ENCOUNTERPOINT
A Departure from Point Counter Point
Palestinians and Israelis in Grassroots Dialogue for Peace
April 27, 2006
Summary by Janet Wahl
There will be peace only when we see each other as human beings. This was the overriding message of the two Israelis -- Shlomo Zagman (Movement for Realistic Religious Zionism) and Robi Damelin (Bereaved Families Forum) -- and the two Palestinians -- Ali Abu Awwad (Bereaved Families Forum) and Sami Al Jundi ( Seeds of Peace ) -- who were profiled in Encounter Point. This documentary film, directed by Ronit Avni and Julia Bacha and produced by Just Vision, had opened to a standing ovation at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26.
(A trailer can be viewed at http://www.justvision.org/about_the_film.php)
All four discussed their experiences promoting nonviolence the next evening, at 7 p.m. in Reidy Friendship Hall of the Unitarian Church of All Souls. This panel discussion was sponsored by the Peace Task Force of All Souls, Parents’ Circle-Families Forum, The Dialogue Project, Imam Samer Alraey, Islamic Cultural Center of New York, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Rabbi Chava Koster at the Village Temple, and Action for Justice Committee of Community Church of New York.
The members of the panel spoke of their efforts to promote peace in Israel and Palestine . Each organization they represent -- Bereaved Families, Seeds of Peace, and Movement for Realistic Religious Zionism -- share the common vision of nonviolence. The Israeli Robi Damelin's son was killed by a Palestinian, who was subsequently jailed. Wishing to stop the cycle of violence and to promote reconciliation, Robi wrote to the mother of her son’s killer – a moving letter which she shared with us.
The Palestinian Ali Abu Awwad grew up in a politically active family and worked to resist the Israeli occupation during the first Intifada. He was arrested for his resistance activities, which included throwing stones and participating in demonstrations and being a member of Fatah, a political party. He was sentenced to ten years in an Israeli prison and served four of those years. Later he was shot in the leg by an Israeli settler and lost his brother whom an Israeli soldier shot at a checkpoint.
Robi and Ali joined the Bereaved Familes Forum and have had dialogues with many Israeli and Palestinian people in an effort to promote peace. They undertook this difficult task out of their belief that to be a peacemaker one must be a human first and foremost. We must all realize that Palestinians and Israelis are individuals with families, with very human emotions, desires, and needs. Both peoples are victims of anger, hatred, and violence. Dying for a cause accomplishes nothing -- not land, not power, not peace. These peace activists acknowledged that although these strong emotions make it more difficult to be peaceful, taking sides inevitably continues the cycle of violence.
The Israeli Shlomo Zagman, the founder of the Movement for Realistic Religious Zionism, is a former settler who went through an inner transformation that led to his voluntarily moving out of the settlement. He works on the West Bank . He reiterated that Palestinians are humans, people with families. If Israel wants democracy for itself, it must wish that for others. Although both sides are victims and have reason for revenge, justice cannot be the issue. To search for justice, again, only promotes the cycle of violence – a cycle that must be broken.
Sami Al Jundi, a long-time advocate of nonviolence and the supervisor of the Seeds of Peace center in Jerusalem , left his Palestinian home in 1967 in an effort to fight the Israeli occupation. He spent 10 years in an Israeli prison, where he learned Hebrew and English from his jailers and finished courses of study in history, philosophy, politics, and literature. He began to teach and brought Seeds of Peace to children in an effort to stop the cycle of bloodshed. Nonviolence can give a better life.
During the question-and-answer period, the panel posed several challenges to shift current, common thinking. Justice is neither black and white nor a matter of win-win. In death and punishment everyone certainly loses. Prison does not change people unless they are willing to change. There is no such thing as selective reconciliation. True reconciliation takes years and years. Working toward it is a process. We must listen. We must continue reconciliation in the face of persistent obstacles. We must realize that when there is no hope, there is no reason to live. For example, many people in Gaza , having lost hope, join the violence because they have nothing to lose and may gain martyrdom. This attitude does nothing to promote peace.
As outside observers, we should not take sides, analyze, or psychologize. We must look for the humanity of others and try to understand and empathize with their pain. We cannot simply listen to the news of violence which, in turn, promotes the taking of sides. Be pro human. Demand that the press show the human face of events. Only when we see the human face will our encounter points be peaceful.
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