Over the summer I took part in a program called Hands of Peace. This two-and-a-half week program works with teenagers from Israel, Palestine, and the United States. We spent most of our time talking about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Middle East. Each kid that came to this program came for different reasons. Some flew thousands of miles just so they could see America, others because they wanted to meet a Palestinian or an Israeli for the first time; some even came just to talk about their life behind a wall and how restricted they have become due to the war. Everybody had a different perspective of the conflict. As an American, I joined this program to hear both sides of the story becuase I wanted a 360 degree view on the conflict in the Middle East.
The Israelis and Palestinians each had their stories to tell about how they thought the other "side" was so evil and how they did such bad things to one another. I was fascinated by their viewpoints of the conflict. Israelis thought the Palestinians were the bad guys while the Palestinians thought the same thing of the Israelis. While first listening to the Middle East participants speak I thought, "How can these kids be so ignorant of one another? Why is this conflict happening? Who's really to blame in all of this? Which side is right and which is wrong? Is there even a right and wrong? Should I risk getting caught in the middle of this?" So many of these questions were running through my head as I listened to them talk. These talks continued everyday for the two-and-a-half-weeks of the program. As each day progressed, I became more comfortable being in the same room as the frustrated and angered Middle Easterners. Eventually, the talks became less focused on generalizations and stereotypes about the other side and became more focused on personal experience. One participant's story in particular really made me change my perspective of the conflict.
The participant was sitting at home with his family watching television when a missile landed in their family room, killing two of the family members instantly. He told us that the missile had been launched by Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization. He said the incident made him believe that he would hate all Palestinians for the rest of his life. When he came to Hands of Peace, he truly believed that his opinions of the Palestinians would never change, and at first, he was hesitant to even talk to one of them. I came to this program with the firm stance of remaining neutral and not taking anyone's side, but when I heard this boy's story, I almost broke that promise to myself. I wanted so badly to believe that all Palestinians were bad because I really felt his pain. Then I heard another story, this one being from the Palestinian perspective. One of the participants, who lived in Tulkarm, Palestine, was trying to cross into West Jerusalem (which is the Israeli controlled portion of Jerusalem) and he was forced to take off all of his clothes at one of the checkpoints. He told us the soldiers at the checkpoint made him jump around and humiliate himself in fromt of his entire family. This made me feel angry towards to Israelis and I wanted to think that the Israelis were the bad guys. I heard story after story and could not make up my mind about which side was better or which one was to blame. Then I realized that neither side was better than the other.
After the final dialogue session, the boy whose family had been killed by the rocket turned to one of the Palestinians and apologized for the things Israel did to hurt the Palestinians. The Palestinian boy also apologized for all of the horrible things the Palestinians had done to the Israelis. This moment made me realize how incredible it is to witness something you thought would never happen: forgivness. During the two-and-a-half weeks of this program I saw bitter enemies become the best of friends. My experiences with this program made me believe even more strongly that the only way to get a true understanding of a situation is to have a 360 degree view of it.
Wow. I really liked reading this post. I think hands of peace is a great way to get two sides to talk to each other, and getting children to learn understanding is very important for the future of the Middle East. It was very moving to hear these two stories, and I am very impressed that those two boys could learn forgiveness after experiencing such traumatic experiences. It's very important to realize that in this conflict, neither side is right.
ReplyDeleteYour experience truely shows the importance of hearing all sides of a situation in order to gain full understanding. If you'd only heard one of the two stories you mentioned, you would have taken a side. But since you were able to hear all sides, you can formulate a clear opinion.
Erika,
ReplyDeletehearing about the Hands of Peace program and what the participants walk away with is truly amazing. I admire your choice to stay neutral while listening to both sides of the conflict. Because you didn't become biased, you saw all of both sides. Nothing was blinding or clouding your judgment. If all conflicts were looked upon by neutral people, then I'm sure that both sides of the conflict would also start to lean towards that neutrality and actually understand each other. Biases seem to be playing too big of roles in any sort of conflict or even discussion in current times.