War and
Beyond War -- Dignifying the enemy
11 July 2014
"Healing
people in difficult situations enriches my soul.
I can't compare
the joy I derive from healing people in trauma to any self-gain.
It is invaluable
and significant to me -- my reason for living.
Useful and
fulfilled, my whole being rejoices.
My life has no
meaning without people in total liberty.
The freedom of
humankind is the purpose of my existence."
~
Offuh James Offuh
Cote d'Ivoire citizen-peacebuilder (10 July 2014
e-mail)
http://ufpacidialogue.net/en/index.php
War
Every day by the dozens and hundreds In Palestine, Israel, Nigeria,
Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan (the suffering nations planet-wide are
many) children, women, and men -- mostly innocents -- are blown up, shot
dead, immolated, kidnapped, tortured, maimed, humiliated,and
emotionally scarred for all the days of their lives.
Every militant or military has a reason, just cause, self-proclaimed
moral high ground, or rationalization -- the illusory, lesser function of the
fear-arrested human being.
Let's be clear; war is mostly crimes.
Intoxicated with power to misuse, wild with fear, blinded by grief,
arrogant with self-importance, with silenced souls we prey on one another to
create more victims -- the predictable failure and human tsunami.
On predatory crusades, we crazily imagine we'll be safer, repair our heart's
sickness, cure our social retardation with animal acts.
How inhumane, how primitive we've been -- http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/I-hear-it-s-because-we-re-right-and-they-re-wrong-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i9468025_.htm
"Humiliation
is the most important obstacle to a post-predatory era for humankind."
~
Robert W. Fuller
President, Oberlin College
Our predatory,
war-like instincts which may seem to have worked will increasingly fail us,
because others are getting too powerful.
We are realizing the means are the ends in the making.
Beyond War
To survive
and thrive
into an excellent future, our first step today is to protect the dignity of
our assailant, our humiliator, our "other."
What a paradox; what a life saver.
"An enemy is
one whose story we have not heard."
~Ms.
Gene Knudsen Hoffman
To dignify
one another, listen
in circles instead of shouting in squares.
Listening-to-learn humanizes and dignifies both the speaker and the listener.
The person with the will and skill to listen has the power to transform the
relationship and re-direct history.
We finally begin to discover one another as human and equal, then to
want the best not only for self but for the other equally.
This is freedom from fear and loneliness, freedom to travel
safely, collaborate, create, experience the ecstasy of human reunion -- life
beyond war.
Middle East exemplars persist
together amidst violence
The families of murdered Israeli teen Naftali Fraenkel and murdered
Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir are drawing
comfort from an unexpected source: each other.
In an emotional and special telephone conversation" between two
families that have lost their sons, Hussein Abu Khdeir,
Mohammeds father, and Yishai
Fraenkel, the uncle of Naftali
Fraenkel, comforted one another.
In a separate visit, Palestinians from the Hebron area showed up at
the door of the Fraenkel family, looking to
comfort the bereaved.
Asked why they had come, one Palestinian said, Things will only get better when
we learn to cope with each others pain and stop
getting angry at each other."
"Our task is to give strength to the family and also to take a step toward
my nations liberation.
"We believe that the way to our liberation is through the hearts of Jews.
The Palestinian visitors also mentioned an initiative spearheaded by Jews
and Muslims.
They wish to transform July 15, the Jewish fast day known as 17 Tammuz, into a
joint fast day for people of both religions to express their desire to end
violence.
At another time, over 350 diverse citizens together initiated a
compassionate visit to the Abu Khdeir family in
the tent of mourning in their Palestinian neighborhood of Shuafat,
northern Jerusalem.
The visit was organized by the Tag Meir (Light Tag) Forum, a coalition of more
than 40 interreligious, Jewish, and Arab-Jewish coexistence communities
throughout Israel.
READ more:
Families of Slain Israeli and
Palestinian Teens Turn to Each Other for Comfort
The Jewish Daily Forward --
Sunday, July 6, 2014
And LISTEN to
another bereaved Muslim Palestinian father and Jewish Israeli mother:
Israeli and Palestinian
Parents: "We Need to Stop This Madness"
National Pulbic
Radio (NPR) -- 03 July 2014
10-minute radio interview
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/03/328133866/israeli-and-palestinian-parents-we-need-to-stop-this-madness
More Middle East heroes
defying war to engage
Take heart
knowing there are many more youth and adults who refuse to be enemies, and insist on engaging as
prescribed in:
NO MORE ENEMIES
Deb Reich -- April 2011
and
CONTACT, COMMUNICATION, AND
COMPASSION
AS STAIRWAYS TO PEACE
Shulamit S. Gubkin
-- April 2013
http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1381925373_Gubkin.pdf
Take
instruction and take courage from them, as they continue strong even during war.
Emulate them where you live.
Wahat al-Salam ~ Neve
Shalom (Oasis of Peace village) -- http://wasns.org
-- gathered Israeli Jews and Palestinians at the School for Peace
determining to maximizes larger circles of human engagement and cooperation to
(1) dignify humanity on all "sides and (2) more powerfully reject violence
of all kinds.
Hand-in-Hand (Yad B'Yad)
Schools -- http://www.handinhandk12.org
-- of Arab and Jewish teachers, students and families equally continued --
didn't cancel -- teacher workshops on issues that grip their community every
year -- Land Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Nakba
Day. Transcending fear of Jerusalem fervor, teachers created actions
plans to positively impact the culture within and beyond the school because
"we have a responsibility to influence our surroundings outside of the
school walls.
Hand in Hand Arab-Jewish bi-lingual youth camps continue in Wadi Ara, Jerusalem and
Jaffa. The entire educational, teaching and community staff will gather
for two days of training around one issue -- the equal place of Hebrew and
Arabic in bilingual schools.
North American summer programs for the Middle East public peace process
are vigorously continuing to shape young adult artisans of communication.
Refusing to be enemies, the Palestinian and Israeli youth-peacebuilders
are gathering at Building Bridges -- http://www.buildingbridgesshift.org
-- Creativity for Peace -- http://www.creativityforpeace.com
-- Hands of Peace -- http://www.handsofpeace.org
-- Seeds of Peace -- http://www.seedsofpeace.org
-- and Kids4Peace in the USA -- http://www.k4p.org -- and Jerusalem -- http://k4pblog.org
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These and hundreds of other success stories are preserved at http://traubman.igc.org/messages.htm