Note by Rabbi Michael Lerner: Sami Awad’s statement below provides an immediate and clear answer to those who think that there are no Palestinians with whom Israelis could work to build the preconditions for peace between Israel and Palestine.
Awad’s endorsement of Tikkun‘s book Embracing Israel/Palestine (available for kindle at Amazon.com and in hard copy from tikkun.org/eip) was rooted in the perspective he now outlines below—he shares our view that there is no possibility of peace until there is a fundamental transformation of consciousness and a healing of the post-traumatic stress disorder that afflicts many on all sides of this conflict.
Sadly, many of the good-hearted organizations that have funded Israeli and Palestinian organizations and institutions that are doing good but very limited and narrowly focused reconciliation work have never fully grasped the need for a full-scale societal-wide consciousness-changing effort like that called for by Tikkun and by the Holy Land Trust Foundation.
Such an effort has to operate at every level—pro-peace television, radio and print media, a political party that talks about love and generosity toward each side, a religious movement in each camp that is unequivocal in its affirmation of the humanity and needs of “the Other,” a campaign at every level to influence mass psychology, and the building of peace-oriented educational institutions and yeshivot from grammar and high school to universities in both Israel and Palestine. The right has worked at this kind of consciousness changing for the past forty-seven years, while the pro-peace forces have developed neither the strategy nor the funding base for this kind of campaign.
Until this happens, expect the hatred and fear that have been the key to the Right’s success to continue to shape the way most people on each side of the conflict see “the Other” and thus to marginalize those who call for the nonviolence and embracing of the Other that our Torah calls for. Sami Awad boldly affirms his commitment to nonviolence even in the midst of the recent assaults by Israel. It is amazing that a Palestinian people so deeply hurting could produce a leader like Awad!
—Rabbi Michael Lerner
(rabbilerner.tikkun@gmail.com)
Entrapped in a Cycle of Hatred and the Way Out
A Statement from Sami Awad in Bethlehem and Other Palestinians Committed to Nonviolence
Fear,
anger, hatred, demonizing, and dehumanization have for decades been
boiling like hot lava in the belly of the Holy Land. This lava has been
concealed and restrained from full eruption by a thin layer of illusions
made by the political elite in both the Palestinian and Israeli
communities. We have been told year after year that that our conflict is
mostly a political conflict between two nation-states and that all that
is needed is to reach a political agreement through a diplomatic
mechanism referred to as a “peace process.” Once an agreement is
reached, two independent states will be established and peace will
prevail.
This
illusion not only concealed the underlying issues mentioned above but
also concealed the power dynamics of the conflict by presenting it as a
symmetrical one. Even referring to it as a “peace process” (a process
of peacemaking between two equal parties) negated the reality of what
was happening on the ground. The world began to ignore the fact that
there is a stronger power that controls everything it wants to control
and a weaker one that is only allowed access to what is granted by the
stronger. The world forgot that every individual who lives in the Holy
Land has to adhere to laws issued by the State of Israel and within that
there are two different sets of laws: one for Israeli citizens (civil
laws) and one for non-Israeli Palestinians (Israeli military orders and
regulations). The world also forgot that there is something called the
“occupation” in this conflict, which means there is an occupier and an
occupied and this practically translates into land confiscation;
detention of individuals without trial, uneven distribution of water,
denial of self-determination, restrictions on freedom to movement,
denial of freedom to worship, etc.
The
political rhetoric of “peace making” remained on the surface but was
limited from progress within Israeli society through the calculated
infusion of that lava (fear, hatred, anger, demonizing, etc) by the
establishment itself. The occupation was justified, the denial of human
rights was neglected, and the recognition of Palestinian historic wounds
and/or fighting for Palestinian rights became treason. Through
indoctrination and public responses to Palestinian actions (violent or
not) “security” became for the most part the only language spoken.
Mistrust, fear, demonizing, and hatred became the mechanisms to lead
Israeli public opinion and discourse.
Within
the Palestinian community, the political elite continued to insist on
the negotiated process as the “only way” to attain Palestinian rights;
the Palestinian public began to perceive this as continuous compromise
by the victim to the victimizer. At the same time focus by most
political leaders was on fighting over leadership of the Palestinian
Authority or maintaining it rather than putting everything on line for
resisting and ending the occupation (despite the rhetoric). The
repeated failures of the peace negotiations made the community lose its
trust and the occupation itself continued to deepen its roots and
aggression. All this led to greater infusion of the lava (fear, hatred,
mistrust, etc.) in Palestinian discourse. Of course we cannot ignore
voices that also perpetuated hatred, revenge, and retaliation toward the
other.
The
recent violence has once and for all shattered all illusions. The
volcano has erupted exposing the reality that many have denied and did
not want to acknowledge let alone confront. The reason why we have not
been able to reach a “political peace agreement” in over two decades of
negotiations and over sixty years of conflict—and may never reach it—is
due to the continuous, systemic process of building, indoctrinating,
manipulating and multiplying fear and hatred, as well as inciting a
sense of superiority, racism, victimization, demonization, and
dehumanization of the other.
The
sad reality is that it is far easier to motivate people by fear and
hatred than by peace, compassion, and love. We have history (selective
or not), that we can refer to that proves that the other is to be
feared, mistrusted, hated, and even retaliated against—but when it comes
to peace, respect, equality, etc., we have very little to show
regarding the intentions and actions of the other. Worse, we have lots
of rhetoric that has not only abused, but has even deformed these words
and their meaning. Palestinians and Israelis, for the most part, have
now fallen into an uncontrolled downward spiral of hatred towards the
other.
As
the volcano erupts, it is upsetting and angering to see what is
happening in this land, especially to our own beloved community and
families in the Gaza Strip who are facing the brunt of it all. There is
no doubt that we must all stand strong against the killing of any human
being, despite his or her identity, wherever they live, whatever their
affiliation, or even their past actions.
We
can easily and justifiably go into blaming, complaining and analyzing:
"Who started it and who is responsible," but there are other options.
· First:
all acts of violence and aggression must cease, as well as the language
of incitement and hatred used by the political, religious, and economic
elite as well as the media (locally and internationally). Peace,
security, and freedom will never come from killing or terrorizing
others. No matter how just a cause might be, violence undermines it.
· Second:
Leaders (no matter what party they represent, what nation they belong
to, and what ideology or religion they adhere to) must acknowledge their
failure to bringing any sense of peace to the land or to its people
(even their own). If they were true leaders—with courage and vision—they
would repent publicly, to their peoples and then to others for having
failed all these years and decades.
· Third:
Civil society organizations need to acknowledge our own entrapment in
the “political illusions” and thus our inability to create any real
change at the grassroots level. For years, millions of dollars have been
spent in programs, training, and activities that have barely scratched
the surface. We have convinced ourselves that we have been creating
change by highlighting the few (but limited) activities that take place
but have never reached (for whatever reason) the masses on both sides
who continue to be swayed by the language of victimization, hatred, and
fear. Grassroots organizations now need to develop programs to address
these issues—rather than looking into “political solutions” only.
Politicians need to follow their communities and not the other way
around.
· Fourth:
It is time for a nonviolent movement to emerge that transcends
political processes and illusions: a movement of Palestinians and
Israelis as communities addressing all aspects of injustice in this
land; to work together in building a new vision and model for what
peace, justice and equality mean in the Holy Land (socially,
economically, environmentally, spiritually) and link it with a strategy
that breaks down all the physical and psychological barriers that
perpetuate hatred, anger and thus separation and violence—even if the
removal of such barriers challenges the core political assumptions and
ideological beliefs we carry and whose existence we think we need for
our own survival.
· Finally:
a core component of the movement will need to focus on working
internally and separately within each community in order to create the
space for healing and transformation: to address the challenges from
within. Peace work is not what happens between two as much as what
happens within one.
This is a call to action, a call to create a new paradigm in
understanding and addressing the challenges facing the communities of
the Holy Land, from within and in relation to others. It is a call for a
new leadership to emerge that breaks ties with old patterns,
assumptions and expectations, and creates new and viable alternatives
and models that bring true peace, justice, dignity, and equality to all.
Holy
Land Trust stands committed to such a vision. Even in the midst of
violent atrocities and incitement to hatred. The peace we seek is not
about political solutions and frameworks; it is not about compromising
for the sake of agreement; it is not seeking the peace that neglects to
address the core issues and challenges of the oppression and the
suppression of communities based on their ethnic, religious or national
background. It is that peace whereby all the rights of all the
communities of this land are recognized and honored as being equal and
respected despite whatever political framework is created.
This statement was written by Holy Land Trust founder and executive director Sami Awad.
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