Youth
"show" way
for Middle
East, global life beyond war
10
July 2009
Manipulated and paralyzed by anxiety
and doubt, "we have become human self-fulfilling prophecies, which further
entrap us in the vicious cycle of fear, hatred and war."
In Chapter One of NO GOING BACK: Letters to Pope
Benedict XVI (May 2009, Quill Press), Dr. Julia Chaitlin (
JChaitin@urim.org.il ) asks:
"How
do we move from distrusting all others, who are not 'us,' to viewing them as
potential co-creators of this future?"
From prophecies of war to possibilities of peace:
Building bridges between Jewish-Israelis and
Palestinians
Julia Chaitin, Ph.D.
In "NO
GOING BACK: Letters to Pope Benedict XVI..."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/going-back-Holocaust-Jewish-Christian-Relations/dp/0955500923
Chaitlin
then prescribes how to begin moving beyond war.
"The answer is through dialogical communication;
people-to-people processes
rooted in justice and equality; and tenacity, especially during the darkest of
times."
She paints
a picture of vast citizen engagement.
"For such dialogue to succeed. . .it needs to occur in
widespread, long-term people-to-people grassroots endeavors. . .to engage as
many people as possible: old and young, men and women, religious and secular,
right wing and left wing, professionals and laborers, rural and urban dwellers,
everyone. . .to bring people together in endeavors that speak to their
needs, promise full involvement, and. . .to work together, and to offer counter
solutions to the military 'solution' that has so miserably failed us."
A new
bravery is called for.
"Finally, in order to put our pasts to rest, and to
co-create this new reality, we need tenacity and inner strength not to give
up, even during military operations and terror attacks. . ."
Educator
Julia Chaitlin assures us.
"The key to this change is rooted in the human mind,
spirit and soul.
All people possess innate needs and drive to create
community and
to be part of a larger collective that gives meaning and
purpose to life."
Below are
three stories of brave, principled youth creating relationships, theater,
community.
Answering Julia Chaitlin's call.
Moving from "war to possibilities of
peace."
Building bridges.
-L&L
- - - - - - -
= = 1 = =
West Bank Story
Rockville, Maryland story
of youth
In 2006, WEST
BANK STORY - http://www.westbankstory.com/
- was the Academy Award winning film that captured the absurdity of social
and political failures of Palestinians and Jews with no skill or will to engage
and communicate.
The sme, brilliant movie by Ari Sandel showed how
close at hand is human heart-engagement and creative cooperation.
This 18-minute Oscar winner for short action films
steams on the Web at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8860670051621711477&ei=WehXSsqZFIaErgOw4qCdBA&q=west+bank+story
In Spring, 2009, inspired students at
Rockville's Wootton High School wrote and performed their own, historic first
stage adaptation of Sandel's masterpiece.
Attracting audiences of hundreds from greater
Washington, DC, a handful of creative young men and women showed the power of
youth to harness the arts and inspire a community.
Co-creators and recent graduates Mattia DAffuso (
pmattia.also@comcast.net ) and Salah Czapary ( SCzapary@comcast.net ) are
available to answer questions.
SEE how well they dedicated themselves with the
intelligence, cooperation, imagination, energy, and courage to invent change
that works.
Other schools could do the same, and do a lot of good.
West Bank Story
"a little singing, a little dancing, a lot
of hummus"
T.S. Wootton High School
Rockville, MD USA
June 4 and 5, 2009
Contact WestBankStory@gmail.com
= = 2 = =
Peace Behind the Masks
Holy Land story of youth
PACE OF
PEACE - http://www.paceofpeace.com/
- is an 8-minute animated video about human contact and the profound change
that follows.
It was created by Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian
youth, with the generosity and skill of citizens in Italy.
In that tradition, Edna Angelica Calo Livne (
Edna@ksasa.co.il ) an Israeli citizen from Italy, has shepherded theatrical
Arab and Jewish youth of her Arcobaleno~Rainbow Theater.
It is part of the greater vision of Beresheet
LaShalom - http://beresheetlashalom.org/
VIEW TV NEWS of Edna and her inspiring
artists:
Peace Behind the Masks
Rainbow Theater - Arcobaleno Teatro
New Tang Dynasty Television (Israel) - 05 November 2008
http://www.masksoff.net/videos/peacebehindthemasks.html
and
http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=154&a=5791
Even in
times of violence, this Community Theater Group of boys and girls from the many
communities in Galilee stick together.
They come from towns and villages, kibbutzim and
moshavim; they are Arabs and Jews, Druze and Circassians, religious and
secular.
Their performances are living dances of their own
human successes of connection, change, and artistic creativity.
"I felt a voice inside me that said:
It's time to change! To go to another direction!
And I understood how the difference between us is
something so special !
I took off my mask. . .
If I could, everyone can! "
Moussa
Michail, 18, Arab participant from Pkiyin
"In all our differences, in this theatre I
feel that we are all equal.
It's not important in which God we believe, or
where we live
because we are all human beings."
The strong connection between us is convincing me
more and more of
the fact that many in the world should
understand:
it's possible that . . . religious and secular
can speak without offending each other
and that all creatures can live peacefully
together."
Tamar
Ben Lulu, 16, Jewish participant from Safed
= = 3 = =
Solferino:
Making their move for a better world
Italian story of 500
global youth
In June, 2009, 500 youth from 149 countries at
the third International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent (IFRC) world youth
meeting Solferino in Italy this week are planning their next move for
humanity.
Youth on the Move provided workshops, cultural
exchanges and meetings were to inspire concrete actions of
volunteer-participants from every part of the world.
Aaron Turner, a youth
search and rescue leader and emergency response team in the New Zealand Red
Cross, said he was impressed with the role of youth in other countries.
Its just fantastic to see the energy and vitality
these countries bring. And its a lot to learn from.
He said he would try to take home the spirit of
enthusiasm and communication.
Hadhya Al Zawm, a volunteer co-ordinator in
the Yemen Red Crescent Society, said she was inspired by the Red Cross Red
Crescents global values of humanity, independence, neutrality, impartiality,
voluntary action, universality and unity.
I am here to meet our other brothers and sisters
in the Movement.
"It was my dream to be here and to participate
with other youth.
"And not to see not only in Yemen but all over
the world that we all believe in the same fundamental principles and we do the
same volunteering work and the same activities.
VIEW the full report and VIDEO:
Solferino: Making their move for a better world
by Rosemarie North
June 26, 2009
http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/News/09/09062603/index.asp
"How do we move from distrusting all others, who are not 'us,'
to viewing them as potential co-creators of this future?
The answer is through dialogical communication;
people-to-people processes rooted in justice and equality;
and tenacity, especially during the darkest of times."
--Julia
Chaitlin, Ph.D.