This past Shabbat I attended a Shabbaton sponsored by MASA Israel Community. The topic was Israel Security and Diplomacy. About 75-100 young adults joined together for the weekend in Jerusalem to learn, discuss, debate, share, and inspire ideas focusing on the issues that are always consuming this country and the people who live in it. As people from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Russia, and Brazil, we hear a lot about this conflict through friends, family, different forms of media, etc. But you never understand it the way it really is unless you are living it. Those not fully educated on the topic are quick to judge one side or the other as murders, racists, baby-killers and what not, but this is NOT the case at all. Both sides have made mistakes and bad decisions. Both sides are responsible for what has happened and still continues to happen here in the Middle East today. A weekend learning and participating in this event does not make me an expert, and I can't even say I'm the best person to write a blog post about this issue. But I do and have always felt strongly about this issue.
First we toured conflict areas including the border (fence, barrier, everyone calls it something different), Hod Hofsavim (where Hebrew University is located, and an area to look out and see Bethlehem), and we drove past a security checkpoint. After our tour we checked into Beit Yehuda Hostel, a beautiful hotel in Jerusalem with comfy beds and hot showers! We didn't have too much time in between settling and our first speaker: Benzi Grueber, the Vice Commander of Armoured Division 252 also serving in the army as a colonel. He has served the most days in the reserves compared to anyone else in the IDF and he miraculously keeps a calm, charismatic attitude even through all that he has done and seen. He talked to us mostly about the ethics that soldiers in the IDF use during decision-making. This is not normal decision making: should I get the black heels or the red ones? This is eight second, life or death decision making. This is, if we ambush this home, is the family inside decision making.
The inspirational lecture led into Shabbat. We lit candles, said Kiddush, did Kabbalat Shabbat and then ate one of my favorite Shabbos meals so far. SO yummy. Food comas and all, we had another lecture from Khaled Abu Toameh, the West Bank and Gaza correspondent from the Jerusalem Post and U.S. News and World Report. He has also been the Palestinian affairs producer for NBC News since 1988. Along with many other remarkable jobs and achievements, he is an "Israeli-Muslim-Arab-Palestinian" journalist and documentary filmmaker and overall fascinating human. Yes, there were questions he did not enjoy answering, but overall he explained that he doesn't have the answers (like anyone else) he reports on what he knows and what he discovers. He lives a nice life in Jerusalem with his family and travels to the West Bank and Gaza on a daily basis. Is this dangerous? What do the Arabs in these places think of a fellow Arab who gets to live in Israel and report for an Israeli publication? Is he crazy? All these questions crossed my mind, but he had simple answers for all of them. Someone has to do this job. An Israeli can not visit these territories the way Khaled can freely do so, so how else would JPost get their information? Arabs are okay with an educated man delivering news to the public eye that is fair and balanced. All these things we forget to think about in the heat of the moment. The rest of the evening was group discussions and debates. I learned form the Russian MASA participants there that most of them never knew they were Jewish until 6, 10, even 17 years old! Judaism and it's cultures, traditions, spirituality, etc. skipped a generation. Their grandparents practiced the religion, then with all the communism, their parents left it behind. Now that they have discovered who they are, they have chosen to bring it back into their life fully and even most of them have decided to make Aliyah (move to Israel and become a citizen). Amazing.
With a good nights sleep and a cup of instant coffee, the next day brought on even more education and insight into the problems that lie within this tiny piece of land. Ethan Bronner, Bureau Chief at the New York Times started our day with an analysis on the Middle East today. He has done three Israel tours as a journalist reporting on this issue, first in the 80's for The Boston Globe, and the second in the 90's for Reuters. Yes, another remarkable person to hear speak. Lunch followed and then workshops. There were five to choose from and I attended New Media Campaigns and Negotiating Peace in the Middle East. My first workshop was similar to all I had been learning at SDSU. How to understand the power of New or Social Media, does it help or hurt in cases like the problems of the Middle East, and how you can manipulate this power for the better. Old media is slow, when things happen it is not aired on television or printed in the newspaper the way it is uploaded to YouTube or posted as someones status on Facebook, which is done within seconds or minutes of an event. The power of New Media can be damaging. Organizations such as the IDF have learned the hard way that Social Networking can very well be their enemy. Soldiers have to be much more aware of what they are posting ever since an incident in 2010. One soldier from an elite unit of the Artillery Corps shared details of an upcoming operation in the West Bank onto his Facebook page. Because enemy intelligence scans the internet for pieces about the IDF, he was removed from the unit and the operation was cancelled. This is just a glimpse into all the things we discussed in the workshop. Negotiating Peace in the Middle East combated a whole different topic on this issue. We discussed tips on negotiating in any issue, not just within politics. As well as preparing your negotiation, and the "Seven Elements of Negotiating." These seven elements include anything from body language, dress, and language, up to what you are putting out on the table, the standards you keep, alternatives (what you are willing to take off the table), and actually signing the deal/making the commitment. After we reviewed how important each individual element was we split into two sides - Palestinians and Israelis - and discussed the issue of Palestinian Refugees. How were the Palestinians going to have their 4.7 million refugees, once "kicked out" of their homes into either Gaza, the West Bank, or other Arab coutries (which have also kicked them out) and allow them back into Israel. Israel is risking a lot by doing so. We risk our status as Jewish state. Is this racism? The debate can go on forever.
Shabbat was ended with a very quick Havdallah service followed by our last lecture by a panel on the De-legitimization of Israel, the impact of public relations on Israel's security, and what we can do as American Jews living in or out of Israel. The three men on the panel were David Harris from Israel Project, Dr. Jonathan Rynhold from Bar Ilan University, and Eran Shayshon from Reuters Institute. "De-legitimization" of Israel is something that isn't just discussed and supported by Palestinians here in the Middle East, but also by many groups in the U.K., the U.S., and all over the world. Just look at your college campus, you have a student-run Palestinian support group right in front of you whether you know it or not. David Harris made a point that stuck with me like glue, when speaking to these supporters, or anyone for that matter, do not use words such as de-legitimization, intifada, barrier wall, or any other negative term used in these discussions. These negative words hold a connotation and by using them, it says we agree. We want to legitimize Israel and we put the fence there to control riots, not to seclude or de-humanize anyone. Things like this need to be taught to others, others who may not know because they have not been here. I understand that Israel has made major boo-boo's. But many people need to understand that Israel is doing what they can right now. Right now being the key words.
Baruch Ha'Shem!!!
*No pictures in this post because of Shabbat!
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