Can Israelis and Palestinians Start Anew?
By Michael M. Cohen
The Jerusalem Post
February 4, 2024
The trauma of this war has wiped away compassion for the other. We need courageous voices, reaching between sides, to emerge.
“It is incumbent on us to utilize an analysis of missed opportunities, successes and failures from the past to guide us forward.
“There are invaluable lessons to be learned. Scholars, journalists, politicians, negotiators, diplomats, civil society, activists and others should be brought together for this exercise.
“A more sophisticated messaging about what is meant by peace needs articulation within Palestinian and Israeli societies…
“Peace is the absence of war, but not necessarily the absence of the dilemmas. Peace allows for differences to be addressed on a different stage…
“The Alliance for Middle East Peace includes more than 160 Israeli and Palestinian civil society organizations that change attitudes in profound ways. Greater numbers of Israelis and Palestinians must be reached and included within their activities if they are to have the necessary influence and change on their respective and collective societies. That circle must be enlarged.
“There are extremists in both populations, but the majority of Palestinians and Israelis are not extremists; by the same token, nor are those populations involved with or aware of these programs. Increased knowledge of and participation with these organizations will have three benefits: 1) it creates conditions for an agreement to emerge by creating buy-in among both populations; 2) this gives the political leaders the backbone needed to reach an agreement; and 3) it creates the conditions for an agreement to hold, as there will be immense pushback; those negative forces need to be marginalized…
“The unending violence between Israelis and Palestinians signals they are stuck; there is need for an off-ramp…
“The challenge we face is the forces and voices of violence, hate, and division have an easier time being heard. The song of peace, goodwill, and cooperation must be sung more aggressively and louder…
“The trauma of this war has wiped away compassion for the other. We need courageous voices, reaching between sides, to emerge.”
The writer, a rabbi, teaches at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura and Bennington College.
About Heart of a Nation
Heart of a Nation is working to empower emerging American, Israeli and Palestinian changemakers to improve their political cultures.
אנחנו מכנסים הוגים מובילים, פעילים חברתיים, ומחוללי שינוי לעתיד, אמריקאים, ישראלים ופלסטינאים, המחויבים לשיפור החברות שלהם.
نحن أمريكيون وإسرائيليون وفلسطينيون نبني ونكوّن روابط من أجل التعلم والتفكير والمشاركة معًا حتى نشجع الحلول التقدمية بشأن القضايا التي تهمنا جميعًا.