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The
“new”
situation in Israel and Palestine
The
situation in Israel and Palestine has worsened over the last 18 months.
During our World Conference at Amman/Jordan in 1999 the participants were
full of enthusiasm and many were sure that now after long time constructive
networking and building confidence in each other would lead to Peace for
all in the Middle East – the Jews and the Palestinians. This hope once
more faded away. Again war and killing on both sides became daily routine.
Israelis and Palestinians were unable to find a solution to their problems
which could be accepted by both sides. Once again an Intifada broke out
– in September 2000 the Al Aqsa-Intifada.
This
research paper is not trying to point with the finger to one of the sides
which might be the culprit or to answer the question who is more responsible
for the deterioration of the situation to day. This analysis is trying
to show the worries and problems on both sides of those who are striving
for a better and peaceful life in Israel and Palestine – whose voices are
hardly heard in the mass media! In a situation where almost all ways of
communication are shut down, moving around becomes a risk of life and it
is very difficult to work for Shalom, for Salaam, for Peace.
During
my preparations for the journey to Israel and Palestine late in 2001 I
felt that this time it was going to be harder to contact organisations
or people who are doing their best for peace. In the news each day pictures
of bombs exploding in market places and shopping areas became routine.
Shooting of Palestinian children by the Israeli army showed the other side
of “every day life”. Understanding the situation I decided to start my
work already in Switzerland and not to wait till I am in the Middle East.
I prepared a questionnaire which I faxed and e-mailed to several organisations
which I contacted during my last visit in 2001. To get addresses I also
used the reader on Peace Organisations in the Middle East which I still
had. Some e-mails came back – their address had changed and some fax numbers
were wrong. Still, I managed to find out through my contact person in Haifa
most of the new numbers. With some organisations in Palestine there was
no contact - not by e-mail, nor by fax. For some I assume the situation
in which they were didn’t allow them to think about peace except in their
dreams. In the middle of war fear for the life of their children and their
own life is stronger then anything else. Daud Nassar sent an e-mail from
Bethlehem telling that in front of the house of his brother an Israeli
tank is standing. No one can get out and everyone is afraid that they might
get hit. How important it was to start with the work in Switzerland was
the situation in which I arrived in the Middle East. It was not possible
for me to visit Bethlehem during Christmas and shortly after my return
from Jerusalem a bomb exploded killing several people at the Jaffa Road
where I was walking around some days before!
Dan
Bar-On writes in the introduction of their research paper “Victimhood and
Beyond – the Bethlehem Encounter October 1999”: “In October 1999 the TRT
[To Reflect and Trust] group met at Talitha Kumi in Beit Jala at the Nativity
Hotel in Bethlehem, both in the territory of the Palestinian National Authority.
We went to the Dehaishe refugee camp and some of us visited Rachel’s Tomb.
In the evening we walked and had ice cream at Balloons, a café in
Bethlehem. We travelled on the Hebron Road to Beer-Sheva for our final
evening at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Today it all sounds like
a dream – or a nightmare. Israeli law no longer allows Israelis to visit
the Palestinian territories. Beit Jala has been bombarded several times
during the last several months. I cannot go to Talitha Kumi and, although
we live just an hour’s drive from each other, Sami [Adwan] and I have to
be very innovative to maintain personal contact. The peace process that
seemed irreversible collapsed. Ariel Sharon, who initiated the provocation
at Al-Aqsa Mosque in September 2000, has since become the prime minister
of Israel”. [1] Bar-On writes that he was twice supposed to held joint
lectures with Adwan in Bremen and Berlin during the year 2000 but Adwan
was not able to take part because he did not receive an exit permit from
the Israeli authorities. Sami Adwan, who is responsible for PRIME [2] mentioned
under the title “A Moment of Peace”:
“Killing
has become a daily practice. Even worse than the destruction of peoples’
homes, farms and the environment is the destruction of hope; dreams for
a better future seem impossible and far from realisation. […] Many Palestinian
schools have been closed for periods of time. Students are often unable
to reach their schools or universities. … Often I cannot even visit friends
or relatives who live just a few kilometres away. Workers cannot go to
their jobs, resulting in an unemployment rate that is bringing many to
the verge of starvation. Most Palestinian-Israeli joint projects and research
activities have ended. Meeting each other has become difficult, dangerous,
or downright impossible.” [3]
The
situation has changed on both sides. Children are effected most. A Jewish
father, whose son Arik was killed by the Hamas while serving in the army
told in the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families’ Forum: “Arik who was
killed was very well known among his friends as a peaceful person. In his
school when he was 15 years old, after an attack in which Israelis were
killed, the children shouted at him saying: ‘Death to the Arabs.’ Then
Arik stood up on front of his class and shouted: ‘Heil Hitler!’ The children
were amazed and Arik said to them: ‘That’s exactly how things were in Germany.
If you do not stop now, the same thing will appen in Israel.’“[4] |
The
Questionnaire
The Questionnaire had 14
questions starting with the name of the project or organisation in Israel/Palestine;
the responsible person who filled up the questionnaire and his/her function.
The answers to these questions can be seen as annex in the full internet
report. The description of the project/organisation can be obtained at
the web-sites of each of the projects or organisations. |
How
has the situation changed during the last year for your Project/organisation
in Israel/Palestine?
Dan Bar-On (PRIME) wrote
that the situation made their activities much more limited and difficult.
They were not able to have their meeting of their committees and general
assembly. Members from Gaza were not allowed to come and participate and
many members were not able to join the research activities. Still they
succeeded to continue their research. [Amit Lehem Interview!]
The director of Bat Shalom
in Jerusalem, Terry Greenblatt, pointed out that there were no more public
joint events but more consistent and important underground meetings, more
focus on protest and political education inside Israel. Also located in
Jerusalem is Yakar’s Center for Social Concern. Benjamin Pogrund told that
“Because of the Intifada and the hardening of attitudes on both sides,
Jewish-Muslim dialogue and Israeli-Palestinian dialogue have become far
more difficult to organise”. The Elijah School for the Study of Wisdom
in World Religions in Jerusalem is also complaining. Rabbi Joel Berman,
administrator of the school, wrote: “Attendance in our programs, which
usually draw from international circles, is down”. For the Sixth Annual
Summer School Programs in this year’s summer course on the web site it
is written: “The Jerusalem program may be relocated due to political and
security reasons.”
For Beit Hagefen, the Arab-Jewish
Center in Haifa, the crisis has resulted in less visits by school children
and in more visits by adults. They have increased their activities. House
of Grace of the Greek-Catholic Church in Haifa, is led by the wife of late
Mr. Shehade, Mrs. Agnes Shehade. She told that the current situation resulted
in less financial support but more requests from people in need. Books
for Peace founded and co-ordinated by Prof. Howard Bogot, who has recently
shifted from Israel to USA pointed out last December that the last supply
of books (Shalom-Salaam-Peace, which was introduced during the WCRP seminar
in Amman in 1999) has just been arranged and will be soon distributed.
Tent Of Nations is a project in Bethlehem, Palestine. Daoud Nassar, project
director, wrote that since one aim of this project is to bring people,
especially young people, together, the political situation was so hard
that it was impossible during the last year to do so. Another thing is
that this area has suffered for one year violence and this affected the
people a lot – many lost their hope for peace, trust and reconciliation. |
How
could religion influence the peace process in Israel/Palestine?
In
the report of 1999 the participants of the Amman Seminar made it clear:
Religion is a part of the problem, therefore, it has to be also a part
of the solution. But how can religions be used as a tool to reach peace?
It was said that the current issues should be addressed and supported by
the Quran and the Bible. It should be clearly stated and taken from the
religious books that each one of us has to focus on the values of tolerance.
This can be made by religious leadership through courageous political statements.
The ethnical standards of each religion have to be presented and what these
should mean in dealing with others. It was believed that a deep confident
understanding of our own religion could lead to a serious appreciation
of other faiths. Removing politics from this learning is a difficult undertaking,
but must stand as a bylaw of our presentation. Religion can give stability,
acceptance and tolerance. We can say that religion has a big influence
on peace but it can also have a bad influence when religion is misused
for achieving political goals. In such a case people loose the real meaning
of their belief. The better one knows his / her own religion, the bigger
is the chance that one can see similarities between them and their ideas.
In this way religion could bring people together and nearer to peace. |
How
do you think could WCRP help in the peace process in Israel/Palestine?
There
is a chance for WCRP to do something in this field. It was said that WCRP
could widen the interest, support the process by forwarding information
and by helping joint activities. Not all who filled the questionnaire participated
at the Amman Seminar. One, who was present, wrote that this meeting the
other provided invaluable contact with people from other religions and
countries, and opened up ideas for developing contacts. It was also pointed
out that help could be given by fostering an educated, understanding and
open religious laity and professional strata in the various religious communities.
The author of the book “Shalom – Salaam – Peace” wrote that the PESC’s
support of the book project, which was also translated into German, has
been wonderful and transformed regional goals into international concepts. |
Conclusion:
The need for “meeting the other”
During my meetings and phone
calls in Israel and Palestine it was obvious that all were interested in
further conferences in the same way as WCRP has organised in Amman/Jordan
because everyone is feeling the need to meet the other. There is, as mentioned
by different organisations, hardly a chance to meet – neither in Israel
nor in Palestine. At the moment the chance for such meetings is not given.
There are even no possibilities to conduct such seminars abroad because
the Israeli Government is not allowing the Palestinian to leave their country
– they can’t even go from one city to the other within Palestine. This
would mean that WCRP has to checkout first when there will be a possibility
to organise such a meeting so that everyone is able to join it. Also important
is the flow of information. Several organisations thought that only little
was heard about the Amman Conference and therefore, it should be widely
publicised. Now, after contacts, which have been established over the last
four years, a broader part of organisations which are involved in the peace
work could be contacted and brought together by the WCRP. |
1 “Victimhood and Beyond – the Bethlehem
Encounter October 1999”, edited by Sami Adwan and Dan Bar-On, September
2001, Peace Research Institute in the Middle East and To Reflect and Trust,
page 1-2.
2 Read the interview taken in 1999 and
included in the PESC report 1999.
3 Sami Adwan, “Victimhood and Beyond”,
page 5.
4 Yizhak Frankenthal in: “Victimhood and
Beyond”, page 29. |
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