Living with Dialogue

On November 27, 2011 a conference on Living with Dialogue was organised by Onderweg met Christine Gruwez in the Art of Meeting, The Hague, the Netherlands. A speech on the Israeli-Palestinian issue was given by UNOY Peacebuilders Project Officer Patricia Martin and Marta Jimenez.

Dear Friends,

We have been asked to be here today to talk about the concept of dialogue from a youth perspective. When we first heard of the title for this conference “Living with Dialogue”, we thought of a way to integrate the Israeli-Palestinian issue to which we have been personally and professionally linked.  We thought a good frame for this topic would be the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding to advance in steps for peace. We had the opportunity to exchange ideas with Areej, a Palestinian living in Baqa El Gharbia. When she was asked for an opinion about “peace”, this is what she said:

“Here, where I live, peace became a funny word: we waited for it, we tried to work for it, we tried to “coexist” with the Israelis, but, sadly it did not work out. And it will not work out as long as they have power. Every time I hear the word peace I feel like, “God – they need to change this word”. Peace will come to this land when justice will find a way in it, as long as there is not “real” equality between Israelis and Palestinians, peace will not be achieved.”

This is echoed by Stuart Littlewood; the “word “justice” is conspicuously absent from the mouthings of Western politicians on the Middle East. It has vanished from their vocabulary and from their purpose. Instead “peace process” is endlessly trumpeted, and the lopsided dead-end “negotiations” that go with it” This is related to Dr. Peter Idenburg’s theory of Justice and Peace and not the other way around.

So we have asked ourselves, what do we need in order to achieve justice for peace to come?

Dialogue should be the instrument to provide different individuals and groups with a common ground in which the advancements towards reconciliation will be made.

But what is reconciliation?  Reconciliation goes beyond moving away from the past and does not implicitly means to forget, but to have the courage to forgive. No one should hold bitterness towards their enemies, as they too can be merely instruments of a system which oppress indiscriminately (Xanana Gusmao, 2005).

One of the facts that has been characterising this “peace process” is that Western societies have been and still are trying to attain solutions in the Palestinian and Israeli conflict without creating an efficient dialogue on the basis of a culture of peace.

Peace education, or an education that promotes a culture of peace, is essentially transformative. It cultivates the knowledge base, skills, attitudes and values that seek to transform people’s mindsets, attitudes and behaviour that, in the first place, have either created or exacerbated violent conflicts. It seeks this transformation by building awareness and understanding, developing concern and challenging personal and social action that will enable people to live, relate and create conditions and systems that actualize nonviolence, justice, environmental care, gender equality and other peace values (Navarro-Castro & Nario-Galace, 2008).

It is important to change the attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate conflict relationships and to develop mutually acceptable strategies to address the main conflict issues. Peacemaking goes far beyond reaching a political agreement. It is more about creating the conditions in which people feel safe and trusted, and able to trust. In such an environment, it is more likely for a truthful dialogue to happen.

 

Several studies demonstrate that as children, experiences with conflict profoundly affect both our reactions and perceptions to conflict when we are adults. We believe that those children who at an early age experience feelings such as constant fear from the ‘other’, betrayal or odium might develop an intense resentment that perpetuates throughout their lives, making it more difficult to engage them in an efficient dialogue.

As Areej points out: “Dialogue happens when we get our full rights and that includes equal rights”

New spheres of dialogue have arisen in the last decade; we have experienced its impact recently with the events of the Arab spring and its western version with the “Outraged Movement”. This so-called “network society“ counts on new means available through the powerful possibilities of the internet such as the immediateness and interconnectedness. As Mahmoud Khalifa, an Egyptian young man we recently had the chance to meet writes: “Many opinions say that the online social networks provided e-communities helped to promote the anti governing systems ideas, and to call and organize the demonstrations, and to disseminate news from the heart of the events. Members of Facebook played a great role in information flow and circulation during the demonstrations days”. (Khalifa, 2011) As well, the outraged has found in these media the channel to expand their voices. Social media could be seen as technologies that enable the empowerment and participation of citizens in the agora of the twenty first century. The determination of the system to control these channels of free expression and dialogue shows their relevance and power.

Young people are an increasingly important group that cannot be ignored, for instance they have an enormous capacity for action and social change. 50% of the world’s inhabitants are under the age of 30 and the majority of social media users are young people in their 20’s and 30’s. (UNOY Peacebuilders) We, as integrants of the younger generation, strongly believe that youth are not only the future, but they already entail, develop and shape the present.

We could speak of these citizens’ movements spread across the world, from the Arab Spring to the Occupied Movements in Spain, The Hague, or the United States as a humanitarian revolution, where solidarity, cooperation and empathy for the injustices elsewhere have been shown at its greatest.

If peace means the elimination of all facets of injustice. Why do not we start by looking for justice first and then build peaceful societies? Therefore, let’s start by exercising an efficient dialogue. Let’s stop talking and talking about peace as a beautiful ornament and start cultivating/implementing a culture of peace by facilitating the ground and trusted environment for the peace to become realistic and applicable. To achieve peace, we need to teach peace (Cora Weiss, The Hague Appeal for peace).

Let us build the bridge of human and social justice, peace, equality, and respect. (Alternative Information Center, 2011)

 

Thank you very much,

Marta Jimenez Cantabrana and Patricia Martin Gomez.

 

 

Bibliography

Alternative Information Center. (15 de 02 de 2011). Alternative News.  Obtenido de:  http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/camp/3298-aic-international-field-seminars-bridges-instead-of-walls

Cora Weiss, The Hague Appeal for peace.

Khalifa, M. (s.f.). The role of Information Technology in defeating the Arab regimes: Facebook 2-0 Arab Presidents. Cairo, Egipto.

Navarro- Castro, L., & Nario-Galace, J. (2008). Peace Education: A path way to a culture of peace. Quenzon City, Philippines: Center for Peace Education.

UNOY Peacebuilders. (s.f.). Obtenido de UNOY website

Xanana Gusmao, K. R. (2005). “A vital Force”. En E. C. prevention, People Building Peace II: Succesful Stories of Civil Society (págs. 26-27). Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publisher. Inc.