Working towards Non-Violence

In the fourth blog in the series, Jane Harries provides a detailed account of the workshops delivered with the Alternative to Violence Project in the West Bank and Israel. 

Apart from attending the ‘Healing Hate’ conference in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the main aim of our visit this time was to deliver Alternative to Violence Project (AVP) workshops with organisations in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel.  Despite our best efforts – working through churches and NGOs – this time we failed to gain permission from the Israeli authorities to enter Gaza, although we were delighted to hear that our partners there will continue to run workshops on their own, using facilitators we trained last year.  They are also in the process of setting up their own NGO – i.e. AVP Palestine.  All the same we were deeply saddened not to be able to see and support them again – particularly as we accessed reports during our visit about the crisis in Gaza, with the two million citizens living there having electricity cut to as little as two hours per day in the intense heat.

And so we had to develop a Plan B.  For me, this meant being involved in running workshops for groups on the West Bank, based in Wtr, a centre for Culture and Media in the Bethlehem area.  We firstly ran a ‘Training for Facilitators’ workshop with a group who had received the basic and advanced workshops last year.  Secondly, we ran a six day course for another group, taking in basic, advanced and training for all facilitator levels.  This was inevitably the group I got to know best, and the impressions and stories below come from the time I spent with them.  We also hoped to run a taster workshop with students in Ramallah, but this sadly didn’t come to fruition.  At the end of our stay the two Joes moved to Tel Aviv and ran a workshop with professionals there working with an anti-bullying programme in Israeli schools.

What is AVP?

AVP workshops take participants through a whole group process. Starting with exercises that break the ice and encourage participants to build a positive community, the workshops enable those attending to gain communication and cooperation skills, to reflect on how they react to conflict and violence in their lives and to practice attitudes, skills and behaviours which are more likely to lead to non-violent outcomes.  The course is experiential and interactive and facilitators learn from participants as well as vice-versa.  At the second level, participants identify themes or issues they are struggling with, and these are gone into at a deeper level.  The final stage is for participants to be trained as facilitators, to gain insight into facilitation processes and to practice running exercises.  By the end of the third level, participants are ready to start practising as apprentice facilitators themselves – and so the AVP community grows and adapts to more local circumstances.

Why AVP?

At the beginning of AVP workshops, facilitators conduct a ‘Gathering’ which entails going around the circle and asking each participant to share a thought or experience whilst the others listen.  This has the effect of ‘gathering’ the group and helping them to work as a community.  At the beginning of the workshop we asked participants what they hoped to get from it.  We knew that the group had to some extent been selected by Ali Abu Awad (see the second blog in this series) as prospective community leaders.  The gathering, however, helped them to be more specific. Omar who is a teacher and who runs summer camps for children talked about how, in his experience, teachers can be involved in passing violence on to their charges: he wanted to help young people react differently and to be a role-model for non-violence.  Alla’ was also involved with 15 – 25 year olds and wanted to use the training in his work.  Maisa wanted to use techniques with her students at the university where she teaches English.  Others wanted to use and spread the skills they gained in their families, villages and communities.

AVP in a conflict situation

AVP is in no way a political programme.  It aims to support people, wherever they are, to deal with conflict in their lives in more positive ways.  There is no denying, however, that working with groups from a society under Occupation has an added significance and poignancy.  Testimonies of participants from workshops in Hebron show how skills learnt during AVP workshops have helped them to be more resilient and creative when faced with harassment by IDF soldiers at checkpoints.  AVP can also help to alleviate ‘horizontal violence’ – violence in the home and in the wider community which partly comes from the fact that this is a society under enormous stress.

Despite everything the reality of the Occupation inevitably seeps in and colours the nature of the workshop.  Firstly our very presence as US and UK citizens working alongside Palestinians, supporting them and showing empathy is enormously significant as evidence of international solidarity.  In ‘normal’ circumstances facilitators would aim to enforce an understanding about timings and punctuality.  This proves to be impossible.  Every day the workshop starts late – by sometimes as much as an hour.  This is potentially grating – until we hear why this is the case.  The three ladies from the Hebron area in particular face long delays at checkpoints and harassment on their way to the centre in Bethlehem.  Others arrive upset or shaken by events during the night: a military incursion into their home, the arrest or death of someone close to them.  Every day during the workshop we hear of an arrest or killing somewhere – the ones that never reach the international news.  I have never seen so many funeral processions in Bethlehem.

Early on in an AVP workshop we usually address participants’ perceptions of what violence means to them and where they think it comes from.  This is then followed by a similar exercise looking at what non-violence would look like and what behaviours and circumstances can create a circle of non-violence.  The first part of this exercise went as expected.  When we got to the second part, however, participants were keen to address practically how they could move from violence to nonviolence – reflecting that this is a burning issue in their everyday lives.  The resulting brainstorm brought out several things that participants already do – including creative writing and music.  During an exercise which helps participants to make quick decisions as a group in potentially violent situations, the question came up of what they would do if they noticed a young boy about to throw a stone at the military.  This raised the whole dilemma of the responsibility to protect their community – and therefore stop the stone-throwing – balanced against the question of legitimate self-defence.  The consensus of the group was that they would aim to talk to children and advise them not to throw stones, and that they would also call for outside help.  They are also aware, however, that the Occupation itself is unjust and illegal.

The topics chosen by the group for the Advanced / Level 2 workshop were also significant and reflected their everyday experience.  They asked to address the following:

• How to avoid violence
• How to react when in violence
• How to come back from violence; and
• How to help someone in trauma.

 

Although the Occupation was, in a way, the elephant in the room this is not to say that there are not issues in Palestinian society itself which cause conflict.  Omar talked about the tendency, when there is a conflict, for people from both ‘sides’ to get involved, so that the conflict gets bigger and more involved.  During a Fishbowl exercise, where 3 participants start discussing a topic, and can then be joined by others from the larger group, the topic of sexism in Palestinian society was chosen.  Younger women in the group in particular bemoaned the fact that it is not acceptable for a man and a woman who are not related to be seen together, also that it is commonplace – and to a certain extent acceptable – for a husband to hit his wife.  The case of a young girl in Gaza who had obtained top marks in her Tawjihi (school leaving certificate) but who had been openly criticised for not covering her hair was raised as further evidence of an attitude towards women which is shaped by culture, custom and sexism.  I wondered to what extent a younger generation who are well-informed by their mobile phones, well-educated and in touch with the external world might be slowly changing more traditional attitudes.

So where do we go from here?

By the end of this workshop what had we achieved?  We had trained a group of potential community leaders who now have the skills to facilitate others and pass skills on to them.  Strong, resilient and creative they certainly are, despite all that life throws at them.  “Life is full of stones,” said Omar at one point, “and we need to be very creative with the stones.”  And then there was Maisa, who by the end of the Training for Facilitators’ workshop had already perfectly understood the difference between teaching and facilitating and was leading her group from behind, putting across a brilliant set of exercises.  In a follow-up meeting with Ali we planned how he would first of all get the group back together to give them some further training in being non-violent leaders; and that they would then run 3 pilot workshops with a women’s organisation, a youth group and in At-tawani, a village in the South Hebron hills which has been the target of continual settler attacks.  The final shorter-term aim is to run AVP workshops with 10 partner organisations.  And so the ripples continue spreading outwards, and we go forward in faith, trusting to our processes.

This all sounds good but in a sense does not express the essence of our experience here.  How to convey the warmth, generosity, creativity and humour we shared during these days together – conveyed in smiles, embraces and small acts of generosity?  It is a connection that burrows deep into the soul and means that each time we leave here some of ourselves.  A consolation is that the connection is not broken, but that precious memories and experiences live on until we return – inshalla’!

Healing Hatred: Spiritual Challenges in a Context of Political Conflict

Jane Harris presents the questions and debates from the second annual conference of the International Association for Spiritual Care in the third installment of her blog series. 

One of the aims of our visit this time was to take part in a conference in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Beit Jala entitled ‘Healing Hatred: Spiritual Challenges in a Context of Political Conflict’.  This was the 2^nd annual conference of the International Association for Spiritual Care (IASC).  This organisation describes its mission as enhancing ‘the capacities of scholars and practitioners worldwide in acquiring, disseminating and applying knowledge of theory and practice of spiritual care with an emphasis on interdisciplinary, interreligious and intercultural scholarly investigation.’ Given this description, one might have expected the conference to be quite dry and academic.  This was not, however, the case.  Yes, those who made presentations or engaged in panel discussions were highly qualified and backed up their points with research.  At the same time most presenters also spoke from their own experience and illustrated their talks with personal stories that had had a transforming effect on them.  As a result the conference was highly moving and potentially life-changing for those who attended.

This was a real attempt to address existential questions across political, religious and social divides.  Partners in the organisation of the conference included the Hebrew Union College (where the first sessions took place – in a synagogue) and the Holy Land Trust, a non-violent peace organisation based in Bethlehem on the West Bank, as well as the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue.  The audience during the first two days of the conference were mostly liberal Jews, whilst the last day took place in the Bethlehem Bible College in Bethlehem and was designed so that Palestinians could address issues on their own with international colleagues.  A final session including food and music brought everyone back together in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem.

Questions discussed went to the heart of the conflict, and included: ‘How should Palestinians Respond to Israeli Trauma?’, ‘Unlocking Israeli Indifference to Palestinian Trauma’, ‘Abuse of Religion in the Name of Politics’ and ‘What makes people change?’  There were also workshops which presented some more practical methodologies, including one from our AVP team.

Understanding the Trauma of the Other

As is so often the case, the presentations which were particularly moving were rooted in personal experience.  One of the first speakers was Professor Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi who, in 2014, was forced to resign from his post at al-Quds University after he took a group of 27 Palestinian students to visit the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.  We need to stop the reciprocity of victimhood, he said, and do things because they are the right things to do.  Both peoples – Israelis and Palestinians – are both victims and perpetrators.  Sami Awad, Director of the Holy Land Trust, had undergone a similar transformation.  After the 2^nd Intifada his organisation concentrated largely on non-violent activism, but he then started to ask questions.  He noticed the levels of hatred which the Israelis had towards the Palestinians and wanted to understand where these strong feelings and behaviours came from.  He too visited Auschwitz, and discovered a story he had never been told, enabling him to understand an existential fear and need for security in Israeli society.

Stereotypes and the Power of Human Encounter

Addressing what makes people change, Professor Rafi Walden, past President of Physicians for Human Rights, told us a story of a young Palestinian who had been brought to his hospital, injured in the leg by an Israeli soldier.   Several times he and his colleagues asked him if he could move his leg, so as to ascertain whether they could perform surgery on him.  His only response, as he looked at his carers with seeming hatred was ‘jihad’.  At least one of the medical team was of the opinion that they should refuse to treat him, but they took him into the operating theatre and – after a long and difficult operation – his leg was saved.  As he lay recovering, his father arrived and thanked Professor Walden profusely for saving his son Jihad.  Only then did they realise that Jihad was the boy’s name.  We are reminded that the primary meaning of ‘jihad’ (al-harb in Arabic)  is ‘struggle’ or ‘striving’ – often an inner struggle to become a better believer.  Once we are able to see our ‘enemy’ face to face as a human being, prejudices and stereotypes are stripped away.  Professor Walden reminded us that ‘caring for others’ is mentioned in the Torah at least 36 times.

Religious Fundamentalism

Addressing religious fundamentalism, Dr. Tomer Persico argued that this is a modern phenomenon, and cited two examples – the radical settler movement ‘Hilltop Youth’ and the obsession amongst Zionists that Jews should be able to ascend the Temple Mount (a survey in 2014 showed that 75% of Zionists were in favour of this).  He argued that although revenge may be a natural reaction, it doesn’t come from the original Jewish tradition but is rather a legacy from European romanticism.  Likewise ascent to the Temple Mount was traditionally forbidden in Judaism, since that which is sacred was regarded as something set apart and to be respected.  The ‘right’ to ascend the Temple Mount has gone hand in hand with ideas of nationalism, ownership and sovereignty, making sole claims with total disregard for the Other.  Rabbi Dr. Michael Marmur cited the example of a Catholic church burnt down by extremists in the Galilee and the quote that was left behind to ‘justify’ this act: “and the idols shall be cut down.”  This is a direct quote from a 15^th century Jew, Isaac Abarbanel, who was expelled from Spain – and reflects the practice of quoting selectively from the Torah or from history.  He argued that the Jewish tradition across the centuries is a more humanitarian and loving one and gave quotes from a more contemporary Rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel.  Two of these suffice:

“We must not regard any human institution or object as being an end in itself.   Man’s achievements in this world are but attempts, and a temple that comes to mean more than a reminder of the living God is an abomination.” (1955)

“The tree of hatred is the tree of death…. People hate those who make them feel their own inferiority.  The prophets of Israel taught us that those who cherish the use of force are themselves consumed by force….” (1972)

Moral giants

This conference addressed deep-seated and wide-ranging issues.  Many significant things were said and very personal experiences shared.  As the memories fade, however, one speaker stands out above the rest.  This was neither an Israeli nor a Palestinian but Father Michael Lapsley, whose experience of overcoming hatred is rooted in apartheid South Africa.  Expelled from South Africa because he used his role as National University Chaplain to speak out about the shootings, detentions and torture of his black students after the Soweto riots in 1976, he spent 16 years in exile as a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and chaplain to the liberation movement in exile.  In April 1990, 3 months after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, he was sent a letter bomb from South Africa, disguised as religious literature.  He lost both hands and the sight of one eye in the blast, and was seriously burned.  Supported by love and prayers from around the world, he began a journey from victim to survivor to victor.  He returned to South Africa in 1993 and became Chaplain of the Trauma Centre for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town.

Sami Awad of the Holy Land Trust talking to Father Michael Lapsley

Father Lapsley’s words rang true because they came from his own experience of being a victim of and overcoming hatred.  He reminded us of Nelson Mandela’s words: 

“No-one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, his background or his religion.  They need to be taught to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can also learn to love.” 

The Israelis and Palestinians need to set up spaces for talking and listening, he said, and to be creative in bringing people together, since separation keeps hatred alive.  At the same time, healing is not a substitute for the struggle for justice, and both processes need to happen at the same time.  He reminded us that the Old Testament prophets understood the relationship between justice and conflict. “And what does the Lord require of you?” asked Micah: ”To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6.8).  Injustice, he said, endangers the safety and security of the future of the Israeli state.  Another way would be to engage in restorative justice, which seeks to restore the balance.  He also reminded us that there were many Nelson Mandelas in South Africa, and that healing had to come from the people themselves.

Pushing the Limits….

The subject matter of this conference was controversial and there were times when wounds opened and gaping hurts were exposed.  The last speaker of the first two days in Jerusalem was a clinician working to heal trauma in Gaza.  He talked about asking a patient to think of a safe space, and the patient not being able to think of one, since in Gaza a whole population is living in trauma.  Towards the end of his talk he referred to Israeli soldiers during the First Intifada breaking the arms of children in Gaza so that they couldn’t throw stones.  Was this truth or myth?  Hard to tell, but in any case it was shocking – and too much for one participant who stormed out shouting something about ‘body parts’.  And so the cycle of hatred continues, fed by stories, truths and myths which keep images of the Other alive and prevent healing.  The speaker suggested that children in Gaza should be put in touch with children in Israel so that they could connect with one another and create a new identity. It is initiatives like these, if only they could be implemented, that may sow new seeds of hope.

The other side of the coin emerged as we listened to Sami Awad from the Holy Land Trust and Michael Lapsley in conversation in the Bethlehem Bible College on the third day.  Sami told us that a statement against the conference had been issued by the Boycott Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement in Palestine, since it was seen as a ‘normalisation’ event.  In the Israel-Palestine conflict ‘normalisation’ refers to any way in which Palestinians are led to see the present status quo (i.e. Occupation) as normal, and has been extended to include any collaboration or rapprochement with the occupiers (See recent +972 blog for more details).   Referring to the history of the South African struggle, Michael Lapsley said that those struggling for justice supported BDS because it was seen as a way of shortening the struggle.  However, at the same time Nelson Mandela was talking to the South African government.  It was not a case of either or, but both and.  The Israel-Palestine conflict is not the same as the South African struggle, of course, but it is worth asking what we as internationals can do to promote peace in the region and above all what is effective.  Bringing people from both sides together is of course a good thing to do and necessary to foster empathy, but the conflict won’t be solved unless we also help to remove the root cause of injustice and inequality – i.e. the Occupation.

Messages of Hope and Empowerment

It was good that the conference ended with contributions from two strong women.  The first was Huda Abu Arqoub, Regional Director for the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), an organisation with over a 100 members.  Huda started her talk by telling us a story of her father and grandfather going on a journey from Hebron to Haifa and Beirut and back via Damascus – a journey that could only be dreamt of today!  She also shared memories of her childhood in Palestine, characterised by the importance of education and creativity.   The second speaker was Sarah Snyder, who is Advisor for Reconciliation to the Archbishop of Canterbury and has a wide-ranging international experience of peace-building and dialogue.  Asked why there are not more peace women in Palestine, Huda replied that there are, but they are not seen, recognised and acknowledged!  She also referred to the Israeli movement ‘ Women Wage Peace’, formed from the need for women not to send their sons to war.  Only the week-end before women from this movement had stood in 150 places in Israel and demonstrated.

And so we ended on a note of hope.  Looking at the list of members of ALLMEP  – including Combatants for Peace, Kids4Peace, Neve Shalom, Parents’ Circle, the Holy Land Trust – one could be forgiven for asking why peace has not already broken out.  At the moment political forces, fear and inaction on behalf of the international community hold the perpetuation of injustice and hatred in the region in place.  There are however stirrings amongst ordinary people who thirst for a different reality and are willing to stand up for change.  If this were to become a mass popular movement political leaders would be forced to take note, and the tide of change would be irresistible.  Sarah Snyder gave a quote from Northern Ireland, that “Peace is a mystery – a walking into the unknown.”  Well then, let’s walk bravely into the unknown and do what we can for peace.

Taghyeer – a Movement for Non-violent Change

In the second installment in this series, Jane Harries recounts her encounter with Ali Abu Awwad, a Palestinian peace activist.  

I had heard Joe talk often and excitedly of Ali Abu Awwad, so when the opportunity to meet him and colleagues arose soon after my arrival in Bethlehem, I was glad to accept.

Talking to Ali, it didn’t take long to understand the enormity of his vision.  Ali currently lives on his family’s land just south of Bethlehem, on the other side of the main road from the large Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion.  (For different perspectives on this settlement’s history and expansion see Wikipedia and +972 Magazine).  There is nothing extraordinary in this: many Palestinians live in the shadow of settlements.  The story of Ali’s youth and upbringing are not so uncommon either.  He was brought up in a politically active refugee family which was under constant pressure from the Israeli military, this eventually culminating in the imprisonment of himself and his mother.  Following the dashed hopes of the Oslo agreement, Ali was injured by a settler and his brother murdered by a soldier from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

What was remarkable was Ali’s reaction to these events.  Slowly, he realised that what was often seen by Palestinians as justifiable violence to throw off military occupation would not lead to freedom – but only raise the level of reactive fear among the militarily dominant Israelis. He saw this Israeli fear as the real enemy of both Palestinians and of a secure future for Israel.  Since his imprisonment and release, his life’s work has been to overcome his own blindness of the humanity in his enemy and to enhance himself and his people in transcending oppression by using the ‘best of humanity’ as expressed in nonviolence.  How has he gone about doing this?  He has been involved in the Bereaved Families Forum, where he has met Israelis who are united with Palestinians in the loss of a loved one due to the conflict.  He is also leading an initiative on his family land – to welcome and encounter those settlers willing to step up and overcome their blindness to the existence and truth of the Palestinians.  This is a truly brave thing to do – one that flies against all norms, rules and boundaries and which is potentially dangerous, seen by some sections of Palestinian society as consorting with the enemy – an attempt to bring about ‘normalisation’.

Ali has another parallel though partly conflicting vision: that of Taghyeer (‘Change’: see website and video).  His aim is to overcome the victim mentality of Palestinian society and to build a grass-roots nonviolent social reform and resistance movement, empowering people to take responsibility and develop their own freedom.   He argues that peace movements, in which he has played a role, have failed to halt the persistent loss of Palestinian land to the settlements.  The government of Israel has been the creator of Israeli fear so as to maintain power and domination; whilst the Palestinian Authority is largely corrupted and weak. Palestinian political factions are divided and fail to achieve their goal of freedom, and Palestinian communities despair and have no confidence in their ability to come together to achieve social goals.  With Taghyeer, he feels, there is a real opportunity to create a change.  That this is possible has already been demonstrated by mass demonstrations and the ‘Sumud’ Freedom Camp.

Stephen (Friends of Taghyeer), Mary and Ali in Bethlehem

Also present at the meeting was Mary Abu Khudair (Planning and Communications Manager for Tagyheer).  Mary has lived part of her life in the US, where she raised two sons, but she then returned to Shufat, Jerusalem.  The grim reality of the conflict hit her family and community in the Summer of 2014 with the brutal murder of her young cousin Mohammad Abu Khdeir.  Like Ali, Mary responded by starting on the tough path of connecting with the humanity of the other, firstly through volunteering with Combatants for Peace and then through working for Taghyeer in building Palestinian strength through nonviolent action.

Inspiring though this meeting was, we were to see part of the vision in practice the following evening, when we were invited to Ali Abu Awwad’s compound for supper.  Having not seen the farm before, it looked fairly familiar to me.  Approaching it along a busy dual carriageway, we then veered off onto an unsigned untarmacked track which came to a halt in front of a group of buildings, including a house, a covered area which could be used for meetings or training events, a fenced-off area with some sheep and turkeys, and a garden area ready to be planted. There was even a small building with a few items hanging in it – obviously destined to become a shop.  The two Joes, however, who had been there last year, marvelled at all the new developments.  For Ali this is the beginning of a dream – a Nonviolence Centre for Palestine.

What was immediately apparent and remarkable to me on arrival was the presence of two Israeli women.  No-one else, however, seemed to remark on their presence, or notice anything out of the ordinary in it.  They totally blended in with what was going on around them and joined us in the meal, which was soon served.  This also is part of the new reality that Ali strives to achieve: a society where all can live and work together no matter what their religion or background.

The star turn of the evening, however, had to be the serving of the meal.  We were summoned to witness the unearthing of the chickens.  Perplexed, we followed to where there was an area of ashes.  These were scraped away, revealing a lid.  Once this was lifted we could see that there was an underground oven with a metal stand above a fire where the meat had been slowly cooking.  The next part of this operation was to lift the three-tiered stand out of the hole: lamb chops in rows on the top tier, then roast chickens and underneath all the juices that had come from the roasting meat.  The whole contraption was carried to the table, already groaning under mountains of rice, salad and pitta bread.  This was Palestinian hospitality, done in grand style!  Perhaps if one wants to forge a peace community, it’s good to start with filling its stomach!

For more information see Ali Abu Awwad’s Ted Talk given in Jerusalem in 2015.