Combatants for Peace
March 10th, 2008Too often in the U.S. our media only covers the latest spurts of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In articles, video feeds and news radio coverage, the only soundbites and quotations we get to hear are the ones of the most fanatical players from either side; those who don’t want peace get their message across loud and clear. Meanwhile, the people who are working hard for peace against all odds are stranded without an outlet or voice. The result is that we Americans, whose government gives millions of dollars a year to the Israeli government, are not aware of how much good is going on on the ground.
This is why I was happy to hear this interview on National Public Radio with the two founding members of Combatants for Peace. They are Zohar Shapira, former commander of an elite IDF unit, and Bassam Aramin, former Fatah member. Both men started out their lives imagining the other side as their enemies and nothing more, until they had the realizations that their beliefs were not helping anyone. Hearing their stories is truly inspirational and touching. I highly recommend giving the interview a listen.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88036198
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Dear Sarah,
. Peace/Salaam/Shalom!
I’m glad you heard about them! They’re doing excellent work, and I’m thinking of joining them or a similar group. Actually, there are lots of such groups here in Israel, with an infinite number of initiatives, bigger or smaller events to promote dialogue and coexistance, practical and legal help to Palestinians… The list is too long to reproduce it here. If you haven’t yet found it, the homepage of Combattants for Pace is http://www.combatantsforpeace.org/default.asp?lng=eng – there you can read and see “all” about them
Yeah I know there must be so many, but we hardly ever get to hear about the progress being made. the result is that most americans think the situation is hopeless! it may be very complicated, but i dont think its hopeless by far!
Sarah for some time I was writing to them, very interesting people who have chosen the right method to work for peace.
Sarah,
There is no “big” progress made – just tiny drops in the sea.. That’s all we have – we can’t influence the “big” and “BIGGER” politics going on above our heads – at least not much.. What most of us are trying to do it, as I called it once in a Blog: “Prepare the territory in which peace, one day, can live”.. Just tonight in a chat with a young Palestinian student from Ramallah, he said he considers it a big victory for himself if he can change/influence the mind of even only one person. We, and most of these groups try to establish links between us – the “people” on both sides. If one only watches the news and listens to declarations of politicians and leaders, the situation looks indeed hopeless. There are times (like right now) it even looks hopeless to me, but if we give up hope and belief (in our way and our cause) we’ll certainly NEVER reach it. So we just refuse to give up and continue – whatever catastrophes and barriers we face. We just don’t want to stay silent and do nothing – even if our “real” impact is low… I often refer to a very famous poem written by a German Pastor after WWII:
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Niemoeller, Germany 1946
To me it’s the same issue. Not to stay silent, speak up and “do”, even if it seems tiny and insignificant… Maybe one day, when enough of us will have joined hands, we’ll just “not show up” when they call for war.. (Yah, I know, I’m a bit of a dreamer, too
)
Sarah,
As a fellow American I can agree with you that the media portrays the Israeli-Palestinian conflict unfairly. Every time I watch the news all I see is the extremist people being interviewed. You get the idea that most of the people there are extremists. The combatants for peace are really encouraging to an American public that rarely sees.
It is definitely a shame that the United States media does not broadcast much of the positive events that occur in the Middle East. This is true with many of the issues that are covered by the media, including many of the local ones. It seems like the reason for much of the U.S. negativity toward the Middle East is a product of this incomplete coverage.
The interview was definitely very interesting. We are glad to hear that there are, in fact, organizations that are committed to finding a peaceful solution to Arab-Israeli conflicts. We were wondering if there are any other organizations similar to Combatants For Peace in the area of the conflict.
To Patrick, Jordan and Chris!
Yes, there are some other organizations similar to Combattants For Peace! – Not many, the way they work is rather new – but there are other organizations as well. Maybe I should post something about what is done, which organisations exist, what they do, etc… I’ll think about it – and probably do it – as soon as possible for me…