When it comes to establishing peace, there are essential factors that encourage peace whether it’s in the Middle East or in the world at large.
When it comes to establishing peace, there are essential factors that encourage peace whether it’s in the Middle East or in the world at large.
1)Wars and killing and violence go counter to the humanity that we have in common and also counter to the teachings present in all religions that speak of the sanctity of human life and engendering neighborly relations and good individual ties and speaks to the human conscience that resides in each person. What unites people is their common humanity and feelings that all people experience.
2)There must be between individuals and nations good intentions and efforts to respect each other. People from various traditions, religious groups, cultures, races, nations should emphasize through education the human need for people who are healthy to interact in the true spirit of co-existence and peace.
3.We have different religious traditions, and we need to understand each other. The differences are not a threat, but a way for us to get to know each other and to be seen as a positive challenge of growing through interfaith dialogues, engaging in confidence-building exchanges between individuals and groups. We must understand each other better in order to build the necessary foundation for achieving peace.
4.Every person and nation deserves a dignified life, and every person deserves that and would defend such a right. Every person wants freedom, the ability to be secure in creating a family, a stable life, the ability to pursue economic success, happiness. Each side must see the importance of attaining this for a person to believe in peace.
5.There should be frank and open discussions between people that are done in a calm regardless of the differences that exist, and can use our understandings of what is different to bridge the gaps and find common ground in a way that brings mutual benefits to both sides.
6.We must forgive one another for the mistakes made on both sides. We must work hard and put forward our best efforts to overcome the feelings behind creating violent situations, hatred, and selfishness in order to achieve true peace. We must also remember that peace is achieved as the fruit of justice. Without justice, there is no peace.
7.We should remember that no man is an island, that the parts affect the whole. With that in mind, we must stand besides those who need to be uplifted and who have felt neglected, so we can have healthier communities with healthier individuals. So many people have felt neglected and suffered. We must be compassionate and seek to assist them for in assisting them, we assist ourselves.
8.We must show solidarity for those who are and have been vulnerable due to violence or any kind of injustice and do our utmost to give them a sense of hope and convert their negative feelings into positive ones.
9.We must encourage all attempts at attaining positive relations and friendships between people from the different communities for it is through friendships one can make peace-making easier to achieve.
10.We must urge leaders responsible for the welfare of their people be they presidents, governors, leaders of international bodies to do put forward their best efforts in achieving justice for people from all nations and peace and respect between the nations of the world.
The author and writer,
Mahmoud Abu-Laban.
Translation into English ,
Basil keilan
1)Wars and killing and violence go counter to the humanity that we have in common and also counter to the teachings present in all religions that speak of the sanctity of human life and engendering neighborly relations and good individual ties and speaks to the human conscience that resides in each person. What unites people is their common humanity and feelings that all people experience.
2)There must be between individuals and nations good intentions and efforts to respect each other. People from various traditions, religious groups, cultures, races, nations should emphasize through education the human need for people who are healthy to interact in the true spirit of co-existence and peace.
3.We have different religious traditions, and we need to understand each other. The differences are not a threat, but a way for us to get to know each other and to be seen as a positive challenge of growing through interfaith dialogues, engaging in confidence-building exchanges between individuals and groups. We must understand each other better in order to build the necessary foundation for achieving peace.
4.Every person and nation deserves a dignified life, and every person deserves that and would defend such a right. Every person wants freedom, the ability to be secure in creating a family, a stable life, the ability to pursue economic success, happiness. Each side must see the importance of attaining this for a person to believe in peace.
5.There should be frank and open discussions between people that are done in a calm regardless of the differences that exist, and can use our understandings of what is different to bridge the gaps and find common ground in a way that brings mutual benefits to both sides.
6.We must forgive one another for the mistakes made on both sides. We must work hard and put forward our best efforts to overcome the feelings behind creating violent situations, hatred, and selfishness in order to achieve true peace. We must also remember that peace is achieved as the fruit of justice. Without justice, there is no peace.
7.We should remember that no man is an island, that the parts affect the whole. With that in mind, we must stand besides those who need to be uplifted and who have felt neglected, so we can have healthier communities with healthier individuals. So many people have felt neglected and suffered. We must be compassionate and seek to assist them for in assisting them, we assist ourselves.
8.We must show solidarity for those who are and have been vulnerable due to violence or any kind of injustice and do our utmost to give them a sense of hope and convert their negative feelings into positive ones.
9.We must encourage all attempts at attaining positive relations and friendships between people from the different communities for it is through friendships one can make peace-making easier to achieve.
10.We must urge leaders responsible for the welfare of their people be they presidents, governors, leaders of international bodies to do put forward their best efforts in achieving justice for people from all nations and peace and respect between the nations of the world.
The author and writer,
Mahmoud Abu-Laban.
Translation into English ,
Basil keilan
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Corey Gil-Shuster on -
Mepeace is a site for Israelis, Palestinians and others to learn about each other, build relationships, challenge one another, argue, fight, and hopefully, ultimately, find some understanding. Anyone who just wants to make waves without adding anything to the conversation detracts from the purposes of this site. If you have an issue trusting Palestinians (which seems to be what you are trying to communicate), then open a new post with your honest thoughts without attacking, being belligerent, or disrespectful. I am sure that many of us might even share some of your feelings. I guarantee that people on the other side have similar feelings about Israelis. Understanding why we mistrust and how we may be able to move past mistrust would be a positive contribution to this site and to the conflict in general.
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Permalink Reply by LOVEY on -
I just replied to both Neri and Basil but primarily to Neris post. Perhaps either of them can start a new thread if not than I will.
BTW reality as seen by any large segment is not a personal attack or disrespect. There is currently no trust as Neri pointed out. That is a major component of peace so why am I being chastised?
I am not part of the choir but a sober realist.I guarantee that people on the other side have similar feelings about Israelis. That goes without saying otherwise we would not be in the pickle we are in.
Understanding why we mistrust and how we may be able to move past mistrust would be a positive contribution to this site and to the conflict in general. That is the question I posed to Neri and now to you?
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Permalink Reply by Corey Gil-Shuster on
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My opinion: why we mistrust is simple. We view the situation only from our own perspective (depending on who we side with). any action by the other side is met with a reaction. this reaction is not based on the action itself only but on how we interpret the action. So to Jews, every action is seen through the lens of hatred of Jews. For Arabs it is seen through the lens of colonialism. Whether the other side really feels the way we interpret them to feel is unimportant- we react based on our interpretation of what they feel and want. And the cycle continues always blaming the other (we are only reacting, they are acting). Of course every action by an individual or group is seen as representing the entirety of the other side and we view them in one-dimensional terms. All of us do this. I would love to visit some of my new friends I made in Hebron or Bethlehem but I am too afraid to go into the West Bank assuming I will be viewed as a Jew and killed. I have no idea how realistic this impression is but it is keeping me from going.
How do we move past the mistrust? That is harder. We have to build trust slowly. Which is very difficult because everyone on this site can work for a year building trust but all it takes is one Israeli or Palestinian committing violence on the other and all our efforts seem to come undone (at least in the short term). So I personally look for ways to build trust both within Israeli society and Palestinian society in the ways that I am able- just visiting when I feel it is safe, seeing each other’s realities in person, trying to set up opportunities where people who are not interested in meeting the other side are able to meet someone from the other side, etc. My hope is that after many times and once there is some kind of agreement in place, we will have more openness on both sides to choosing to talk instead of immediately moving towards violence.
What do you think would build trust for you? What would make you begin trusting just one Palestinian?
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Permalink Reply by LOVEY on
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Corey:
But is that not what Oslo tried to accomplished. I have been to Hevron, Ramallah, Nablus, Jericho prior to 1993 and even up to 2000 when there were joint patrols and no checkpoints and fences. I met dome very friendly people on the other side.
So what happened? Why did it all unravel? Why did some Palestinian security turn on their Israeli counterparts?
When I go to Israeli Palestinian villages or even to East Jerusalem the friendliness of pre 2000 is also gone. Why? What happened?
In contrast there is no violence against Arabs (by and large)in Israeli cities or even in mixed Arab-Israeli cities
So how can this be reversed?When do you think you will be safe and how will you know? What happens until than?
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Permalink Reply by Corey Gil-Shuster on
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A few corrections: there were checkpoints before 2000. I went through checkpoints in 1991, they were just fewer and less intrusive. There has been violence towards Arabs in Israel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ami_Popper, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_Natan-Zada) plus lots of beatings of Palestinians by angry Israeli mobs.
I know it seems easy to want to blame and think of the other side simplistically, and ignore what our side has done but it doesn't help in understanding the dynamics.
What happened: first I don't think Oslo was so great either for us or for them. From what I know of Arab culture, they are willing to put their anger aside for the sake of hospitality and generosity. They let their frustrations build and build until they finally break. There were a lot of problems with Oslo. From their perspective, the settlements kept growing which played into their suspicions that Israel only wants to take over all of the West Bank and force them out, their lives didn’t get much easier, money didn’t flow (other than to those with connections) and they felt no closer to their goals- “peace with justice”- solving the refugee issues and having control over Arab East Jerusalem. Now, I personally think the growing of settlements is just stupid but not a reason for violence. To me it is a waste of money because we all know that parts of it will have to go to them so why do this. But to Palestinians this is huge, this is an emotional issue that represents much more than just building 1000 new homes on a hill.
We have the same issues. Violence towards Israelis only increased and it doesn’t seem that the Palestinians were willing or able to stop it. When buses are blowing up down my street, I don’t really care if only a radical few are doing it or everyone is. I just want to be safe. A bus bombing even in another place would be horrendous but to Jews, we see it as a thousands of years history of trying to kill the Jews. Even if intellectually, I know this is not the case, emotionally every stabbing reminds me that we Jews are not safe.
So what went wrong is that both sides want things that the other side cannot provide along with the baggage of our narratives and histories influencing how we react emotionally. I personally don’t think much has changed so even a new agreement today may result in the same results. I hope that both sides are tired enough to begin thinking about how their actions will be perceived by the other. -
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Permalink Reply by Mahmoud Abu-Laban on -
6.We must forgive one another for the mistakes made on both sides. We must work hard and put forward our best efforts to overcome the feelings behind creating violent situations, hatred, and selfishness in order to achieve true peace. We must also remember that peace is achieved as the fruit of justice. Without justice, there is no peace.
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Permalink Reply by Corey Gil-Shuster on
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Hi Mahmoud, I admire your belief in forgiveness. I think there are many people on both sides who will find it hard to forgive.
You link forgiveness to justice. If I understand you correctly, you mean that if there is justice (for example a right of return or compensation, etc.) there can be forgiveness- is this what you mean? I hear this alot from Palestinians.
The problem is what many Palestinians see as justice will be viewed as a threat to Israelis. So how can we have forgiveness on both sides if the concept of justice only works for Palestinians?
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Permalink Reply by LOVEY on
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Corey
Your opinions are not that much different from mine. I just have no patience in waiting.
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Permalink Reply by Luc Hansen on -
Lovey, you are correct about Corey's opinions.
I am not quite sure about what you mean by no patience. Do you mean you just want rid of those inconvenient Palestinians? Precisely nuked? Or like Rabin wished, for Gaza to fall into the sea?
Justice for Palestinians, which you both seem to agree is absent, is not conditional on your continued occupation of Palestinian land. If by threat, you mean giving up ill-gotten gains, then you are on the wrong side of justice.
Both Israeli-Jews and Palestinians are retreating into extremism. But Palestinians will accept living with Israeli Jews. It's pragmatic. The reverse is not yet the case.
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on -
Luc,
with your strong demand for Justice, you miss the point of change.
Justice is not unrelated to outcome, and while there was miss-justice with the arab population of Palestine it is not Justice to wind time back to pre-1948 or pre-1881. we are the children of generations who did wrong, but we do not wish to continue with it, but we build future where Justice is element in new life conditions.
LOVEY has different perspective from Corey, the difference is what future they say we should seek.
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Permalink Reply by LOVEY on
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Corey I am talking post Oslo or 1993.No checkpoints manned by Israelis only but by joint PA-Israel.
In Oslo they got control of major cities with no interference other than the joint patrols to prevent violence and terror. That in fact created more terror. If terror was not prevalent than who knows how far we would have been on the road to co existence.
At third point of time peace or co existence is not an option worth pursuing as there is really very little in the way of trust and we know all too well from the Gaza debacle as to what will happen even if we enter into an agreement.
Justice is way too general of a term to have any meaning and I just discard it. Lets therefore deal with smaller chunks of that concept. Lets also deal with the minutae of these chunks. Land ownership, borders. Refugees are as far as most Israelis concerned a non-issue and a deal breaker. Can discuss ad nauseum why,but no Government left or right will deal with the flooding of Israel.
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Permalink Reply by Basil Keilani on -
Lovey,
At third point of time peace or co existence is not an option worth pursuing as there is really very little in the way of trust and we know all too well from the Gaza debacle as to what will happen even if we enter into an agreement.
This is a clear example of what we don't need on mepeace. We don't need people coming here who are not interested in peace at all or pursuing it. That's unfair to the sincere members who signed up and follow the guidelines. The user received warnings from three moderators, but no improvement was seen.
The Moderating Team....
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