Considering the multitude of interactions I've had with so many unique individuals and groups of people (Israelis, Palestinians, and foreigners, not to mention all the subgroups within these groups), I have had the privilege of being exposed to a wide variety of ideas, beliefs and experiences. I have also become painfully aware of how few people actually know how to listen to the person they are talking to. This has come to my attention both from observing others as well as through my own interactions. Life taught me early on just how hard it is to find a person who truly hears what you're saying, let alone one who can understand the content of your words and their intentions. Still, never have I seen this deficiency so glaringly obvious as in my time here.
I am working to put more effort myself into being calm, quiet and attentive when people are confiding in me as a result of this. When I was conversing with a young American Jewish woman who is here to finish her Masters, she began to express her feelings toward the situation in Israel/Palestine and where she comes from personally. She raised some interesting and relevant points so I did my best to remember what was said in order to reiterate it. I don't want to give the girl's name for privacy purposes (I'll refer to her as Sarah), but the idea's expressed below come from her.
Sarah came to this country to get a deeper look at the conflict by examining the other perspective, the Palestinian perspective, in hopes of getting away from the Westernized insight she'd been fed in the States as well as any personal bias she might have as a Jew. She felt the best way to do this was to live in the West Bank and interact with the Palestinian population. When she wasn't working, she took time to travel around Israel in order to experience Israeli opinions and culture. In doing this she gained a secure understanding of the Palestinian issues, but felt that her conception of the nationalist religious Jewish population had only become less clear. The more she learned and interacted with the Jewish communities here, the more detached she felt from her own people.
Though Sarah doesn't come from a particularly religious family, she has always felt a strong connection to her faith. She recognizes that perhaps she is harder on the Jewish population because she feels they should represent who she is, but she found no semblance of herself in the hateful attitudes and actions that permeate the region. She was distressed as she loves her faith and the country of Israel, apart from the actions of its government, but the teachings of Judaism as she had learned them (the pursuit of justice, value of human life, etc.) were absent. People here have placed the value of land above human life and these same individuals hold the power here over the land and over the government. She could not equate her own morals and ideologies with those who were suppose to have this in common.
The high levels of extremism flowing through the society is another impediment in her ability to relate. Due to Sarah's ethnicity and background, the same people who act in a manner that that disgusts her also embrace her and insist that what is being done is for her own good and for the good of the Arabs, and that the Arabs are all liars. If this is what is required for them to be together in the holy land, than Sarah wants no part in it, though she admits she will always be connected to these people in some way.
Unlike many others, Sarah makes an attempt to understand all aspects of what's happening here by questioning and dissecting the status quo, then voicing her concerns when she feels something isn't right. I (referring to myself, not Sarah) am passionate about the conflict, the land's history, human rights and justice, but Sara possesses a love for this country that I am simply incapable of. She wanted to make Aliyah (the immigration of Jews to Israel, literally meaning "ascent"), but due to the actions of the government, she does not see this as a possibility. She refuses to endorse Israel's undermining, malevolent, and frequently violent policies which aim to disable the peace process.
There is nothing that can be said that can justify what is happening here, but Sarah takes solace in the people here doing similar work who seek to understand the situation from all angles and who attempt to spread that understanding to promote communication and peace.
I am working to put more effort myself into being calm, quiet and attentive when people are confiding in me as a result of this. When I was conversing with a young American Jewish woman who is here to finish her Masters, she began to express her feelings toward the situation in Israel/Palestine and where she comes from personally. She raised some interesting and relevant points so I did my best to remember what was said in order to reiterate it. I don't want to give the girl's name for privacy purposes (I'll refer to her as Sarah), but the idea's expressed below come from her.
Sarah came to this country to get a deeper look at the conflict by examining the other perspective, the Palestinian perspective, in hopes of getting away from the Westernized insight she'd been fed in the States as well as any personal bias she might have as a Jew. She felt the best way to do this was to live in the West Bank and interact with the Palestinian population. When she wasn't working, she took time to travel around Israel in order to experience Israeli opinions and culture. In doing this she gained a secure understanding of the Palestinian issues, but felt that her conception of the nationalist religious Jewish population had only become less clear. The more she learned and interacted with the Jewish communities here, the more detached she felt from her own people.
Though Sarah doesn't come from a particularly religious family, she has always felt a strong connection to her faith. She recognizes that perhaps she is harder on the Jewish population because she feels they should represent who she is, but she found no semblance of herself in the hateful attitudes and actions that permeate the region. She was distressed as she loves her faith and the country of Israel, apart from the actions of its government, but the teachings of Judaism as she had learned them (the pursuit of justice, value of human life, etc.) were absent. People here have placed the value of land above human life and these same individuals hold the power here over the land and over the government. She could not equate her own morals and ideologies with those who were suppose to have this in common.
The high levels of extremism flowing through the society is another impediment in her ability to relate. Due to Sarah's ethnicity and background, the same people who act in a manner that that disgusts her also embrace her and insist that what is being done is for her own good and for the good of the Arabs, and that the Arabs are all liars. If this is what is required for them to be together in the holy land, than Sarah wants no part in it, though she admits she will always be connected to these people in some way.
Unlike many others, Sarah makes an attempt to understand all aspects of what's happening here by questioning and dissecting the status quo, then voicing her concerns when she feels something isn't right. I (referring to myself, not Sarah) am passionate about the conflict, the land's history, human rights and justice, but Sara possesses a love for this country that I am simply incapable of. She wanted to make Aliyah (the immigration of Jews to Israel, literally meaning "ascent"), but due to the actions of the government, she does not see this as a possibility. She refuses to endorse Israel's undermining, malevolent, and frequently violent policies which aim to disable the peace process.
There is nothing that can be said that can justify what is happening here, but Sarah takes solace in the people here doing similar work who seek to understand the situation from all angles and who attempt to spread that understanding to promote communication and peace.
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