Just below is an article written by my friend, James F. Palka, with big news for Tucson - and for all of us. This Palestinian/Israeli peace project reminds me of the Ulster Project that I am part of - in which Catholic and Protestant teens visit Milwaukee during the whole month of July to play, party, pray and serve together, then return to Belfast with an understanding of each others' humanity. If they can make peace in Northern Ireland, they can make peace in the Middle East.... Here is Jim's article:
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| My friend Jim Palka, the author of this piece |
On Saturday, April 27, at St.
Francis, Tucson will have an opportunity to become acquainted with a bold yet
fundamental Middle East peace program that has been unfolding on the grassroots
level. If you have been around for a while, you’ve probably thought that the conflict
between the Israelis and the Palestinians might never end. The gut-wrenching
images of violent, hateful acts perpetrated back and forth have been indelibly
imprinted on our minds by the mainstream media.
After all, this particular
“resettlement” conflict has been going on since the founding of Israel in 1948.
But if the six-and-half decade parade of elected officials, military leaders,
political strategists, and media pundits in that land – and in the US and other
involved countries – had an answer or really wanted peace, wouldn’t we have
seen significant results by now? The whole mess remains pretty hopeless, right?
Well, not really. Not hopeless anymore in light of our
current age of free-flowing information and instant communication that brings
new and greater opportunities for shared experiences, empathy, and global
brotherhood. Or just call it the Age of the Global Village, where individuals,
if united in their humanity, now have a newfound power and a global forum in
which to make extraordinary changes. But it all starts on the local level and
has proven to work in one of the Middle East’s hotbeds of conflict, Israel and the Occupied Territories of Palestine.
Global Village Square, a biannual gathering of Israelis and
Palestinians who want to end the conflict in the Middle East, is the brainchild
of Whit Jones. A psychologist and businessman from Boise, Idaho, Whit was
approaching retirement over a decade ago, and instead of imagining how he might
improve his golf game or how many trips to tropical ports he could string
together to grab some of the good life, he looked for ways of giving back to
the world. “I was very successful in my business,” he said, “with a lot of
blessings in my work, and I felt a growing sense of wanting to help people not
so fortunate. In fact, I felt inspired to work in areas with the really tough
problems.”
It didn’t take long to find his direction. In 2003, Whit
attended a meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia where a Palestinian and an Israeli
were working together – yes, together – on various conflicts around the world.
“Both these men had been seriously injured because of the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict,” Whit said. “Physically, emotionally, and even mentally injured. But
both came out of it not wanting to exact revenge on the other guy, but instead,
they wanted to work toward peace.”
Whit approached the two men and asked if a retired
psychologist from the United States could actually do anything that would be of
assistance in Israel and the occupied zones. They replied that if he was coming
to “fix” the age-old crisis, than he shouldn’t bother. But if he wanted to help
a few families, a few communities, a few villages at a time, the opportunities
were endless.
Wheels began turning and ideas formed. “My wife Paula and
I realized that we could take advantage of being Middle East outsiders,” Whit
said, “outsiders that lacked a political or religious agenda. The last thing
the Middle East needs is more politics and religion!” They sprang into
action founded the Center for Emerging Futures (CEF), which is dedicated to
the creation of dialogue, trust, and partnerships between Palestinians and
Israelis living in that area. And since 2004, CEF has designed a framework,
developed a methodology, and has actually changed the lives of thousands of
Israelis and Palestinians for the better.
Here’s how it works. Global Village Square takes place
literally on the borderline between the West Bank and Israel at a hilltop hotel
overlooking the historic town of Bethlehem. Typically, they draw approximately 80 people, with 70 being evenly split
between Israelis and Palestinians. The other ten are so-called internationals,
there to observe and assist. Of course, the first goal is for the Israelis and
Palestinians to meet and discover that they have a shared humanity. To do this,
they are paired off in twos, fours, or even eights, and they hear equal amounts
of anguish from both sides and recognize that everyone has suffered.
“The second part of what we do,
which I think makes us unique,” Whit said, “is that through some very effective
techniques, the groups find out for themselves what they might want to
do. You don’t say, ‘Here’s some money. Now go do what we tell you.’ This
approach basically never works.”
The event runs two days and participants
stay overnight at the hotel. “There’s a lot of eating, singing, talking, and
things like that at night, which is also crucial to the connection people make
with each other.” Picture Israelis and Palestinians singing together and you’ll
get a sense of what amazing things are happening here!
The CEF also facilitates
periodic Family Village Square gatherings at the same hotel as well as other
locations, with children from both sides, formerly trained to hate one another,
who end up cooking together, playing together, and building things together,
most of which is done wordlessly. And recently, Israeli and Palestinian soccer
coaches met for the first time and immediately gifted one another and exchanged
hugs. And then they sat down two-by-two and began to talk. “What you find …”
Whit began, his voice cracking with tearful emotion, “is the hunger at all ages
to make a connection. They want to get out of this terrible conflict.”
There’s much more to tell, and you’ll have an opportunity to
learn it first hand on April 27. “We will have one Palestinian and
either one or two Israelis with us,” said Whit. “They are the people who now
run Global Village Square meetings for us in the Middle East.” At this St.
Francis gathering, the first ever in the United States, they will be given a
forum in which to share their experiences. “Not a political speech, nor as
government representatives,” Whit assured, “but just citizens in the Middle
East community who want to share what they know and what their life is like.”
And if we Tucsonans could witness this, could sit at lunch
with these courageous men and connect with them and learn something true and
important – apart from what TV tells us – then this alone could make the day a
tremendous success.
Global Village Square at St. Francis-in-the-Foothills United Methodist Church, Tucson, championed and
organized by David Wilkinson, will take place in the church sanctuary on
Saturday, April 27th from 8:00am to 4:00pm and will also be intended
as a dialogue between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Admission is free.
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Photo by James F. Palka -
reminds me of the peoples
of the earth
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