BY PEJMAN KATIRAEI

Last week, I lost my favorite aunt. But she was far more than that. She was a beloved wife, sister, mother, grandmother, friend and guardian -- some, including myself, would go as far as to call her an angel.

She was one of the few I knew who remembered to love others regardless. There was one common theme in all the things my aunt shared with me: She always put things in a positive perspective and never allowed me to think negatively of anyone or anything. As my dad recently commented in tears: "She was the special one in the family."

When I traveled to Israel, she took me to Jerusalem and made sure I saw every historic site. She was as comfortable visiting a mosque or church as she was a Jewish temple. I was frankly surprised by her lack of bias. She was, after all, an Israeli Jew.

This beloved aunt of mine was killed while she and her husband, along with approximately 100 others, went to the dining room of a hotel in Netanya, Israel, to celebrate the start of Passover. Their celebration quickly came to an end when a terrorist from Hamas walked into the dining hall and detonated the C-4 explosives strapped to his body.

My aunt may not have been lucky enough to die instantly. Before her husband passed out from the shock, he remembers seeing her alive. My family is still not certain how she died. Some speculate she died from a myocardial infarction or stroke after seeing her life partner lying on the floor, injured, with blood pouring from his wounds.

Despite all that has happened, I still will not hate a Muslim or Palestinian person. Knowing my aunt, I believe she would have felt the same. From early on, I learned to try to love all people and to judge each person on an individual basis. There are "good" and "bad" people in all cultures and religions. I personally have many Muslim friends, and I hold some of them in higher regard than some Jewish people I know simply because of the great integrity and morality these individuals possess.

What I do despise is all the rhetoric and propaganda political representatives on each side throw out in whatever form of media they can get access to to try to win over the sympathy and support of others in the world. I have grown sick of the "It's your fault" game each side has become so talented at playing.

What I cannot tolerate is the passiveness I see in all the world leaders who sit around waiting to see what will happen next. It is almost as if they are amused by the sick course of events that are taking place, and they are curious to see what the next chapter in the saga will bring.

In respect for and in memory of my aunt and the thousands like her, whether Jew, Muslim, Christian/Catholic, Hindu, etc., who have died in the course of the tragic events that are becoming too familiar to all around the world, I plead to all world leaders to take a stand and force an end to the religious wars, before the life of another innocent, beloved father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother or grandfather is lost.

A medical student, Katiraei graduated in 1998 from UCLA with a B.S. in biology.