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Document V: Citizen Peacebuilding "
I realized that just how every finger on your hand is different, so are
all the Jews different. And in the end I danced because I realized I had
shared something special. [Jews and Arabs] had come to see each other
as human beings." These
were the words of Loai Mozayan, a young Palestinian who participated in
a recent retreat in Jerusalem co-sponsored by the Israeli Interfaith
Encounter Association and the Nablus Youth Federation. Many of the
Palestinian participants at the retreat had traveled to the event at great
physical and emotional risk, sometimes sneaking past checkpoints and taking
muddy backroads to get there. The
Foundation for Global Community
says on its website that "there are things governments can do that
people can't, and there are things people can do that governments can't".
We can all decide to cross borders. And we can all decide to support
others who do. Proponents
of public dialog as part of a peace process often speak of "track
one" and "track two" diplomacy. Track one diplomacy refers
to what governments, world leaders and diplomats do to negotiate peace
settlements between disputing nations or peoples. Track two, or "citizen",
diplomacy refers to individuals and groups of ordinary citizens building
relationships and solving problems together despite the otherwise assumed
boundaries of national disputes. These
people are laying the groundwork for negotiated peace settlements to work.
These are people engaged in a way of communicating that is both honest
and compassionate, that involves listening deeply to the stories and thoughts
of the other, and sharing one's own story, that involves being willing
to hear the others' anger, resentment, fear and grief, to express one's
own, and to transcend both. Out of such efforts friendships can be forged,
schools built, conflict resolution centers started. The courageous people
involved in these efforts are creating what we refer to in this document
as a "culture of dialog."
These are a few groups that focus on peacemaking through various forms of listening, conflict resolution and relationship-building.
Living Room Dialog Groups
These are a few of many examples of organizations committed to relationship building, peacemaking, and healing in Israel-Palestine. Interfaith Encounter Association
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