Over and over again it is the boots on the ground who find realanswers to the big problems that thwart general political solution. The initiative described here needs to be promoted and encouraged asit is obvious that people of good will can solve the practicalaspects of living check and jowl.
The general solution is painful expulsion. The local solution issimple face to face cooperation.
It should also be obvious now that the Palestinian cause is of nointerest today to the Arabs who have turned inward to concentrate onpolitical reform and modernization. The Arab Spring made it a deadhorse. Thus the Palestinians are left to make their own peace.
And the only way to change the facts on the ground is to enter intolocal reconciliation. With local reconciliation in play, it becomespossible politically for elected officials to enter into real Statebuilding negotiations with Israel. It may even fade away with awimper.
I am now optimistic that a resolution can be found for the firsttime.
ReconciliationBetween Arabs and Israelis
Documentary “Two-SidedStory” shows value of talking, listening
By Gary FeuerbergFebruary 12, 2013
Steve Riskin (L)moderates a discussion with Robi Damelin (C), and Bassam Aramin (R)following the screening of a new documentary on the Arab-Israeliconflict titled, “Two Sided Story,” at the United StatesInstitute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7, 2013.Damelin, an Israeli, and Aramin, a Palestinian, are active inpromoting peace and reconciliation, particularly through dialoguebetween ordinary people on both sides. (Gary Feuerberg/The EpochTimes)
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/building-a-foundation-for-peace-in-israeli-arab-conflict-346795.html
WASHINGTON—Thetwo-state solution is considered by most experts to be the best hopefor peace and stability in Israel. It would end the Israelioccupation, which many Israelis have never been comfortable with, andit would enable the Palestinians to get on with building a new state.
However, forsuccessful peace talks at the highest levels, the groundwork needs tobe laid in the lower ranks. Ordinary Israelis and Arabs cannot regardeach other as enemies if real peace is to be achieved.That is the conceptbehind the Parents Circle-Families Forum (PCFF), which is committedto reconciliation. PCFF consists of more than 600 families, all ofwhom have lost a close family member—a son, daughter, father,mother, spouse, brother, or sister—as a result of the conflict.
PCFF’s website says,“The process of reconciliation between nations is a prerequisite toachieving a sustainable peace.”
‘The Two-SidedStory’ Documentary
On Feb. 7, The UnitedStates Institute of Peace (USIP) hosted a special showing of thedocumentary,Two Sided Story, which follows a group of 27bereaved Israelis and Palestinians who participated in the Narrativesproject.
TheIsraeli–Palestinian Narratives project is one of many projectsheaded by the PCFF. It brings together people of the most diversebackgrounds, such as Orthodox Jews and religious Muslims, whereasother projects bring together people with similar occupations orinterests, such as artists or educators.
Emmy award-winning director Tor Ben Mayor follows a highly diversegroup of Israelis and Palestinians, including Orthodox Jews,religious Muslims, settlers, ex-soldiers and ex-security prisoners,nonviolent activists, and more. The film was funded in part by USIPand USAID, although the contents are the sole responsibility of PCFF.
The film shows thatthe participants held strong opinions and feelings about theinjustice of their losses—and about who was responsible for thoselosses.
“I came not tochange my mind about anything. Because some things never change. Iknow what I believe,” said a participant with a view that wastypical of many shown in the film.
But change, evenfor the most hardened, proved possible.
After the film wasshown, Robi Damelin, an Israeli, and Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian,answered audience questions.
Palestinian andIsraeli Mothers Share Sorrows
Damelin immigrated toIsrael in 1967 and lost her son David in 2002 to a Palestiniansniper’s bullet. She made the decision to use her personal paintoward reconciliation. She promotes the message of reconciliation, ofthe PCFF, to whomever will listen. She devotes much of her timeinviting new members to join the Parents Circle.
Damelin told the storyof a Palestinian woman who had lost her son, and who came to themeeting “ready to scream.” Damelin asked about her loss and thenshared with the lady a photo of her own son, David. That calmed thedistraught mother.
“Now she’schanged. Now she’s given up being a victim,” Damelin said. She’salso very active in the group.
There’s nodifference in the pain of my loss with the Palestinian mother’sloss of her son, Damelin said.
A Palestinian’sStory of Nonviolent Action
Aramin’s story isone of progress from the use of violence to the practice ofnonviolence as the only way toward peace.
As a youth, he becameinvolved in the Palestinian struggle. At age 12, he was at ademonstration where a boy was shot by a soldier. He watched the boydie in front of him. At that moment, Aramin developed a deep need forrevenge. At age 17, he was caught planning an attack on Israelisoldiers, and spent seven years in prison.
While in prison, hespoke often with an Israeli prison guard and a friendship between thetwo evolved.
The guard began totreat the prisoners with more respect. Seeing that thistransformation happened through dialogue without force, Araminrealized the only way to peace is through nonviolence. In 2005, heco-founded an organization of former Israeli and Palestiniancombatants, leading a nonviolent struggle against the occupation.
In 2007, his10-year-old daughter Abir was shot by an Israeli soldier whilestanding outside her school.
Although one Israelisoldier took the life of his daughter, 100 former Israeli soldiersbuilt a garden in Abir’s name at the school where she died.
Aramin did not go downthe path of hatred and vengeance. Instead, he became an active memberof the Parents Circle. He said that, although one Israeli soldiertook the life of his daughter, 100 former Israeli soldiers built agarden in Abir’s name at the school where she died.
The film captured thepowerful dialogue between the opposing positions.
One rather frustratedPalestinian woman grew weary of the Palestinian terrorism charge. Shesaid, “Being called a soldier is a license to shoot innocentpeople. … That’s what I am asking about. Why can’t I call him aterrorist?”
An Israeli woman gaveanother viewpoint: “An 18-year-old doesn’t wake up and decide hewants to carry a gun. Soldiers don’t like standing at checkpointsand hitting Arabs. You’re looking at it the wrong way.”
The Parents Circledoes not take a political stance, but its members would favor a peaceagreement and two-state solution.
Damelin said, “Iwant to live in a country that has a moral fiber, and I think theoccupation is killing the moral fiber of Israel.”
Measuring Impact ofProject
The Narratives projectsurveyed its participants to measure its effectiveness. Its researchreport states that 314 Palestinians and Israelis participated andwere exposed to each others’ narratives between October 2010 andJune 2012. The survey stated that for two-thirds of the participants“participation in the program increased their levels of knowledgeand acknowledgment of the other narrative.”
More thanthree-quarters (77 percent) reported an “intensified belief in thepossibility of reconciliation.”
The idea is that ifthese members of bereaved families can sit together and work towardpeace, others can too. So, part of the project’s agenda is toeducate the general public and leaders, to show them, according tothe project website, that “reconciliation is possible and essentialto stop the bloodshed and bereavement.”
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