It is very easy to see the injustice here and to make bold statements about whole peoples. Who is right and who is wrong. The question I always ask myself while I am here is regardless of who belongs to which culture, religion, social or political faction can I always recognise that this is simply a fellow human being standing in front of me? Can I refuse to see whole enemies? Does the action of one individual make me create a judgement on a whole people?
I feel that the day I see whole enemies I can no longer see the human being. I can no longer see the victim and the perpetrator that exists within each of us. What I have seen here is a numbness of people including from the international participants. Suffering in this world has become far too common, whether it be in our personal relationships in our daily lives or on issues such as the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.
I have enjoyed this experience because it is not just about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It is about all of us, how we see ourselves, how we grow, how we express ourselves and how we can connect this countries experience with the conflicts we face in our own countries and the conflicts we face within ourselves. Can we contribute to each others healing? I think yes.
This journey has not been easy. Organising these types of programs you always feel a huge sense of responsibility. Letting people be where they are in their experience whether it is positive or negative is difficult. Allowing people to form opinions when you want them to remain open is also difficult as each interpret the realities here differently.
It is especially hard when you see people going into a negative space within themselves, but it is even more important to give them the space to be where they need to be in that negativity.
I have also had to find the balance between my role here and also allowing myself to be in my own journey. I am learning so much from all the locals we meet and the other Action Partners. Not everything has gone according to plan, actually not a lot has gone to plan. However as a result, we have experienced things that I could never have planned for if I tried.
Most of all I have really enjoyed the laughter on this trip and there has been a lot of it. I particularly enjoyed learning Hindu chanting from Sudha. We got up at 6:30 am for a morning chant. The diversity of the group and the way the group has come together has also been an interesting process.
Today we are performing for the local community and then we will be having some fun and taking some time out. When I explained that I was bringing young people to Israel/Palestine to take time out and self reflect a friend laughed at me and said “you are taking young people to have a break (time out) and have some fun in Israel/Palestine”? “Are you crazy”? Perhaps I am .
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Great work Cherie, it is just obvious through the superb blog posts we read about the experiences of the Fellow APs.
ReplyDeleteCan imagine how much more interesting the experience would be in a practical sense by the mere fact that by reading alone we feel like we too are there in a sense.
Perhaps you are crazier than many of us thought you would be haha :)