by Duncan Wilder “…there cannot be peace and transformation on a bigger scale if we haven’t found it first within ourselves.”
What an amazing place! We saw it all: from the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee, to the beautiful beaches and Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, to the separation wall and Palestinian refugee camps in Bethlehem, to floating in the Dead Sea (the lowest point on Earth), to the contentious divisions of Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, to the many holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. We heard a wide range of perspectives on the conflict from about 30 different speakers on all points of the spectrum. We also took a class interspersed throughout the trip called “Living Beyond Our Stories” (from Educare: The UnLearning Institute) which focused on connecting personal transformation to global transformation. We used models, exercises, and real-life examples from the trip to help us look at our own stories that we’ve carried with us in life, and to show us that there cannot be peace and transformation on a bigger scale if we haven’t found it first within ourselves.
I already knew a lot about the conflict before the trip through learning the history in college classes and reading the news. However, this trip made the region and conflict much more real for me. Meeting real Israelis and real Palestinians and hearing their stories was very eye-opening. It brought the issues home because you see what they are dealing with every day. It doesn’t feel like a far away region anymore with a conflict that doesn’t affect me. I now feel emotionally connected to the region and see it as affecting the friends I met there. I also feel like I gained a deeper understanding of the narratives of the two sides. This was something that was very important to me because I want to work on staying neutral in the conflict without taking sides, which simply adds to the large division between Israelis and Palestinians. I feel like by working to truly understand the plights, mindsets, and history of both populations, you can be more level-headed and work more easily towards peace.
One of the biggest highlights for me was visiting the Sea of Galilee. Being where Jesus did much of his ministry was surreal and helped make the Bible come more alive for me. Another highlight was seeing the incredible amount of hope and hospitality in the Palestinian communities we visited amidst such hardship. They welcomed us with open arms and seemed to be making the most of what they had despite not having much, especially compared to what we are used to here in the United States. The many Palestinians we met were passionate about wanting peace with their Jewish neighbors, and wanting to live side by side with them like they did before. They explained they were not at all against Judiasm but simply against occupation and inequality. We usually see a different picture of Islam and Arabs in the Western media, so that was very refreshing.
There’s a lot more to the Middle East than deserts, terrorism, and conflict. There are beautiful mountains and seas, rich religious history, and many amazing peace builders on both sides of every issue. I was extremely inspired by the people we spoke with who are working for peace, justice, and mutual understanding in such an intense and complex region. I highly recommend traveling to the Holy Land and experiencing it for yourself! I promise it will be one of the best decisions of your life!
Harmony amongst religions seems like a no-brainer, but unfortunately conflict in the name of religion seems to be at the root of many of the challenges our world faces! In October of 2010, acting on a proposal by HM King Abdullah II of Jordan, the U.N. General Assembly designated the first week in February as “World Interfaith Harmony Week.” The idea is that promoting and celebration interfaith harmony in the international community is the best place to start promoting harmony for all. ”Love of the Good, and love of the neighbor” — this is the underpinning message of the week. This year marks the second annual celebration worldwide, with hundreds of gatherings, meals, forums, events, and celebrations taking place all over the globe.
Euphrates encourages you to visit the website to learn more about the reasons behind the declaration, as well as the many different ways to commemorate the ideal of harmony amongst faiths leading the way to harmony for all. Find an event near you, and join in the conversation! This inspiring model, with support from so many religious leaders and international community, is certainly helping to prepare for peace!
As December kicks off, the Euphrates Founder is in D.C. hosting a mini-Euphrates Summit, featuring Dr. Douglas Johnston, founder of the International Center of Religion and Diplomacy, and four Warriors for Peace. This week, Euphrates is presenting at Tufts University and Bates College. Join us if you’re in the area! See more details on the events page. Meanwhile, we’ve got staff taking leadership courses, new people joining the team, and a whole lot of gratitude to go around.
Click here to see a ‘hot-off-the-press’ video with Summit highlights from Principia’s “Prinwire,” and read on for some of our participant’s impressions from the Euphrates Summit…
When asked, “What key insights or learnings will you be taking away from this Summit?” our participants had this to say:
“It gave me great hope for the future and even more appreciation for all the peace work that’s already going on. It also impels me to open my own thought to doing more personally.”
“Inspirational – thought the theme was essential and something that is almost never addressed.”
“The 20% tipping point goal. Gives me something to work toward person to person. Grace, humility, Golden Rule, being a better listener!”
“That there are many like-minded efforts working for peace, and that each of us want to do more! This was totally inspirational, and I hope there are more activities through Euphrates – loved it!”
“A glimpse of the new paradigm evolving for international, especially Middle East, relations.”
“Listen, and then we have a responsibility to act. Empathy is the life blood of the Golden Rule. Living the Golden Rule is so practical!”
“My goals will certainly be transformed by the kind of thinking required to solve problems.”
“The many creative ways to work towards peace! Plus, my hope and fire have been re-ignited about the future of our global family!”
And from some of our speakers …
Busting stereotypes and myths and letting a little truth to wedge its way in, bringing people of all faiths and creeds together is what you set out to do and it seems that everybody who attended had a similar wish. The summit you put together allowed so much of that dialog to flourish, and I’m still having a blast sharing the perspectives that came from that flawlessly executed symposium. – T.H. Culhane, Solar CITIES
“The Euphrates Summit showed us that the toughest aspect of reaching for a peaceful future might be overcoming the idea that talking about peace is itself a controversial issue. Strength of character and deep knowledge can overcome this barrier.” –Tom Quiggin, Expert on Terrorism
To “end the clash of civilizations in our lifetime,” is Euphrates vision. They uniquely recognize to accomplish this monumental goal requires thinking far outside the unproductive traditional boxes and drawing upon the creativity and ingenuity of the world’s best minds. Euphrates is well positioned structurally, intellectually, organizationally and spiritually to help promulgate this task. – Amb. Mark Siljander, Former Member of the U.S. Congress
Thank you to all who attended the 2011 Euphrates Summit! It was a transformative time in Elsah, IL on the Principia College Campus, chock-full of new ideas, meta-level thinking, and incredible contributions from our participants. Click here to see videos of the presentations!
Hear Euphrates’ founder Janessa Gans Wilder talk about how the Euphrates Summit: Our World Beyond 9/11, taking place October 27th and 28th in Elsah, IL at Principia College, will engage the moderate middle ground on Middle East issues.
We’ve witnessed a historic day as Palestinians formally requested the United Nations Security Council to grant it full membership as a state. Israeli and American leaders opposed this direct move, reiterating that the only way to achieve long-term peace and to create a state is through a negotiated settlement.
Have you ever wanted to better understand this intractable conflict that perennially occupies the world stage? Have you wondered if there were reasons for hope amidst the headlines of despair? We invite you to go to the source—to meet directly with Israelis and Palestinians from all walks of life and backgrounds, and to learn how you can make a difference in an issue that directly affects Americans—and the world.
We have two exciting ways for you to visit the region this winter.
Euphrates’ three week trip to Israel and the West Bank, “Connecting Global and Personal Transformation” is from January 2-20, 2012. The deadline to register is just one week away, September 30! (Trip in partnership with Educare Unlearning Institute.) Register today!
Our student semester abroad to Israel, West Bank, and Jordan, mid-January-April on “Peace and Sustainability in the Middle East,” in partnership with the Center for Ecological Living and Learning (CELL).
Click here for more information and join us for either of these grand adventures!
Additional Information:
Middle East Trip: Connecting Global and Personal Transformation
January 2–20, 2012
Interested in joining Euphrates and Educare for a deeply transformative program taught on the shores of the Galilee, and applied and reinforced immediately by a two and a half-week trip throughout Israel?
In keeping with our mission to build bridges with the Middle East by focusing on what unites rather than divides us, we are partnering with the Educare Learning Institute to face transformation as we meet locals, professional peace builders, and visit historic Bible sites.
All participants will attend a tailored program called Living Beyond Our Stories taught by Sandy Wilder, Janessa Gans Wilder, and her husband Forrest as we tour Israel and the West Bank.
Living Beyond Our Stories focuses on Personal Awakening and Interpersonal Communication so the content learned will be reinforced by immediate opportunities for application in a setting that is yearning for peace. We will take a deep look at how our self-concepts are formed and how we unconsciously live in “stories” that determine our view of reality. Through a process of unlearning we will learn to release the beliefs, concepts, opinions and stories that create limiting self-images, views of others and worldviews.
We will explore and practice a listening/communication model that allows us to deeply listen to others. Through this listening we will learn to help others deeply inquire and tap into their own space of clarity and inspiration.
Equipped with our deepened self-awareness and listening abilities we will meet with Israelis and Palestinians as they share their individual stories based on their history and collective narratives. We will understand and experience:
• The foundational beliefs behind the longest running continuous conflict in the world today. • Why the violence continues. • The history of the conflict, what happened, how, why? • The stranglehold the past has on their present view of reality. • The cycles of victim and victimizers on both sides.
More than cognitive learning and an awareness of history, we will use our daily experiences to reflect deeply so as to allow grace to release whatever reinforces our own belief in separation. We will find ourselves listening through new eyes and an open heart as we watch our natural compassion and clarity pour forth, increasing our desire for connection and oneness with all life.
Click here to view a detailed description of the itinerary from January 2 to 20, 2012.
Registration deadline is September 30, 2011. Our program allows for 10 – 17 participants, so register today to reserve your spot! For more information regarding pricing, age and fitness, trip leader biographies, and detailed registration, visit our website.
Register today! (scroll to “Middle East Trip” at the bottom)
Middle East Program Student Semester with CELL/Euphrates
January – April 2012
Are you interested in:
Learning about the possibilities of peace and sustainability in the Middle East?
Visiting fascinating historic and scenic areas of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan?
Gaining understanding and a first-hand appreciation of the religious, historical,political, and cultural background of the region and the conflict?
Volunteering with peace and/or sustainability organizations, including some cross border cooperative sustainability initiatives?
Taking a leadership role in peace/sustainability once you return home?
Receiving 15 college credits while integrating classroom knowledge with real-life applications?
Making a difference and being changed in the process?
If so, we invite you to join us for a transformative learning adventure in the Middle East!
CELL’s Middle East program focuses on a theme of sustainability and peace building. Explore the work of various organizations in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan. See inspiring peace building efforts as well as environmental sustainability initiatives, some of which involve cooperative efforts across boundaries. You will visit and learn about some of the peace and sustainability initiatives in the region, including those which bring cross border cooperation through focus on sustainability. You will also visit some of the many historic and scenic areas as well as learn more about the religious, historical, political, and cultural background of the region and the conflict.
How do I apply?
For information on CELL’s application process, see the How to Apply page.
For more information, e-mail Sue Oakes or call +1 (207) 975-9711. We look forward to having you join us for this unique sustainability/peace program.
Classical music concerts on the West Coast, talks and gatherings in DC, ceremonies in downtown St. Louis, and a prayer wall in Elsah — these are just some of the eight ways in which Euphrates commemorated the ten-year mark of 9/11/01 last weekend.
Watch this video blog from our Fellows as they explain how they honored the ten-year mark of 9/11 at Principia College.
Euphrates founder Janessa Gans Wilder was a panelist for an event on September 8th at the Navy Memorial in Washington, DC. Below are some of the thoughts she shared on the topic of a healing perspective we can bring to the ten-year mark of 9/11.
How can we, as spiritual thinkers, best approach the ten year anniversary of 9/11?
9/11 is a good chance to take stock of how the world has changed the past ten years—what have been the key challenges and what type of thinking underlies those challenges. Is it not fear, revenge, hatred, divisions, lack?
And what is the way forward? Albert Einstein once said that “problems cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.” So, we really need to be operating on a different, higher level of consciousness to truly address and solve these problems. All the major faiths provide us the roadmap—some form of the Golden Rule—do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Bible also tells us that “there is neither Jew nor Greek,” that we are all one, and that we should love our neighbors, as well as even our enemies!
What was your personal involvement in 9/11?
I was sitting in a military briefing at the United States Strategic Command south of Omaha, Nebraska. A military official came in and whispered in the briefer’s ear and he appeared visibly shaken. He announced that a plane had hit one of the twin towers and that we would have to adjourn the briefing and move in to another room. We crowded around television screens as we watched the second plane hit the tower. Moments later, we had to evacuate the base as President Bush was on his way there to the secure bunker.
What impact did that experience have on you initially?
Just as the announcement came, my colleague who worked in the counterterrorism office turned to a few of us and whispered, “It’s a terrorist attack. It’s Osama bin Laden.” I, on the other hand, was shocked and stunned; I had the distinct feeling that nothing was going to be the same again, including my own life. I had just undergone training at the agency looking at other intelligence failures—Pearl Harbor and the fall of the Shah in Iran. I thought, “how did we miss it again?” I immediately transferred from working on Africa to the Middle East. I spent two years in the Afghanistan office and then from 2003-2005, I served in Baghdad. My motivation was similar to other Americans—I wanted to understand why it happened and ensure that it never did again.
Over the past 10 years how has your thinking changed or evolved from that experience?
Exacting revenge for wrongs done is the “eye for an eye” mentality and is too old school! In the words of Gandhi, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” The only antidote to fear, hatred, malice, is love. It’s not about fighting fire with fire.
How can we prayerfully address the seemingly intractable cycles of fear or violence?
As we pray about them and root them out of our own thought and our own lives, we demonstrate that we have dominion over them—that there are more powerful forces. What is it that casts out fear? Love. Violence comes from the root word—violate. So, as we refuse to violate others in our thought and our own lives, we realize there’s a way to stop these cycles. Each person living this becomes a security zone, where hate, fear, and violence have no foothold. And he/she also becomes a light to others.
From your own experience, what root causes of 9/11 need to be addressed today?
Catching the drips from a leaky faucet does not fix the faucet. The root causes must be addressed—fear, ignorance, division, lack of security, fall of innocence, the “Other”, victimization, oppressors, terrorism, envy, hatred, revenge, humiliation, lack of opportunity, economic advancement.
What progress have we made since 9/11 in addressing these issues?
In many ways, we have made progress both at home and abroad. Visionaries all over the US and the Middle East are working on the basis of common ground and of addressing and rooting out these modes of thought in their own communities. Look at the Arab Spring, which showed us an entirely new face of the Arab world—one calling for human rights and democracy, rather than jihad, and one armed with facebook and twitter rather than guns and bombs. In other areas, such as the rise of Islamophobia in the U.S. there seems to still be a great deal of fear.
What role can one individual’s prayer have in countering terrorism (at home and abroad)?
Terrorism’s primary weapon has to be fear because it lacks the real power to make change by other means. So when we pray to be delivered from fear, we are defeating terrorism.
“One with God is a majority.” There is infinitely more power in good than in evil. If nothing else, you can stop lending your voice and power to it. I stopped being overwhelmed by the death and destruction and turned my efforts to nation-building.
In other words, how do I know that my prayers are having an effect?
My experience by the Euphrates river in Iraq, I got rid of fear and the myopic focus that overwhelmed me in the face of evil. I chose to focus on the good and I immediately brought more of that into my experience. I think we can all do that. It’s not to sweep the bad under the rug. It’s to acknowledge it and deal with it, but not lending your emotional and thoughtful weight to it. It can never stand up to the power of good.
I met a guy this summer who was living in Cairo during the recent revolution. He gave a presentation at a local Rotary club, complete with pictures and stories from his daily experience. He had us all chuckling at the human-interest stories that composed the international phenomena that was Tahrir Square during the month of February. A roomful of southern Oregonians learning about the spirit and pluck of the Egyptians in Cairo, laughing at stories, and, I think, feeling heartened to recognize familiar scenes – moms, dads, kids, friends, all gathered together in photos on the screen – made for a great lunch hour.
I remember going to an Open Mic here in St. Louis the night that Mubarak finally did step down. It’s a community coffee shop, attracting diverse people of all ages and, I would assume, various political opinions. But, when one older man stood up at the microphone and dedicated his next song to the people of Egypt, the ensuing cheers drowned out the opening chords of the Beatles’ Revolution that followed.
And, though with decidedly less of an international flavor, what about the incredible national community that was demonstrated after the sobering weather-related events that swept through O’Fallon, MO, earlier this summer? The collective will to help, build, and heal proved stronger than the destructive events. This same spirit has been demonstrated in Japan, and all over the world in recent months. It’s proof that when faced with a crisis, people naturally coalesce.
So, clearly, people can get behind the idea of gatherings based on freedom, open-mindedness, change, progress, and some good old-fashioned community — whether it’s happening right in our midst or across the globe. The Euphrates Summit will be such a gathering, collecting people who are ready to change the “norm” of fear and conflict regarding the Middle East. It’s time to face the crisis of deteriorating relations with an entire region of the world — to overthrow the oppressive fear that has governed our actions, both individually and collectively, since that September 11th ten years ago.
We’ll come together to speak frankly about where our world stands, where the divisions seem to run deep, and where cooperation seems most possible. The current divisive mentality is unsustainable, and it’s time that a movement of people comes together to show our government, and the world community that we are able to see past the vast cultural differences and see instead a world where our similarities as people outweigh our perceived differences.
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Euphrates is pleased to announce that registration for the Euphrates Summit: Our World Beyond 9/11 opens today, Monday August 15th. Please visit the summit page to find out more.
Seven Euphrates team members trekked to Newark, NJ, this past weekend to participate in the Newark Peace Education Summit: three days that brought together over 74 speakers, including Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama! With four of us even willing to drive there (18 hours one-way for world peace? Seems reasonable…) to attend, the Euphrates team really stepped up. We were initially attracted by how similar in principle the Newark Summit seemed to our own summit [“Our World Beyond 9/11,” coming this Fall], and were psyched to scope it out and experience their take on peace.
With the intention to “examine and discuss best practices for fostering peace and implementing those best practices, particularly in the field of education,” the Newark Summit promised a range of individuals organized into widening circles of peace: first, within; then, in the home; in education; in the community; in the world; and finally, with the planet. It didn’t disappoint…
—- Getting There in the Right Frame of Mind
I, for one, traveled (by car!) from Illinois to Newark with three Principia students, drawn mainly by the promise of hearing HH the Dalai Lama speak and by the summit’s similarity to the Euphrates’ principles and approach. I was most grateful for the portions of the summit that reinforced the breaking of the myth that we must choose between local and global, between personal and interpersonal, and between inner and outer. It’s clear that the skills of dialogue, listening, inner strength and motivation, and having no ‘Other’ in consciousness are skills that apply no matter how wide or narrow your scope.
For example, Marianne Williamson, spiritual teacher, reminded us that the “happier we are, the more brain power we have to devote to helping others” and Goldie Hawn corroborated, explaining that her organization, MindsUP, knows that children can’t be in a state of learning until they’re come to calm and peace within. In the frenzy of chaotic lives, of violence of all sorts – verbal, physical, structural, systematic* – it’s important to understand that finding that sense of stillness, or at least that sense of “this is who I am and this is my purpose in this moment” has to come first. Beginning each day with the question “What good might I do today?” is Ms. Williamson’s suggestion as to how we best serve humanity.
That said, the outlets for finding peace, and the qualities that help engender it, can take many forms. Fiery Nobel Laureate Jody Williams walked the floor barefoot, in jeans and a T-shirt, and shouted into the microphone: “talk is not a strategy for change! It’s time to get up off our collective ass and do something about it!” Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, on the other hand, spoke to us in calm and measured Farsi, and her translator’s even voice shared practical, systemic-level suggestions to achieve political and social change. She knows more about American foreign policy and even American civics than, I would guess, does the average American.
Ebadi brought down the house with some of her more hard-hitting advice, which included a simple fact-sharing of the reasons, she feels, why 9/11 occurred. As she walked us through two examples of hypocritical U.S. foreign policy; first arming the Taliban to bring down communism, now fighting them, and propping up Sadaam Hussein in the ‘80s only to take him down in 2003, there were smatterings of applause. Ebadi’s standing ovation came, though, when she outlined three ways to move towards world peace: “1) vote for groups who have not committed these mistakes in the past, 2) that the world will get better when American foreign policy gets better, and 3) that American foreign policy will improve when Americans understand ‘what we’ve done’ in the past.” She finished with a resounding, “Go Vote!”
The ecstatic response reminded me that these summits typically draw like-minded (for the most part) people together, and I wondered how those comments would have struck a different audience. Recently, Euphrates has adopted the idea that in the beginning of a movement, it’s really all about talking to the small percentage of the population that wants to get on board in order to create that critical mass of early adopters. The idea is that this will then effect change on a much wider scale. So, perhaps preaching to the choir in this instance really does make it sing louder, and the ripples of change will slowly spread from Newark. Plus, “in the absence of personal transformation, there is no social transformation,” says Dr. Deepak Chopra.
Wisdom From His Holiness Himself
Amazingly, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, took two full days of his time to give us the gift of his thoughts. His definition of peace, that it is the choice to be non-violent when you have the option of force, is profound. He stated continually that we, as people, are all the same and that this sense of humanity is necessary in getting past war and conflict. For example, he said, “the us / them mentality essentially legitimizes war!” New ideas of interdependence, however, mean that if we destroy “them,” we destroy “us,” as well, and that we had all better be aiming at “the big we” to rise above and beyond the separatist mentality. We were gently chided to remember that while we can condemn actions of others, we may never condemn the actor, but only cherish him as we would cherish ourselves. He explained how the reasons to go to war are literally outdated, and that in this 21st century we must demilitarize, distribute equally, and talk with each other.
Character Education and the Value of Values, but Don’t Say “God,” Whatever You Do
William Rideau, a former death-row inmate turned award-winning journalist, stressed the need for character education. “People need to feel that they are heard, understood, and most of all, that they belong” are the words that wrapped up his portion. This admonition to educators: “do not make learned monsters – help your students become more human”** was quoted by Pedro Noguera, Professor of Education at NYU, as a way to fold in the practice of teaching values to children in addition to facts. As the conversation on moral ethics ensued, it became clear that the panelists wished to separate these values from religiously motivated ones. The Dalai Lama even made sure to talk about secular ethical values, just like Marianne Williamson made sure to tell us she wasn’t talking about “religion” as she spoke of conflict resolution from a spiritual grounding.
I certainly understand the need for inclusivity, and the buzzword nature of “God” and especially, “religion,” but I also hesitate to attack religion in this context. Another idea with which I take issue is to withhold forgiveness until the situation has changed and justice has been served. Shirin Ebadi feels that “if we forgive before justice has been done, we are condoning the perpetrators.” I simply don’t agree. Forgiveness at a personal level helps us to move forward and begin reconstructive work in our hearts. And, how will these magical conditions of justice be brought about without first, a shift in thought? I argue forgiveness not to be an approval of violence or injustice, not to be a fluffy ignorance of the problem, but to be the hardest and most important bridge to cross in the path leading us out of a violent cycle.
And So …
Throughout all of these peace conversations, practical steps did emerge. My favorite was from Joe Green, who is in cahoots with founders of Facebook and other such online social networks, told us about his Causes.org effort to combine the psychology of Facebook (the need for social validation) and the economics of conspicuous consumption (that we’ve gotta show others our disposable income) in order to encourage charitable giving.
To be honest, though, the practicality of the summit was expected to begin at the exits doors. We heard many examples of great NGOs working in their respective communities, saw proofs that there are roomfuls of people who care about this kind of thing, and heard ad-nauseam that we have the power to do something about that which makes us upset. Really, though, the action and the chance to reflect, digest, and decide what to do is occurring right now, in these days after the gathering.
Leaving in the Right Frame of Mind
Overwhelming? Potentially so. Possibly even encouragement to retreat to our issues, the topics within our domain, and not venture out into the vast chasm of challenges facing the world. Amidst the many admonitions to “act” and not to let these ideas stay in the abstract, Daryl Presgraves, there representing the LGBT community, countered with this simple fact: “you don’t have to do everything, just do something.” Equally encouraging was the over-the-top-personality of the Newark “Street Doctor” whose passion was unmistakable as he paced the stage and announced that “when spider webs unite they can tie up a lion!” as a reminder that small actions and little steps do form a greater network with larger impact.
Zaina Salbi’s contribution to the world peace panel brought a hush over the crowd, and, in a quiet way, summed up the vision of these three days in the words of Rumi:
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I will meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.
Our job, Salbi said, is to make this field as wide as possible.
*Williams brought out the need to expand our sense of the concept of violence in order to find peace. She included structural violence, “the creation of ‘the Other,’ racial injustice, economic injustice, the violence of people, the violence of environment, the violence of a healthcare system people feel ignores them, the violence of a school system unable to challenge or discipline children. The feeling of chaos or of victimhood at the hands of bureaucracy are all myriad expressions of violence. **The quote in full reads: “Dear Teacher, I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness. Gas chambers built by learned engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians; infants killed by trained nurses, women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates. / So I am suspicious of education. My request is: help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmann’s. / Reading, writing and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more humane.” – cited by Haim Ginott in his writings.
I already knew a lot about the conflict before the trip through learning the history in college classes and reading the news. However, this trip made the region and conflict much more real for me. Meeting real Israelis and real Palestinians and hearing their stories was very eye-opening. It brought the issues home because you see what they are dealing with every day. It doesn’t feel like a far away region anymore with a conflict that doesn’t affect me. I now feel emotionally connected to the region and see it as affecting the friends I met there. I also feel like I gained a deeper understanding of the narratives of the two sides. This was something that was very important to me because I want to work on staying neutral in the conflict without taking sides, which simply adds to the large division between Israelis and Palestinians. I feel like by working to truly understand the plights, mindsets, and history of both populations, you can be more level-headed and work more easily towards peace.
of what they had despite not having much, especially compared to what we are used to here in the United States. The many Palestinians we met were passionate about wanting peace with their Jewish neighbors, and wanting to live side by side with them like they did before. They explained they were not at all against Judiasm but simply against occupation and inequality. We usually see a different picture of Islam and Arabs in the Western media, so that was very refreshing.
