrient-rich manure into the soil.”
Final bonus point, said parcel owner Michael Tessler, is the camaraderie and happiness that came with the grazers. Tessler, an architect, bought his small, unbuildable parcel on Kite Hill, a few blocks from his home, to encourage the growth of more native walnut trees and other native shrubs on the steep slope. Grazing wasn’t cheaper than hiring a weed-whacking team to do the work, he said, but the benefits are so much greater.
“I’ve met more neighbors in the past two and a half weeks than I have in the last 15 year of living here,” Tessler said. “People tend to be guarded on a day-to-day basis, but they see a sheep and something changes in them.”
Then bring on the sheep, I say, or as Tessler said more beautifully, “Put joy in the world where you can.”
Two other notes:
Project Phoenix, a joint project of UCLA and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, needs your help to understand how wildfire smoke is affecting birds in California, Oregon and Washington.
Program director Olivia Sanderfoot is looking for volunteers — community scientists — to watch birds in the same specific location for 10 minutes once a week, and report what they see. You can observe multiple locations, just make sure you fill out a separate form for each spot, even if one spot is in your front yard and another is in your back. Signing up is easy, and you’ll be automatically enrolled in online training. I’ll be watching from my front yard, where I have lots of native plants, and my back, where most of my veggies are planted.
An early morning fire at Arlington Garden in Pasadena on May 21 destroyed the garden’s storage shed and all the tools, event furniture and other equipment stored inside, as well as the electricity that powered its extensive drip irrigation system. The fire is still under investigation, but South Pasadena Fire Investigator John Papadakis said arson wasn’t the cause.
In the meantime, the garden is closed until the area can be cleared, said Executive Director A.J. Jewell. The board has started a $40,000 fundraiser to help replace the shed and other items destroyed in the fire.
Newsletter
You’re reading the L.A. Times Plants newsletter
Jeanette Marantos gives you a roundup of upcoming plant-related activities and events in Southern California, along with our latest plant stories.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Upcoming events
Through Dec. 31 Free soil testing for lead for certain properties downwind of the Eaton fire burn area, provided by the County of Los Angeles Public Health Department. Enter your address on the website to see if your property qualifies. Test results take about a week and measure lead levels in the soil only. Instructions for collecting soil samples are on the website. publichealth.lacounty.gov
June 1 San Gabriel Valley Chrysanthemum Society Chrysanthemum & Plant Sales, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Los Angeles County Arboretum’s Ayres Hall in Arcadia. Admission to the sale is free with $15 ticket to the garden ($11 seniors 62+ and students with ID, $5 children ages 5-12, members and children 4 and younger enter free). arboretum.org
June 6 Propagating California Native Plants From Cuttings, a hands-on class taught by Theodore Payne Foundation Horticulture Director Tim Becker, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the foundation in Sun Valley. Participants will leave with a flat of 50 starts. All materials provided. Tickets are $92.55 ($81.88 members). eventbrite.com
June 7 Monrovia Community Garden Volunteer Day, 9 a.m. to noon in Monrovia. Volunteers will help with a variety of activities, including weeding and garden maintenance. Participation is free but registration is required. portal.caclimateactioncorps.org
Compost Workshop at Apricot Lane Farms, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the farm in Moorpark. A hands-on workshop about how the farm creates compost and uses it to enrich its soil. Tickets are $80.52. eventbrite.com
June 8 California Botanic Garden’s Introduction to the Sunflower family (Asteraceae), an introductory hands-on class taught by Samantha Ingram, the garden’s botany program graduate student, 1 to 4 p.m. at the garden in Claremont. Register online, $55 ($45 members). calbg.org
Community Habitat Restoration work around the Audubon Center, 8:15 to 10:45 a.m. at Ernest E. Debs Regional Park in Montecito Heights. Volunteers will help remove invasive species and water new native plantings. Participation is free but you must register online. act.audubon.org
June 13 Comprehensive Irrigation for California Native Plants, a hands-on class taught by Theodore Payne Foundation Horticulture Director Tim Becker, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the foundation in Sun Valley. Learn how, when and why to irrigate California native plants in a landscape. Tickets are $71.21 ($60.54 members). eventbrite.com
June 14 Planting for Pollinators at San Clemente State Beach, 9 a.m. to noon in San Clemente, one of many activities planned statewide in honor of California State Parks Week June 11-15. The goal of the San Clemente State Parks event is to create a community garden, path and educational area and to enhance habitat for the overwintering Western monarch. The beach is one of only 50 designated coastal overwintering sites for the endangered butterfly. Participants will help with planting, weeding and watering while learning how to identify pollinators and the native plants they need to survive. Activities also include crafts, storytelling and an art installation giving participants a chance to paint a pre-drawn mural. All ages welcome, ADA accessible. Participation is free but registration is required. castateparksweek.org
Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts Carnivorous Plant Show & Sale, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sherman Library & Gardens in Corona del Mar. The show includes a talk and Q&A about carnivorous plants at 11:30 a.m. and a guided tour of the garden’s carnivorous bog at 1:30 p.m. led by Horticulture Director Kyle Cheesborough. Free with $5 admission to the garden (members and children 3 and younger enter free.) Military ID holders also enter free with up to five family members through Labor Day (Sept. 1) as well as on Veterans Day (Nov. 11). thesherman.org
Black Thumb Farm Native Plant Stewarding and Propagation, 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the farm in Panorama City. Learn how to identify plants, their role in the ecosystem and how to propagate native plants found around the farm. Participation is free, but registration is required. portal.caclimateactioncorps.org
Summer Rose Care Class, a free class about how to care for roses during the summer to prolong your blooms into the fall, 10 to 11 a.m. at Otto & Sons Nursery in Fillmore. ottoandsonsnursery.com
Nature Club for Kids: Butterflies With the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, a free introduction to the butterflies living on the peninsula, with crafts and a butterfly hike for ages 3 to 10 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the White Point Nature Education Center in San Pedro. pvplc.org
Guided Nature Walk at Alta Vicente Reserve, a moderate to strenuous walk exploring coastal sage scrub habitat with views of Catalina Island and a chance to spot rare birds such as coastal cactus wrens, 9 to 11:30 a.m. in Rancho Palos Verdes. Free, but registration is required. pvplc.org
June 14-15 Los Angeles International Fern Society Annual Fern & Exotic Plant Show & Sale, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on June 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 15 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum’s Ayres Hall in Arcadia. Admission is free with $15 ticket to the garden ($11 seniors 62+ and students with ID, $5 children ages 5-12, members and children 4 and younger enter free). arboretum.org
June 14 and 28 Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy’s Native Plant Sales 10:30 a.m. to noon both days at the George F. Canyon Nature Preserve in Rancho Palos Verdes on June 14 and the White Point Nature Education Center in San Pedro on June 28. Plants are grown at the conservancy’s nursery. pvplc.org
June 14, 21 and 28th Three-Part California Native Garden Design class taught by landscape designer Mari Taylor of Deerbrush Design, 1 to 5 p.m. each day at the Theodore Payne Foundation classroom in Sun Valley. Learn how to evaluate your existing garden, use or convert irrigation systems and basic design approaches. The introductory, online Right Plant, Right Place class on June 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. ($35, or $25 members) is a prerequisite for this course. Tickets are $348.65 ($295.29 members) or $412.67 for couples ($359.32 members). eventbrite.com
June 20-22 Grow Native Nursery Milkweed Fest & End-Of-Season Plant Sale, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 20-21, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 22 at the California Botanic Garden. The nursery is celebrating monarch butterflies with the sale of seven different regional species of milkweed, the plant their larva (caterpillars) require to survive, as well as many other California native plants popular with pollinators. This is the last weekend the nursery will be open until the fall. The sale begins June 20. The Milkweed Fest on June 21 will include information about butterfly gardening, the monarch count in Los Angeles and Orange counties and milkweed mapping with vendors from the Xerces Society and Monarch Watch. On June 22, the festival ends with the Butterflies and Brews happy hour from 3:30 to 6 p.m. with drinks, music and socializing. calbg.org
June 21 Fire-Resilient Gardens: A Maintenance Walk and Talk with Theodore Payne Foundation educator Erik Blank, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the foundation in Sun Valley. Learn how to prune and maintain your garden for wildfire safety. Tickets are $39.19 ($28.52 members). eventbrite.com
June 21, 22, 28 or 29 Early Summer Tours of Apricot Lane Farms, the famed organic Moorpark farm behind the documentary film “The Biggest Little Farm,” at 9 to 11 a.m. or 1 to 3 p.m. each day. Participants must be able to walk at least 1.5 miles on a tour that includes several hill climbs. Tickets are $64.69, children 5 and younger enter free with a ticketed adult. eventbrite.com
June 27 Propagating California Native Plants From Seed During the Warm Season, a class taught by horticulturist Ella Andersson, the Theodore Payne Foundation‘s chief botanical technician, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the foundation. Participants will help plant 10 species of warm-season seeds, which they can take home. All materials are included. Tickets are $92.55 ($81.88 members). eventbrite.com
June 28 Los Angeles Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers Humongous June Plant Sale, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sepulveda Garden Center in Encino. The sale includes a variety of rare and unusual plants, including fruit trees, vines, berries, roses, flowers and succulents, and an expert on hand to answer questions about their care. Proceeds from the sale will go to support the chapter’s agricultural education programs. crfg-la.org
Botany of Oaks: A walk and talk native tree workshop with arborist Alison Lancaster, 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Theodore Payne Foundation grounds in Sun Valley. Learn how to recognize the many varieties of oaks during an outdoor walk followed by studying oak leaves under a microscope in a classroom. Tickets are $39.19 ($28.52 for members). eventbrite.com
Queer Ecology Walk and Mixer led by naturalist and educator Jason “Journeyman” Wise, 1 to 4 p.m. at the Theodore Payne Foundation’s gardens in Sun Valley. “Explore California’s native plants and ecosystems through the lens of queer ecology: the study of everything in nature that subverts our Western cultural expectations about how the natural world ‘should’ work,” according to the event description. Complimentary refreshments provided at the end of the walk, participants must be 21 or older. Tickets are $44.52 ($33.85 members). eventbrite.com
Tall, lanky and infinitely gracious, Dan Bifano is known as the gardener to the stars, building huge rose gardens for wealthy, famous SoCal clients like Barbra Streisand and Oprah. His clients can be notoriously picky, but that doesn’t seem to faze Bifano, who keeps his standards simple: perfection.
At midnight on 6th April 2025, Indian forces launched attacks on multiple locations in Pakistan, including Shakargarh, Sialkot, Muridke, Bahawalpur, Kotli, and the Muzaffarabad area of Punjab and the Pakistani part of Kashmir, using standoff precision-guided munitions. The attacks occurred in the Muslims’ religious places, hydropower infrastructure, and commercial air routes, violating international law and human norms alike, and so far 26 civilian deaths have been reported. India has also challenged Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and violated the international border in the darkness of night. India and Pakistan are the archrival two nuclear weapons states of the South Asia region. However, India’s attack indicates the aggressive posture of Indian Prime Minister Modi’s regime to target the unarmed civilian and innocent children. This is not merely a border skirmish; it is a calculated escalation with far-reaching strategic consequences for the entire South Asian region. Various media reports highlighted that in retaliation and for the defense of the state, Pakistani armed forces also hit all of the Indian fighter jets and drones from their own territory with PL-15.
The tension between India and Pakistan escalated when, on April 22, 2025, terror shattered the peace of Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam, a scenic hill station in Indian-administered Kashmir (IOJK) known as “Mini Switzerland.” Armed gunmen opened fire on civilians, resulting in 26 casualties. Instead of allowing a transparent investigation to determine the perpetrators, India hastily blamed Pakistan, offering no concrete evidence to back its claim. It was India’s security failure; before putting the finger on Pakistan, India needs to have a neutral investigation of the incident and should provide evidence of linkages of the Pakistani state to these attacks. However, India’s recent attack on Pakistan’s territory and targeting civilian population indicates that the Pahalgam attack was an orchestrated provocation. India, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, launched this attack not in defense but for political theater—under the cover of night, on civilian infrastructure, without evidence or provocation. This isn’t an act of strength—it’s a display of desperation. And if this escalates, it won’t just make headlines; it will be etched in history as the moment ego led us to the brink of nuclear catastrophe.
Pakistan has concluded the meeting of the National Security Committee under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and it has been decided that in consonance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, Pakistan reserves the right to respond, in self-defense, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty. The Armed Forces of Pakistan have duly been authorized to undertake corresponding actions in this regard. India’s missile strikes inside Pakistan were reckless, unprovoked, and a clear violation of international law. India’s recent attacks have put the peace and stability of the entire South Asian region in serious jeopardy. At the moment the strikes occurred, 57 international commercial flights, including those operated by major Gulf and European airlines, were either within or approaching Pakistani airspace. This reckless action posed a direct danger to civilian air traffic, placing thousands of innocent lives at risk. It goes beyond a hostile move against Pakistan; it represents a clear threat to global peace and security. By heightening tensions in a nuclear-armed region, India has shown a disturbing disregard for international laws, aviation safety, and the value of human life.
By targeting civilian airspace and deliberately provoking conflict, India has revealed itself as a reckless and irresponsible actor on the global stage. Its actions undermine regional stability and pose a serious threat to international peace. The international community must look beyond India’s carefully crafted narratives and recognize the true source of aggression. This is a defining moment for global powers to uphold justice, demand accountability, and prevent further escalation. Without decisive diplomatic intervention, India’s adventurism could plunge South Asia and potentially the wider world into a dangerous and prolonged conflict. Several nations have already voiced serious concerns; Azerbaijan condemned the military strikes on Pakistan and urged restraint and dialogue; Turkey, through Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, expressed strong solidarity with Pakistan against India’s unprovoked aggression; and China described India’s military action as “regrettable,” calling for de-escalation and expressing concern over the unfolding situation.
To prevent the escalation between the two nuclear states, India and Pakistan, the international community must play a role to bring them to the negotiation table. Both states need an immediate ceasefire to avoid civilian deaths and triggering nuclear risks; they must also halt the cross-border military activities and refrain from provocative statements. There is also an immediate need to establish a neutral and impartial investigation mechanism under the supervision of the United Nations to determine the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack. There must be restoration of military-to-military and diplomatic communication channels for conflict management. Moreover, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the UN Secretary-General must actively intervene by appointing a special envoy to mediate between the two sides. Key international actors such as China, Turkey, the United States, the EU, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should support de-escalation through diplomatic engagement and pressure for dialogue. Track two diplomacy is vital in the time of crisis and addresses the root cause of the internationally recognized disputed territory of Kashmir in accordance with the UNSC resolutions and wishes of Kashmiri people by granting them the right of self-determination.
Last but not least, both states need to realize that war is not the only solution, but it is a diplomatic failure to de-escalate the tension in the South Asian region. In a nuclearized region of South Asia, its consequences would be catastrophic not only for India and Pakistan but also for regional and global security. The world cannot afford another conflict zone. The international community must rise to the occasion, play an impartial mediating role, and help both nations choose peace over provocation and dialogue over destruction.
