Shabbat Continued: The Arava Institute

I wanted to write a separate post about what for me was probably the highlight of Shabbat and maybe even the entire trip. Shabbat afternoon about 30 students and alumni of the Arava Institute gathered for a panel discussion about who they are, why they came, what they are doing now, what they hope to do in the future and how they believe and hope that this experience will affect the region, not only environmentally, but culturally and politically.

First a confession, I have for many years considered myself a hopeful optimist when it came to Israel and the Palestinians and Arabs of the region. Oslo really excited me and gave me a sense that maybe this conflict can be resolved. Unfortunately, the second Intifada destroyed that hope and turned me to the right, a hard right. How could one trust a culture in which death is celebrated and suicide bombers praised? If only the Palestinians would realize that accepting Israel, which for me meant at the very least that they would stop sending rockets into our citites (like Sderot) and cease sending their children to their deaths only to terrorize us. Furthermore, in my thinking, Israel has shown itself every time a serious partner has shown itself to negotiate and trade land for peace. The problem, it seemed to me was with them.

Today I find myself questioning a lot of these presumptions. That does not mean that I have suddenly turned left. No, but meeting and speaking with these remarkable young people from Israel, Jordan and Palestine (yes that was me who just wrote that, though intending the West Bank and Gaza) has challenged me. The Arabs of the Arava Institute are heros. They are risking a lot to be here. They often get blacklisted and can't find work. They have family and extended family that do not understand and are fearful. And they risk losing their friends, but they come nonetheless to learn, to share and most importantly to listen. Through listening to the other, they also learn to acknowledge the other. They have become friends with each other. They have danced at their weddings. Met each other's parents. They have cried together and they have aregued and screamed at each other. But because at the end of the day they live together at the Arava, they have to learn to adjust and cope. I find them to be very inspiring.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the way? I don't know. But I'm thinking about it. I'm asking new questions. I'm allowing myself to be challenged. And it feels right. That's an incredible feeling.