Inclusion
I think having a theory of inclusion is an essential tool for transformation and progress in conflicts. Especially here.
There is a desire within all of us to be recognized and to be acknowledged by those around us. To be affirmed that we are human, that our existence is legitimate and that as an individual we are of enough value for someone else to affirm our existence, I believe, is one of the main catalysts for all of our interactions. Little kids misbehave so their parents will give them attention, in the midst of a crowded room you can still feel alone because you don’t have any one to interact with. Living on the margin of society is difficult, especially when you haven’t willingly placed yourself there. People can spend their entire lives searching for a place where they belong; in fact, the desire to be included perhaps fuels radical decisions for some such as joining cults or fundamental groups that provide an identity and community in exchange for radical allegiance.
I can take this thought down many tangents. I am tempted to discuss the marginalization of Palestinian Christians from the worldwide Christian community, especially because the conflict is often portrayed as a religious one. Jews vs. Muslims: I used to think this is what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict boiled down to, yet now I’m realizing its just a false facade for a conflict based on racist politics. I have heard a lot of Christians talk about the need to support Israel in the ”war against Islam” which in so many ways is a disgusting way to view religion but also, at the most basic level, ignores their Christian brothers and sisters living in the birthland of Jesus. ”We read the same bible—I just don’t understand why they don’t care” a Palestinian Christian told me the other day. I had no answer.
I met up with Amanda, one of my roommates for next year, in Jerusalem on Friday. It was so great to see her! I joined in on her tour for the day. People started to find out that I was living in the West Bank, where their tour guides had told them it was unsafe to go. Hearing that I was living with Palestinians, a woman asked me “Well, tell me about the Palestinians. What do they want to happen to the Jews? Where do they want them to go?” My response was along the line that Palestinians as a community don’t really have a problem with Jews; rather, it is the Zionists and the Israelis that they have a problem with. It is important to understand that before the establishment of the Israeli state, Arab Jews lived side by side with the Arab Muslims and Arab Christians with very little conflict (save some moments in history like the crusades). Then I told her that I really think the Palestinians just want the dignity of being respected and to have international law honored. To be given the same status of “human” as those who are protected by international law and human rights laws is so important. The Palestinians are no less human than you or me but they often aren’t treated that way. For example, there is a international program called Augusta Victoria Hospital which buses Palestinian children into Israel so they can receive their kidney dialysis treatment twice a week. The kids can go, but their mothers cannot get permission from Israel to enter Israel. The mothers must drop them off at the bus stop, wave goodbye and then return home because they are not allowed to go with their children. Shouldn’t every mother have a right to be with their 5 year old child during a medical treatment, let alone a frightening treatment like dialysis? That is what the Palestinians really desire: to be given the dignity of acknowledgment. To no longer have their existence denied or shrugged away. If they were given the same basic respect that I daily take for granted, like having the bare-bone rights guaranteed to every human by international human rights laws, the transformation of the conflict would be unfathomable. The Palestinians don’t want the Israelis or the “Jews” to go anywhere. They don’t want the Israelis to leave any place except for the land that was granted to them through international accords and agreements signed alongside with the Israeli state. But the world continues to be rather indifferent to this Occupied State, as if the people inside of it are not people worthy of rights.
On a similar note, last Thursday I attended a conference on behalf of HLT called : “International Networking: Linking GPPAC with Israeli and Palestinian NGO’s Working for Peace” sponsored by GPACC, the Global Partnership for Prevention of Armed Conflicts. We discussed some of the challenges facing networking of NGO’s in the Arab Region and something that came up was the deliberate exclusion of Israel from a lot of regional networks. Middle East networks or Arab networks often do not include Israel as one of their member countries. I can see the thinking behind, especially with political reasoning or the potential for Israeli or the Arab organizations to be blacklisted for participating with the other. I can also see how Arab countries may not want Israeli organizations to be included for the basic fact that they are Israeli. Yet, the tragedy is that the Israeli NGO’s which are working for peace and dialogue often face a double exclusion. Excluded from their own mainstream society for their work with Palestinians, they are often then denied inclusion within the networks that they are fighting to partner with. It causes a lot of frustration to the Israeli NGO’s and also does not send any type of positive reinforcement for what they are doing. We discussed different strategies to incorporate Israeli NGO’s through ”creative solutions” (back-door participation). My point: imagine the power that would come with inclusion of all partners willing to work for peace. To listen and respect their voice, no matter their background, and then work together to step forward into a more harmonious existence. Eh? Anyone on board?
