Peace in the Middle East | August 06, 2004

There were two sessions dedicated to issues related to peace in the Middle East at the past IIFWP Assembly 2004: a concurrent panel on “Challenges to Peace in the Middle East”, and a later working session entitled “Middle East Peace Initiatives: Focus on Israel and Palestine”. Both sessions were moderated by Dr Frank Kaufmann, director of Interreligious Relations for IIFWP. Seen in the wider – or deeper – context of the overall conference theme, “Establishing a World Culture of Heart”, these meetings were both honest and constructive.

Challenges to Peace in the Middle East
Our panelists provided us with a panoramic view of the Israel/Palestine problem; with the holy assurance that faith and faiths can reclaim their true role and reinfuse family life and educational institutions with the elements that make for peace; with actions and plans that allow us to hope; and with the experience of women’s efforts for peace in divided Cyprus. Roland Flamini of UPI made the point that peace in Jerusalem would deprive the violence and terror throughout the region of its justification. After reviewing 50 years of conflicts, resolutions and peace processes, he concluded that politics and diplomacy alone are inadequate. What is needed, he told us, is goodwill, as well as help from the US and the world. He cited “the remarkable campaign of friendship by IIFWP” as a move that will surely have an enormous long-term impact. In addition, both Israel and Palestine need true leaders who are not afraid but have a sense of mission.
Dr Hamdi Murad from Jordan spoke warmly of the peace that is the common hope of Muslims, Christians and Jews. We, sons of Abraham, suffer and struggle as politics has hijacked our religions. We need to educate families to the awareness that we are all one family; rearrange school curricula so that children are no longer trained to think badly of the other; and elicit the help of NGOs, the media and centers of research in a widespread effort of education for peace.
Professor Eliezer Glaubach of Israel recognized that for many the Middle East is synonymous with intractable conflict - and then set about convincing us that it is solvable. He cited the example of a suicide bomber who decided at the last moment not to carry out his mission, and explained that he just couldn’t do it because he felt it was not the way to bring peace. Echoing Mr Flamini, he spoke of the positive impact of the series of IIFWP pilgrimages to Israel and Palestine, and of the need for real decision-makers to take the peace process forward. He then reported on a decision to establish an IIPC Peace Academy, which would seek opportunities for cooperative activities between Israel and her Arab neighbors.
Finally, Mrs Oya Talat, wife of the prime minister of northern Cyprus, shared both her experience and her hope. “During the intercommunal strife”, she told us, “I was a small child in deep grief, frightened to death, each night.” After reviewing the history of conflict and resultant suffering in her own country and in the Middle East, she cited recent human rights documents about Israel/Palestine and then turned to her own contribution. “We can tell you all about our experiences in realizing a sustainable and acceptable peace with our people who were deceived by conservative, chauvinist policies…..the work we did as the women of Cyprus with the help of other NGOs in changing the status quo, which was against the peace and the reunification of Cyprus.” “War means destruction”, she reminded us. “The worst agreement is the best solution when compared with the losses of war.” In conclusion she stated her conviction that establishing a world culture of heart is not a dream.
Dr Andrew Wilson, editor of IIFWP’s World Scripture project, was the discussant. After noting that the problems in both Korea and Israel/Palestine started in 1948, and referring to Rev Moon’s recent commitment not to rest until there is peace in the Middle East and on the Korean peninsula, he saw these as signs of a spiritual link between Israel and Korea. He agreed that Al Qaida’s power comes from resentment against Israel and the West, supporting the idea that peace in Israel/Palestine will reduce if not end violence elsewhere. He also agreed that without more goodwill there will be no progress toward peace.

Middle East Peace Initiatives – Focus on Israel and Palestine.
The room was packed for this working session. Those who spoke came from Finland and Angola, Djibouti and Morocco, Iran and Israel, Denmark and Byelorussia, the US and the UK, Jordan, Cyprus and South Africa. We heard justifications, explanations and calls to look to the future. There was some of the usual jostling for the higher ground. Yet as the discussion proceeded, it was not always the specific answer that mattered: could we practice what we were preaching and rise above the tensions and the recriminations? Somehow the very discussion was a process of developing and sensitizing our hearts.

One diplomat with years of experience in the region expressed his fear that the crisis was deepening and the enemies of peace winning on both sides. With influence on both sides in the hands of the extremists, the role of IIPC is even more important. We need people to people initiatives, NGO initiatives: we should be coordinating with the Geneva initiative. Another speaker pointed out that the positions of the extremists were fuelled by myths, which we need to address. The Zionist myth, on the one hand, that Palestine was “a land without a people for a people without a land”; and on the other the Palestinian myth that “Israel was created as a Zionist western conspiracy” both fuel the view that the other has no right to the land.
One speaker emphasized the importance of following up IIFWP’s stated intention to push for an interreligious council at the UN. We need to go from people to people. We must urgently press the leaders of Judaism and Islam to meet together.
A Christian urged us to seek reconciliation with God and our neighbors and to defend not our cause but a common cause. Another saw Christians as potential mediators, and encouraged both frankness and the effort to understand the history of the other’s religion. A Muslim leader stated: “As a Muslim, I say our leaders have failed because they didn’t explain the true message of Islam.” They, like their counterparts in other faiths have let everything get tied up in politics. “Muslims must challenge the justifications of suicide bombing”. When another Muslim charged Israel with arrogance for ignoring the international court of justice and rejecting an EU delegation, there was more than one answer - one speaker suggested a parallel to the conflict between Cain and Abel. The causes of the murder of Cain lay in both the violence of Cain and the arrogance of Abel. “Perhaps we Jews have been too arrogant - as have we Americans. Maybe this is a repeat of the Cain-Abel struggle. I can’t solve a Muslim’s problem, but I can try to be more humble.”
As time began to run out, our moderator distilled the spirit of our meeting in the following closing words: “I could feel the genuine pain of each side. Neither side has more pain. I would like to suggest that each of us follow these steps: find the person you would least like to identify with. Touch your own pain, and know that the other person’s pain is the same. Then devote your life to ending that. We’ve been frank in stating our pain. We cannot walk out of this room callous to that. Let’s pray that we can meet many more times together, because this is really a spearhead.”

The connection between peace and a culture of heart is becoming clearer.