Sea of Galilee
Yes we can! We went to Ramallah, driving through checkpoints. We were waved through, our American passports and tourist status giving us a free pass. We listened to members of the Palestinian Democratic Union, a third party offering an alternative to Hamas and Fatah. A woman is deputy chairman and the party offers equal rights to women. The speakers were impassioned with dedication to the possibility of a new nation founded on democratic principles. I sang to them…”If every woman, from every nation, young or old, each generation, holds her hand out in the name of love, there will be no more war.” The young woman spoke of how students suffer with the checkpoints. Again it was a mixed story of suffering, dedication and hope.
The next day we went up to the Golan Heights and listened to a settler. Equal passion, and again the suffering. She spoke of her life and the wars in Israel, making a home and putting down roots so that the Jewish people could have a home in this ancient land. Her love of the land was in her bones, in her blood, deep in the history of her people. She feels like the stories of the Bible took place in her back yard. She had so many stories to share about her struggle for Israel and the ever-present fear of enemies wanting to annihilate the Jewish people.
Our speakers in the evening were Jews for the Creativity for Peace Camp, a camp for Israeli and Palestinian girls in New Mexico. The director and two girls spoke and it was wonderful to hear about the transformative capacity of the peace camp, bringing youth of both sides together. The work they do is hard, deep, sad, and hopeful. The girls form deep bonds and confront many challenges to cross lines. The hardest part for them is coming home, back to a culture that doesn’t understand, cultures that hold onto grievances and separation. We can only offer blessings and support and wish them well. They manage this tremendous work by private donations only. It’s amazing and wonderful what they accomplish: creativityforpeace.com
Our group is deepening. We have huge appreciation for each other and for the gift of this trip and this process. We struggled tonight with ourselves, trying to grasp the subtlety of the effect of our questions and responses on the people we listen to. How can we be there for people that we disagree with, how can we help them to deepen into their story and open their hearts to new possibilities without putting our own agendas, preconceived notions, and ideas of what is right into the mix. Compassionate Listening is a spiritual practice and so we practice.
After our group session we meet on the terrace overlooking the Sea of Galilee for wine and beer and more debriefing. Laughter, gratitude, and humility are the order of the day. This land is ancient, this conflict complex, humanity is mysterious. We can only hope, love, and offer compassion. We are here to witness and we are changed by what we see. We are deeply in love with each other, with this land, and with the people that we meet. Life is offering us opportunities to explore all that love means, accepting the unacceptable, asking the unaskable, forgiving the unforgivable, and holding a vision for humanity that we can become even more loving and find some peace. Our hope is that we can find love where there has been only fear, that we can watch fear transform into love, that we can help those who are ready find their way to peace and shine a light on that possibility for others to see.