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Comments from: WHAT WILL PEACE LOOK LIKE: ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN DIALOG. |
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by David Green
(No verified email address) |
21 Apr 2001
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What Will Peace Look Like: Israeli-Palestinian Dialog, was held on Wed., April 18th at the Channing-Murray Foundation on the UIUC campus. It was described as a forum where people with different perspectives could come together and talk to one another about possible outcomes. David Green attended, and has contributed the following comments. |
Last evening, April18th, I attended a discussion regarding “Peace in the Middle East” at Channing-Murray Foundation with about 15 others. Also in attendance were its organizer, a facilitator, three Jews other than myself, three Palestinians, two others of Arab backgrounds, and several other interested participants and observers. I feel that the session was necessary, important, interesting, and productive at an inter-personal level. But I have a few personal reservations to offer in the spirit of constructive criticism.
First, it is very difficult to get Jewish-Americans to attend such meetings. If they are in favor of Israel’s policies, they will invariably be put on the defensive. No doubt this is for good reason. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be an effective way to engage a significant number of Jewish supporters of Israel in such discussions. What do they have to gain by it? Israel is the victor in the Middle East, so why shouldn’t Jews rest on their laurels instead of having their views challenged, or having to admit that they do not understand the truth about the situation and there is more there (and here) than meets the eye? Who really wants to seriously question fundamental beliefs? And if they already have (as is true in my case), then their motivations for attending such a discussion would be different from the start! In any event, there has to be a way to involve more Jews in such discussions without them being put on the defensive, but also without others in the group being forced to accept without rightfully but respectfully debating the standard mythology that most Jews have been socialized into believing. Unfortunately, I have little to offer here in terms of strategy.
An effort was made to get beyond arguing the history of the Middle East, to discuss instead what peace might look like. It was extremely difficult to do so, but this was not in my view really a problem—history was apparently on the minds of the participants, for good reason, and so be it. Establishing the “true history” of this conflict is vitally important to beginning a process of truth, justice, and peace--as I finally asserted openly. It might be a good warm-up or ice-breaker to imagine the circumstances in which we might “all get along,” but in my opinion there will be no road to such a conclusion unless we first educate ourselves about the past—and this can be done, in spite of all the obfuscations that we face daily. What Israelis and Jewish-Americans (and many Americans as well) think they know about the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict permits them to “blame the victims,” to believe that it is the Palestinians who are intransigent rather than the Israelis. People change when what they think they know and believe is challenged, and when they are motivated to engage a process of critical thinking. I don’t see how we can move forward without first valuing truth, assigning guilt and blame when necessary (collectively, not individually), and then proposing measures that might be taken to achieve justice. But this is simply not possible when our emotions, identities, and ideologies are determined by a false perception of historical (and current) realities. Given the abysmal media coverage of the Middle East, overcoming these barriers presents a daunting challenge. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have nothing better to do but carry on.
Nevertheless, this meeting provided an opportunity for people to educate themselves, however imperfect the process and results. For some, this opportunity was taken. Perhaps this is a beginning.
David Green
Champaign |
