"You will be my first Palestinian friend!"

On our trip in Israel and the Occupied West Bank, and since returning from the trip, I have been asking the questions, what are roadblocks and barriers to peace (what keeps peace from happening)? and what does it take (and mean) to pursue peace?

One day on our trip we stopped in to visit the Holy Land Trust (http://www.holylandtrust.org/), and to hear about their work. We started our time by viewing the documentary film, "Little Town of Bethlehem" (http://littletownofbethlehem.org/), which highlights the stories and peacemaking efforts of three men: Sami Awad (a Palestinian Christian), Ahmad Al’Azzeh (a Palestinian Muslim), and Yonatan Shapira (an Israeli Jew). It is an excellent film, which should be viewed by anyone who has concern for understanding and resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

One of the barriers to peace that the film highlights is fear. The film argues that the Israelis are so militaristic, worshiping strength, because of their fear. They view themselves as weak, surrounded by enemies. They live with the memory of the Holocaust (as well as a long history of mistreatment by "Christians" in the West), and see and use it as a symbol of what Arabs want to do the the Jews now (rather than as a symbol of what should never be allowed to happen to anyone, anywhere). Their fear leads them not to know the Palestinians (in their midst, or under their occupation), and not to trust them.

And the fear extends to those on the Palestinian side, as well. In a situation of conflict, especially, people on both sides fear the different other, who they usually do not know (or who they know only in caricature, as a stereotype, and based on the worst behavior and actions of someone on the other side, like a suicide bomber, a religious fanatic who opens fire on praying people in a mosque, etc.).

The question, then, becomes how to break through the barrier of fear? "Little Town of Bethlehem" highlights Yonatan Shapira's journey into the Courage to Refuse movement (http://www.seruv.org.il/english/) - a group who, in pursuit of the IDF mottos of "human dignity" and "purity of arms," came to refuse to attack civilian areas or to serve in the occupied territories. In addition, Shapira highlights the need to "reach out to your enemy," to "try to correct the wrong" that has been done.

This is another step in "fighting" against violence and for peace (and highlighted in the film) - working against the dehumanization of the other, working to reclaim your understanding and commitment to their humanity. And for the Palestinians, they emphasize that a point of their nonviolent resistance to the injustices of the Israeli occupation, is to help the Israelis recapture their own humanity (since oppressing others always dehumanizes the oppressor as well as the oppressed). But that's another story, another theme.

To return to the theme of overcoming fear: one of our Palestinian guides told a story that changed his life. He was invited to attend an event at a kibbutz. The invitation, he said, stirred his fear. Growing up, he had always seen the kibbutzim and those who lived on them as the most dangerous of Israelis, the most anti-Palestinian. He felt certain, as he considered the invitation, that if they found out he was Palestinian, they would harm or even kill him. But on the other hand, he believed (in theory) in working for peace...so in the end he decided to attend the event. While he was on the kibbutz, though, he avoided talking to people, not wanting to be discovered as a Palestinian. His worst fears seemed about to be realized, near the end of the time, when one of the leaders of the event came to him, introduced himself, and asked where he (the Palestinian) was from. He said he swallowed hard, prepared himself mentally for whatever horrible fate awaited him, and said he was from Beit Sahour. The Israeli's response totally caught him off guard - he thrust out his hand and said with a large smile, "then you will be my first Palestinian friend!"

Needless to say, something changed for our Palestinian guide that day. A fear was conquered, as an unknown "enemy," in the form of a real person, offered to become a friend.

How can peace be achieved? By individuals facing (even walking into) their fears, stepping into the unknown, and establishing human contact, friendship, with those on the other side of the barriers (whether real or imagined).

A final thought from "Little Town of Bethlehem": the Israelis must come to the point of deciding to take down the wall. How many small steps of relationship building, of overcoming individual and collective fears, will it take to get to this point?

Now for another question - what does all of this have to do with the theme of this blog, "contextual living," or "faith and culture"? One of the things which fascinates me is our human tendency, in creating our own individual and group identities, to not relate well with others who are different from ourselves (the "other"). I see this, as an Anthropologist and as a follower of Jesus, as rooted in our inherent self-centeredness, which on a communal scale Anthropologists refer to as "ethnocentrism." In the heart of ethnocentrism, in Milton Bennett's "Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity," is a phase of "defense" or "polarization," in which our experience of those who are different from ourselves is a negative one. We polarize, generalize and stereoptype (ourselves as good and the other as bad), and in the extreme, especially in situations of conflict and violence, we villianize and even dehumanize the other. 

This, unfortunately, seems to be rooted in our nature as human beings. And, also unfortunately, religion, race, ethnicity, and other aspects of identity (including gender) often get "used" as markers to distinguish between ourselves and others.

We also have it in our capacity as human beings, though, to grow through and out of our ethnocentrism, to stop fearing and dehumanizing others, to step out of our particular context (our home context), and enter into the context of others. We can learn to accept others who are different than we are. We can experience crossing barriers and boundaries, entering in, developing relationship, and changing. The unknown "other," even the "enemy," can become our friend. And, fortunately, religious faith can play a positive role in this movement. The question is, I think, how do we construct (understand, interpret) our faith (rooted in our interpretation of our religious texts), in relation to other people? Do we believe in the shared humanity of all people, even those different from us, even those of a different religious faith than us? Or do we believe that we, of all the people in the world, are "the people," the only ones right with and acceptable to God? This question is extremely important to me, as a human being, as an Anthropologist, and as a person for whom Jesus is my life. 

In the world around us, we see - in every faith - people who I would call "extremists," who (in their ethnocentrism) use religion to villianize, dehumanize, and oppress others; and we see - also in every faith - people who see every person created in the image of God, a friend, a brother or a sister, and who, while being true to their own faith, do not use it to oppress or mistreat others.

The question I find myself pondering, and that I leave with you, is what leads to either of these extremely different paths? And what can we do to pursue, and to encourage those around us (especially in our faith communities) to pursue the path of peace, of life?