Our Visit to
Israel and Palestine
In April Pat
Magee and I (Jo Berry) went to Israel and Palestine for a 8 days speaking tour.
It was a huge
success with a mixture of talks and workshops, visiting projects and many
meetings. We spoke to some groups which were just Israeli, some just
Palestinian and some with participants from both communities. We also spoke to a leading newspaper
and a internet media and we were told that,
‘I’m pretty confident we've reached tens of thousands Israelis,
possibly hundreds of thousands with your thought provoking and inspiring
story.’
The first talk
was with Combatants for Peace in Beit Jala in Palestine. The Everest hotel is
one which is supportive to the aims of dialogue and was the perfect place for
us to speak. The participants ranged from young people new to the group to
older ones who had founded it. We had a translator and had 2 hours plus time
for informal conversation. We learnt about the many challenges the group face
every day, even the two groups meeting in the same place brings problems. The
hardest challenge is of being non violent when violence is used against
them.
Feedback-
As
a member of Combatants for Peace, a bi-national movement of Israelis and
Palestinians who believe in non-violent resistance to the occupation, meeting
Jo and Pat was inspiring and valuable. Having heard over the past few years so
many stories of similar Israeli/Palestinian "conversions", I think
that I may have been slightly wary of the cliches to which such stories tend to
be reduced, especially when the speakers have given the talk so often. What
particularly impressed me, then, was that there were no cliches, that they both
put forth profound and complex views, all clearly well thought-out and deeply
thought-provoking, and at no point did one get the sense that one was hearing a
well-rehearsed performance, but rather an ongoing and evolving dynamic in which
nothing is simple. It was especially valuable, as someone immersed in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to have the opportunity to look at ourselves from
the outside, which affords important perspective - and also a modicum of hope.
The next day we
went to Tel Aviv and spent the day with Parents Circle, all there had lost a
loved one and it was an emotional intense talk. Some of the participants shared
their personal stories and lack of justice and how they did receive so much
solace and inspiration from working with the community from which the person
who killed their loved one came from. Robi Damelin spoke that the
man who killed her son is in jail but that gives her no comfort or
closure at all. She has written to him and has even empathized with his
experience. Robi has yet to have a personal dialogue with him but is on
her journey with her wish for dialogue and she inspires many with her ability
to see the humanity of the ‘other’.
Feedback-
Thank-you so much, Jo and Pat, for the opportunity for us to hear your
words, your experiences, your feelings and your optimism for the future. You
have no idea how rare it is for us here in Israel to sit before people such as
yourselves and to hear the story, the evolution of your project, the goals and
the vision and not find yourself in the heat of a volatile political argument
with no side really hearing the other! Your story, along with the way you
present it and offer it to us for reaction and identification, is a rare gem in
the jungle of violence, animosity and "eye for an eye, tooth for a
tooth". By coming all this way to share your experiences, along with the
deep-seated emotions that they evoke, you have performed a most noble act of
true humanistic education, a voice of hope, reconciliation and of peace.
Our next day
was with Palestinians who showed us different projects and we spent time at Ibraham's Tent at Al Aubaydiah in Palestine speaking to the teachers and community leaders, learning about their
challenges and successes. Each child has lost a parent and we were entertained by amazing dancing
and singing from the children.The day ended with a meeting with Israeli
combatants for peace who shared their stories of how they are being creative to
address the challenges without using violence.
The next
evening we visited Neve Shalom - Wahat
al-Salam community and
met Palestinians and Israelis living together. We spoke to the inspiring Sulha
Peace project. In the workshop everyone had a chance in small groups to speak
of times when they have hurt people. I will never forget the Palestinian
sharing a experience of going through a checkpoint with his 7 year old son and
the events which unfolded. It is these everyday stories for them which touched
me so greatly.. The meeting
strengthened the participants desire to work non-violently for a better future.
Feedback-
There are lessons in Pat
and Jo's story in which we all found resonance. The evening with them was
precious, profound.
The
authenticity in the style of both Jo and Pat, their quiet humility combined
with the clarity of their narrative, all join to make their presentation as
moving and meaningful as it is. We are looking forward to our next encounter
with them, and we will gladly reach out to other Palestinian and Israeli
audiences on behalf of Jo and Pat.
The next day we
spoke at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, The Minerva Center for Human
Rights, to students who were going to go ot Belfast in the Summer. We spoke of
the work in reconciliation happening in Northern Ireland and there were some
very interesting questions relating to politicians moving from being activists
to peace makers.
In the evening
we met 8 Israeli young peace activists from OneVoice who said for now they
weren’t meeting their Palestinian counterparts because of the dangers of
‘normalistion’. This was a new concept to us and meant that if Palestinians and
Israelis were meeting and having dialogue then it was a way of saying that the
situation with the imbalance of power was ok and becoming ‘normal’. Not all
think this but we did find it in some groups. The group was small and intimate
and gave us to time to go deeply into our process and hear their stories of
being in the army, then changing and becoming involved with OneVoice. Afterwards
we went to a bar in a busy market part of Jerusalem and gave a public talk in a
bar. The bar was a very unusual environment as it was open from the road and
packed with young Israelis. At first we thought the environment was more suited
to drinking and talking and that we wouldn’t be able to talk but instead the
listening was tangible and the questions deep and profound. Afterwards we spent
a couple of hours talking to different people and hearing their responses.
The next day we went to
Haifa and first spoke to another small group of OneVoice activists who were
very interested in learning from our experience. Then we moved to the
University to speak to students studying peace studies but open to all
students. .We had some students leave the room with a lot of noise and that was
the first time it happened. One of the questions was asking how on earth we
could empathise with the Palestinians.
We ended up taking a taxi
back to Jerusalem via Tel Aviv and picked up Bassam Aramin, from Combatants for
Peace and Parents Circle-Family Forum, who sat in the back with me. The journey
was long due to traffic and I had a gem of an opportunity to be with my friend
and in my mind the most inspiring man of peace that I know. He shared how he
was speaking with Israeli soldiers who were about to start their service,
sharing his story of his daughter being killed by a soldier and how he works
with Combatants for peace and Parents Circle. He also shared how he explained
to others the narrative of the Jews and how it was wrong to compare the
Palestinian experience with the experience of the Holocaust as the level of
suffering and horror for the Jews was so much greater. He exudes empathy and
compassion and has so much humanity.
Then we spoke at Kids4peace which builds bridges between Palestinian & Israeli
youth and their families, across the greater Jerusalem area. It was a mixed group
with children there as well Very profound and moving experience. The kids asked
incredible direct and powerful questions such as How can we forgive the
violence done to us in Gaza when we have no justice. The Palestinian
families had to leave first because again the problems of check points
and some Israelis young people had to travel far and they too had a
checkpoint. The commitment of these young people was extraordinary and very
moving.
Feedback-
I
can’t thank you enough for what the both of you give.It is beyond words. I know
you work hard at thinking of the right words to say at the right occasion. And
each time you find different words, different emotions to convey. But in
addition to that level of sharing, there is also the non verbal.
What
Ibrahim, hassan’s father shared. He just wanted to watch the both of you
sitting there.That was enough for him to take in. he just couldn’t soak up
enough the image of both of you sitting next to each other. That was totally
sufficient for him. He filled up just trying to absorb the image that his eyes
were sending to his brain. That two enemies were sitting together. that is what
he wanted to say and share.
But
then when he saw his son Hassan, raise his hand twice, and share his incredibly
profound questions and thinking on identity , he decided to take the back seat
( so humbly and appropriately) to allow his son to take the floor with his
words. I find it fascinating that father and son were present in the room, so
taken by your power. The model that you offer. The father internalized your
sharing in images on the nonverbal channel. His son found his need to ask
questions verbally to understand and articulate. And we are all left with so
much to think about.
We spent the next day in Ramallah with the Palestinian
youth worker from One Voice. He showed us around the area, stopping at
important landmarks as well as refugee camps and settler villages. We
spoke to Palestinians who came from all over and also got to hear their
stories. It impacted on us that for some of the Palestinians who had come from
Jenin and Hebron and had difficulties arriving in time because of the time it
takes to cross a checkpoint. Some of them were also worried about the
time they had to leave so they could get back in time to cross the check point
again. We heard so many stories of them seeing loved ones being killed in front
of them and the depth of trauma in the room was tangible. And yet they were all
so committed to non violence.
I have come
back so grateful and touched by the experience. There are so many amazing
people on both sides working together to make a difference, bringing hope into
a challenging place, giving us examples how non violence can be developed and
be creative.
We could have
filled the 8 days many times over and am still getting emails from people who
heard us speak. It was a massive success and you can gather from the feedback
we did make a positive impact.
There was also
a journey within a journey as Pat and I have never spent so much time together
without others around. We had to rely on each other for support an also
navigating our way through check points, finding the right bus, dealing with
getting lost on the last day and nearly missing our plane. We not only survived
every challenge but we also deepened our trust in each other and had more
understanding of our process through having our journey reflected back from the
Israelis and Palestinians.
At times I
thought how can our story and work make a difference here but time after time I
heard that because we come from a different conflict our story can connect them
to their story, to their humanity and give them hope. We did share of the
process we had been through and the difficulties we have had. We spoke about
the legacy of violence which made a big impression on the young Palestinians.
Many times we were asked to give solution to their problems and each time we
said we did not have solutions; we had come to share and to learn. I was told
after such a question that of we had tried to give a solution we would have
been attacked by all. I suspect that people often visit with their own
solutions whist the truth is that the answers come from within the communities.
Yet the international community can do much to put pressure on the Israeli
Government and to show support for those working from both communities non
violently.
I would love to
visit again, building on our work there and learning from our experience. Next
time I would not arrange so many talks as it did stretch us too much, yet I
regret nothing as each day was a privilege and I am still so full of our time
there. I have spoken since then about 10 times and each time I have shared
stories from our time there.
