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Permalink Reply by Khaled Islaih on May 12, 2008 at 4:19am

This presentation (below) shows Palestinian activists that they are required to explore new activism approaches to break down contextual boundaries (namely cognitive) in the Palestinian society. Our job now is to focus on building new conceptual frameworks (old frameworks including institutional / organizational, educational, economic and social are collapsing around the world). We need to open gateways for open learning in the Palestinian society.


This work is needed to help Palestinian grassroots (Palestinian public) see the reality with new mental eyes. Palestinian intellectuals (university professors, journalists, PA officials, NGO officials..etc) might have limits (status, institutions relationship, experience..etc) that could constrain their contributions to this kind of work. The work proposed here requires instant knowledge collaboration and brain sharing.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/25

In these days of great change and turnarounds, it is time to transform our activisim egagements to maximize the Palestinian potential and speed the human emergence within Palestinian communities worldwide.

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Permalink Reply by Ramzi S. on May 12, 2008 at 11:30am

Good Question ,

What does it mean to Be Palestinian ?

The classical , politically correct answer, must be " it's a pride" and so on...But lets try to be more rational, while i believe that i'm a proud palestinian, i also admit that since my definition of " palestinian" is quite personal, i can only declare that " I am Proud"! Why is my definition Very personal ? the answer is not very easy but i will try : the Term " Palestinian" never got really defined by any "popular assemblee" , those who are providing a definition lately are very easy to locate : Fateh and the PLO, Hamas, Israel and the USA and the other Arab countries. Each one of these actors provides a different definition. The palestinian people doesnt have a definition that belongs to it, that is made by it! Do we see the Refugees outside as full Palestinians ? Do we see those among us whom we dont agree with as " Palestinians" ? What we really need is a Constitution, a fair constitution that once and for all defines what is a palestinian! I believe that with our little number, we can all engage in a political process to form a real identity, common to all of us! Everyday, i realize that giving a definition to the word " Palestinian" is a hard task and that defining it here on the internet is again another limit , let me ask this question differently : Who are we to define the palestinian Idendity ? 10 palestinians ? 20 ? 300 ? .... Each one of us will have a different definition ( unless we decide to follow political correctness... ) So allow me not to provide any definition for now !


Here are the limits that we must overcome before defining " Palestinian" :

1 - Occupation : Our civil registry is totally controlled by Israel, we cant really decide who is palestinian and who is not ( at least, on the papers).

2 - Internal strife : Two ( or more) radically different definitions of " palestinian" exist , who is right ? Maybe all of them are wrong ?

3 - Territorial division : Gaza and the West bank, The territories and the Refugee camps ( inside and outside) , Those inside israel and those outside of israel ( Israeli Arabs, palestinian territory palestinians...), Those who live in jerusalem and those who live outisde.... and so on...

4 - Educational limit : public and private schools, Do private schools form " Palestinians" do public schools form " rational" citizens?

5 - Religion : I don't know if its me, but i feel that some people believe that in order to be a full palestinian, one has to be a muslim ( Hamas for example) or even our palestinian Basic Law. Why do we need this statement that devides us ? Why cant we live in a neutral society where religion takes a second place instead of a first one ? Being palestinian is something and belonging to a religion is something else...

6- ...

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Permalink Reply by Jafra W. on May 12, 2008 at 3:09pm

Ramzi, you give me hope to study to create a study about this essential question. If every Palestinian did the brainstorming you did, we can structure is any write about it in organized way.
I hope every one will give an answer like you did ..

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Permalink Reply by Yigal D. Kahana on May 23, 2008 at 12:15am

Very nice analysis, Ramzi. You raise a whole bunch of serious questions.
Your question about the Palestinian basic law is a vital one.
Let me suggest a direction to look for at least a partial answer:
Money from theocratic organizations, dictators, and local power-brokers who KNOW they can use Islam as a mere tool for perpetuating their domination. The same reason, by the way, that the confessional system was implemented in Lebanon (and once in Syria, too) instead of true democracy.
I think you are really onto something...

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Permalink Reply by alma norman on May 25, 2008 at 4:36pm

Corey I like what you say and agree with you that declaring accewptance of israel is necessary. But after so many years of suwspicion ,fear, attack and counter attack is that really enough? Do you think the Irish solution could in any way work in the Middle East? i'm also interested in your comparison between Palestinians and First Nations andf would like to see that explored further. It seems to me that a parallel might be drawn: in each case an outsider has come not only to accupy the land, but to hold the power - notso in the case of the Irish ( which is why i don't see that way as a solution).

Anyway, your thoughts?????

alma

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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on May 25, 2008 at 10:56pm

I share your opinion on what Corey wrote, I too wish to read more of his thoughts.

I think you raised interesting observation about the parallel of other violent conflicts as the Irish solution.

I think that when we think on the situation from the "Palestine Brain" perspective, as a collective wisdom and knowledge manifesting the identity of the Palestinian collective and reach out to address all the issues inside and outside the Palestinian society. from such perspective the solution is going to be a Palestinian solution which I expect to be different from the Irish one. we can all see the power and potential of the Palestinian people and by making a space for them in the National State system we must be open for Authentic Palestinian expression of Palestine Brain.

I guess that with our troubled history their is a room to recognize Israel as a step to create peaceful culture in the middle east. this is not an easy step it needs a lot of heart that exist in Palestine.

I write this as Israeli, and I do not know how this wish can be understood by Palestinian, many Palestinian I talked with resonate with similar ideas i hope we can talk about what future can we create together.

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Permalink Reply by Corey Gil-Shuster on May 26, 2008 at 7:04pm

Just to fill in the rest- Alma and I (and about 100 others) attended an event in Ottawa on lessons learned from the peace process in Northern Ireland and how it can be applied to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I don’t know enough about Northern Ireland conflict to really know what will work and what won’t. But I did like the recommendation the speaker made that you have to create dialogue between the groups and that the negotiations process is important. I have heard some Palestinians say that they won’t negotiate with Israelis for what they view as their natural rights- rights should just be given. Since no Israeli I know views the conflict as one of rights, this argument is never heard or understood. So negotiations and dialogue become critical to simply creating understanding. In fact, I try not to set red lines of what each side has to do (even though I definitely have them in my head). My hope is that once enough dialogue has occurred where each side truly listens, we will find solutions together.

Alma, what was your lessons learned from the event?

What I wrote on the comparison between First nations and Palestinians is about all I have to share. If I do more research on this subject for school, I will share it with you and Neri.

The concepts I observed with both groups are:
- A sense of victimhood- something has been done to my people and only the correction of the original sin can heal the wound.
- Passivity- a great tragedy has been perpetrated against me, I expect the perpetrator to find the solutions.
- Fear- everything the perpetrator does is seen with concern that further damage to my people will occur.
- Holding on to elements of culture at all costs- lack a solid/stable/secure personality or group identify, a frozen identity unable to move forward.
- Not allowing for self-criticism to be shown to the “enemy” in a fear it will be seen as weakness.

I understand the above symptoms as a result of the combination of a traumatic experience and a resulting powerlessness to create change. To compare with Jews, we also have a long list of traumatic experiences in our history. Zionism (Jewish nationalism) gave us a way to take 2000 years of traumas and convert it into something positive (for us)- although you can easily argue that 2000 years of trauma is fuelling our views and reaction to this conflict.

It hit me when I witnessed an Israeli and Palestinian talking about loss of property. The Israeli whose parents had been forced out of Morocco , left all their property to come to Israel. The Palestinian was forced out of Gaza and lost property in Jaffa to a life as a refugee in Egypt and then Canada. Both were in similar circumstances. Both lost all their property and were forced to a new reality. The Israeli moved towards something positive: building a Jewish country on what he viewed as his tribal homeland. The Palestinian was denied something (his land, identity, etc.) and spent the rest of his life focusing on how to get it back.

Property are just 'things'. We create the meaning behind the things. To the Israeli, loss of property did not take on as much meaning as to the Palestinian who sees it as a symbol of identity and loss. I find similar dynamics with First Nations and non-First Nations with regards to land. Of course, I am seeing the commonalities from the side of the “powerful” and not as a member of the “powerless”.

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Permalink Reply by Jafra W. on May 26, 2008 at 11:48pm

now or later will have to develop an understanding process where we bundle discussions and knowledge through related tactics and featured tools . I am thinking about creating a new initiatives with scientific approach less than a solution based one.

The most we know and share, the more we shift our common sense/consciousness.

Corey you can to your list above the paradox we Palestinian face when we think about resistance. When I am in Jenin, people really can not decide, weather they are resisting, surviving or abandoning.
Look into what I wrote http://internettime.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=656824%3ABlogPos...

It is very hard to face the crises honestly.
I am losing friends when I am addressing such points honestly.
Pretending and not facing the crises (responsibility of each individual) will lead to no solutions.

Other reason to lose friends, when I call to attend conferences like the bellow.
"How could we drink Coffee with our killer" and conversation stops.

is any one from the organisations bellow here with us?

>> Call for Applicants <<

The European Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
Perceptions and Future Possibilities
– An encounter-project for European, Israeli and Palestinian students and young professionals –

3 – 10 June 2008, Hanenbos/Belgium and
August 2008, Talitha Kumi/Palestinian Territories

dialogue lab e.V. (www.dialogue-lab.org), in co-operation with its partner organizations Palestinian Vision (www.palestinianvision.org) and the Young Israeli Forum for Cooperation (www.yifc.org), is organising an encounter-project under the title "The European Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Perceptions and Future Possibilities". With this project - the 7th in a series of such encounters - the organisers aim at establishing a network of committed students and young professionals prepared to take on an active role towards overcoming the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The encounter consists of a one-week conference in Belgium and a 3-day Follow-up in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. While the former will enable participants to exchange views on the conflict and become aware of the different perceptions of the 'other', the Follow-up will primarily be dedicated to the development and planning of action-oriented projects in the future. With this encounter dialogue lab e.V. and its partners wish to strengthen the impact young people have on processes of conflict resolution and place a particular emphasis on potential roles of Europe.

The encounter will comprise of the following activities:

• Creating a common vision for the potential of the younger generation to have a constructive influence on the conflict
• Workshops on the following issues in relation to the conflict and their potential for change:


- Civil Society (The role of civil society in the conflict and its potential for progress towards a peaceful solution.)
- Education (Exploring the problematic role of both formal and informal education in the conflict as well as potential of education underpinning conflict resolution.)
- Media (The media's role in the conflict with a special emphasis on the role that initiatives through new media play in the conflict.)


• Expert lectures on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and on European policy-making
• A day-trip to Brussels including a cultural and social programme
• A preparatory meeting for European participants on the first day prior to the beginning of the conference
• A 3-day Follow-up in Talitha Kumi/Palestinian Territories in August to assess the progress made thus far and plan future activities reflecting the achievements of the group.
• In addition to the Follow-up, European participants are invited to a 4-day study trip to key locations in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

The conference fee is 100 Euro. This covers:
• Accommodation and board at the conference venue in Hanenbos/Belgium (preparatory seminar and conference) and Talitha Kumi/Palestinian Territories (Follow-up)
• 70% of travel and insurance costs to/from Hanenbos (max. €200)
• Airfare Europe–Tel Aviv–Europe for the Follow-up

How to apply:

Our intention is to gather a group of 36 well informed and highly motivated Israelis, Palestinians and Europeans aged between 24 and 30.
Applicants should have experience in civil society activities, be familiar with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and be prepared for showing sustained engagement in action-oriented projects developing out of this encounter. Participants must be fluent in English (official language of the conference).


Please kindly:


1. Write a motivation letter, which explains your interest in attending the conference and describes your experiences with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict/the Middle East/the EU (max. 1000 words). Please add your CV and save motivation letter and CV as one Microsoft Word file, titled: "application_FIRST NAME_LAST NAME". All documents must be submitted in English.
2. Please download and fill in the application form from our website and save it titled: "form_FIRST NAME_LAST NAME".


Please send both documents to "brusselsconference@dialogue-lab.org". If you have any questions please do not hesitate and contact us under this same address.


Deadline for applications: 10th April 2008


>> Israeli and Palestinian applicants: Please contact our Israeli and Palestinian partner organisations, contact@yifc.org or info@palestinianvision.org, respectively

This project is funded by the Flemish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation

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Permalink Reply by Marc Gopin on May 27, 2008 at 4:22pm

Neri, you said: but the Palestinians in Gaza are attacking the suplay delivered from Israel and then running to cry that their is a shortage, attacking fuel resources and complaing that thier is a shortage in the Hospitals.

please keep in mind this is a clever tactic of Hamas to incite and continue the conflict . the destructive aspect of hamas resistance is that their goal is only to keep the sides at each other's throats. but we cannot say that this is what the average palestinian wants or does in Gaza. they are being manipulated as so many people are in war. Israeli politicians who only focus on the kassams and remove any responsibility are also manipulating the public and feeding them into the action/reaction spiral. the strategic question is how to circumvent Hamas' strategy of blowing up peaceful gestures. i say the way is to make those gestures definitive and overwhelming. this is what i advised the syrians about their peace overtures, and it worked. you have to hit people over the head with peace just as much as with war. if you want to circumvent hamas' inversion of peaceful gestures then overwhelm them with good gestures in Gaza. believe me the people will insist on taking the gestures of good will. hamas will become unpopular if they resist.

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Permalink Reply by Jafra W. on May 27, 2008 at 6:07pm

Neri said what I am saying to my wife, when we discuss: If people want to resist in this way, they should take in account the damages and be patient, determined not to cry and shout for help. We cannot keep living in Paradox ..

If I decide to boycott Israeli product, I would do all my best not complain when they stop giving me oil for my car. For that, I need to transform my way of living into a sustainable resisting one, what most of Palestine did not do.

peaceful gestures and Breaking the chain of violence
Marc, this is exactly what Palestinian would react on very positivity.
I do not know if you cam cross my post here
Reply by Jafra on May 12, 2008 at 10:54am
http://www.mepeace.org/forum/topic/show?id=661876%3ATopic%3A54483&a...

Israel have to understand this nature very well and use its potential if it really seeks peace ..
Give us so many good gestures as possible and you will see that we could be partner for peace.
The other thing, people and leader should talk honestly and in the public without they would have the feeling they will be threaten to say what they think. The efforts for honest relationships should increase.
I love the idea about "big-brother" with conflict partners. I would like to see Hanneyeh and Olmert in one room for a week in front of the TV-Cam :)

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Permalink Reply by Yigal D. Kahana on June 6, 2008 at 11:27pm

Jafra,
This a great discussion.
Of course its not my place to comment on what it means to be Palestinian.
But I think that the way you are approaching the issues is very healthy and stands a great likelihood of being productive.
Maybe you for PM after both Olmert and Haniyeh?

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Permalink Reply by alma norman on May 28, 2008 at 3:58am

Yes, agree to dialogue and negociate WITHOUT using armed force while this is happening. And PATIENCE. Yet i don't see the irish model as really working in Palestine/Israel because you don't have an outside group settling on already occupied land. i won't get into the pros and cons of Jews being allowed to settle there, but i think the whole thing was badly handled from the start, muddied by international politics - who wants to befriend who for what reasons. And as a jew, I'm convinced that if other countries, including my own, Canada, had not been so viciously anti-semitic and had welcomed jewish refugees, there would not have been so urgent a need for a safe haven for the survivors of the Holocaust . As always, there is more than one villain

.I find corey's comparison between the Jewish refugee who went to Israel, and the Palestinian who came eventually to C anada interesting and provocative. But I find the comparison unfair: the Jew could go to Israel precisely for the reasons that the Palestinian became a refugee; there was and is no equivalent place for Palestinians, and if i understand correctly, this is what Palestinians wants: a land, a country.
I
Just as i want a jewish state in which Jewish symbols and rituals are accepted as the norm, so i think ( correct me if I'm wrong here) Palestinians want a state which is visually, ritually as well as politically Palestinian. Maybe some day we won't need these national trademarks to give us an identity, but until that time comes, they're regrettably important and necessary.

nuf said for now
alma

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