http://www.hamline.edu/shared/news_items/university/July2008/middleeastconference.html
This is the best article I could find, but it doesn't even begin to explain what we have done at Hamline. In an earlier post, someone questioned the possibility of peace, just like all of us, I am sure question the possibilty of peace in a region so torn apart and with such a rich history of conflict.
But I do believe that peace is possible. Though the article doesn't mention it specifically, this education program was enacted in Palestine in schools in the West Bank and in Gaza. Gaza's partner Israeli school lies just across the border, and for the last few years, the Israeli students attending that school have gotten used to last minute runs to bomb shelters and interrupted classes. Now, with their sister school in jeapordy, the students at the Israeli school worry about the well being of their partners, while also praying that the current conflict will lead to some quiet along the border.
It is a tricky place to be in, for all these students, Palestinian, Israeli, Jordananian and Lebanese. When they came together this summer, at first, no one was willing to talk. Then, they talked politely, quietly, attempting to not offend each other. Then, they started yelling, hurling accusations back and forth, swapping stories of suffering until they were hoarse and dry and the mouth. Then came the constructive talk, the "ok, so now what?" moment. It was phenomenal to behold, and even though they didn't come up with a plan for world peace, they did develop a level of mutual understanding and respect most media sources make out to be impossible.
There are no easy answers or quick fixes but if Palestinians and Israelis living on the Gaza border can summon up enough empathy to picture themselves in the opposite perspective's shoes, then I have hope. I expect it to be long, arduous process, with education building upon education, which each generation becmoing a little less militant than the last, until a history of violence and agression stops determining a future of possible peace.
ok it's Iraq but it's interesting
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Here is a link to a blog put up by Morgan on a different Blog. There are a
number of entries that tie more to your topic than theirs. Enjoy.
15 years ago
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I think this is really wonderful. I do think that change will come from the youth, and getting the youth together will make the difference. If each side can attach a face to the other (like Overmann was talking about) that empathy and personalization will make a huge difference. If you have a friend on the otherside, indiscriminate violence won't seem like such a viable option.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be very interesting. The only thing that I question is the scale of efforts like this. Is is possible to have avenues for people from opposite sides that reach a large enough population to really make a difference.I definitely think that progress has to start somewhere, but I'm not sure that this reaches enough people to really make a difference. I think that a lot will depend on what these people do with the experience they had once they return home. I imagine that people within the separate communities would meet a lot of resistance to such efforts by friends and family. I would take a special kind of person to stand up to such societal pressures. Again I think that this is awesome, I just wonder it it could be replicated on a larger scale.
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