A Matter of Mindset :: Conferences 2005

Israel and Palestine – Searching for borders while dreaming of their absence
(Dr Mahdi Abdul Hadi, Archbishop Boutros Mouallem, Daniel Rossing)

There can be no doubt that this panel was the most moving and thought provoking. The presentations as well as the ensuing discussion were proof of a new maturity in dialogue and an impressive readiness to share in and listen to the other’s pain and vulnerability. Certainly any boundaries the conference participants may consciously or unconsciously brought with them were stretched and moved. The three presenters, each representative of that region’s sense of vulnerability and victimisation in different paradigms were introduced by Rabbi David Rosen, whose introduction has been fully recorded and will in due course become available in print.

Dr Mahdi Abdul Hadi in an effort to simplify a presentation of this complex story and to bring to attention something different and something new from a Palestinian perspective he outlined seven borders.

the border of refuge – the border of searching for survival illustrating it by a story of four Palestinians travelling from Amman to Baghdad searching for work as refugees. The only way was to travel in a small truck dying en route of thirst.
the border of fear, of vulnerability illustrating it by a story of refugees trying to go via Allenby Bridge and the requirement to strip and had to accept the humiliation, the dehumanization. This created not only anger and frustration but added a new border: that of hate enhanced by other acts of humiliation and deprivation experienced under occupation including different time structure even in Jerusalem between the West and the East
which created a new border: that of a new identity, a new culture at the time of the first Intifada including watches set at Palestinian time, burning shops, throwing stones. You, the occupier, want to come here: do so at our terms, at our time, at our shops opening and closing times. Forging a new identity of the occupied, marking in their own way the 1967 green line
the border of knowledge – knowing the others. Referred to Edward Said and the effort to try and bridge the Christian Arab identity and that of the occupied Palestinians
after the failure of Camp David in July 2000 and Sharon’s visit to Al Aksah/the Temple Mount – the border of holy sites. No trust in the other’s religious tradition of the Temple Mount, not because Israel is the occupier, but because Israel infringed on their religious tradition. Referred to experiences in Hebron. All this led to the second Intifada, the Al Aksah Intifada. A new military Intifada
the border of the visible wall, which he sees as a sharp knife cutting his flesh. Every city is a prison. The new culture of prison. How does one survive in the prison and retain one’s identity, values, traditions, memory.
the culture of self-sacrifice – killing themselves and killing the others. He gave the example of individual families and the self-sacrifice in the face of feeling abused, and the feeling of utter frustration, and of revenge.

These borders are part of his “memory” a wake-up call for change. There was a crisis of leadership, he admitted, but there was no crisis of the vision to end the occupation.

Archbishop Boutros Mouallem presented a number of spontaneous reflections. Particularly regarding the European vision of the world. But there are other regions, other perceptions. Refers to the Latin expression of from the West comes the law, from the East the light. Despite all the differences between the two how are they affected by the modern concept of globalisation? What happens to the many minorities. The case of Israel-Palestine is dramatic. >The Jewish people, victim of Nazism, had to prevent another Holocaust. The traumatized conscience of the world helped it to secure peace and security, even though this was only possible at the cost of another people, the Palestinians. Was there not need to acknowledge the failure of politicians in their search for peace? And so turn to religion – to our descending from Abraham. Poor Abraham, who before being Palestinian or Israeli, Jews, Christian or Muslim was Mesopotamian (Iraqi – Poor Iraq). Without intending to replace them, men of religions should be the first counsellors of politicians. What are we doing with out so-called joint humanity, our brotherhood? It is not humanity that was created by God as we are told. today humanity creates a God after its sad image. There is need for serious search for responsibility. There is need for new prophets, and above all for a heroism of genuine pardon. so that the two people can live together in peace.

Daniel Rossing on his part did not envision or dream of the absence of borders. There is no being, individual or communal, without relationship, and there is no relationship without borders. In the given situation in which the Other is neither “other” (because there is a lot of similarity), nor “brother” relations tend to be highly charged. Because of the similarity there is need for borders within which each can freely celebrate and share the differences that make each unique. He supports a two-state arrangement for Israelis and Palestinians. If Israel/Palestine is the holy land of three faiths and the homeland of two peoples, than living in that narrow strip at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, people, land and faith are intimately entwined. It has been said that one of the reasons the Oslo process failed was that it was a secular peace plan imposed by secular leaders on a Holy Land. He believes that there can be no agreement upon borders that will allow peaceful relations without the participation of religious leaders and the input of their respective religious traditions. Therefore the First Alexandria Declaration in January 2002 was a welcome breakthrough by religious leaders including David Rosen and Archbishop Mouallem committing themselves to a joint quest for peace with reconciliation. In conflicts, frequently fuelled by respective memories of the past and visions of the future each side must review its memories as well as its visions in light of existing realities. Messianic hopes and dreams can be a vital source of strength and inspiration, but care must be taken lest the visions of the future invade the present in the form of dangerous notions or realized eschatology. He also referred to the fact that words and use of words are the principle means of reconciliation and peacemaking in Western culture and Western interfaith dialogue. However, when Jews, Christians and Muslims, or Israelis and Palestinians meat in the Holy Land they do not share a common native tongue. It is the first time in nearly two millennia that a Jewish majority comes face to face with Christian communities who share a long history as minorities. That new experience means that it is the Jewish side that must take the initiative in reaching out to Christians and in re-examining long-held negative attitudes towards Christians. During the past half century, he concluded, Western Christians have made sincere efforts to understand the Jewish and Muslim minorities in their midst as they understand and define themselves. The time has also come for Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims to strive to understand the Christian minorities in the Holy Land as they understand and define themselves.