One of the things I loved while we were in Jerusalem was simply talking to the people. You know, you can learn all the facts of the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian conflict, but it doesn’t mean a thing unless you know what the people are saying on the ground.
Charles always tells us that we need to allow all the voices to speak and be heard and so, while we were travelling, that is exactly what we did.
Throughout our time at Tantur in Jerusalem we had a lot of different lecturers come and speak to us – from a Muslim professor to a Messianic Jewish Pastor to a Jew living in a West Bank settlement, etc.
It was amazing to hear from these individuals who have lived out their lives here – people with such a wide range of beliefs and cultural and religious backgrounds. Our various guides during our stay acted as another source of information and each of them offered a unique viewpoint of their own. We also had numerous opportunities, as we walked around the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem, to talk to shop keepers and tourists. Through all of these interactions we were continually adding new elements to the mosaic of the Holy Land and the diversity of its people in both background and belief.
Hearing the stories of dozens of individuals and learning about their lives, I have begun to see this conflict as much more than a mere a history lesson. I have been drawn out from my home of safety and freedom of both will and speech and have learned to care about and love the people of this place – especially those who have gone through and continue to go through more difficult situations than you can even imagine.
Through listening to this multitude of individuals, my perspective on the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian conflict has been altered in one major way: I now know that I don’t know anything. When you sit in a classroom and learn about the conflict or when you read books (even very good ones) you never quiet get the full picture. It’s far too easy to read about the historical facts and learn about the “stats of the matter” and think that you have grasped the situation well enough to form an opinion of your own… but when you come here everything you thought you once knew begins to crash in on itself until you finally realize that you never really knew anything at all.
People here are extremely diverse and many people that we talked to here have lead ridiculously different lives from each other, all the while living as neighbours. Even some of those that we would deem as “on the same side” often voice extremely differing viewpoints. The reality of the situation here is simply that things are not black and white and they never have been. The more you talk to people, the more you begin to realize that for every two people in Israel there are three varying opinions on the same subject.
No wonder there is so much conflict here!
Talking to the people on the street (both figuratively and literally) has honestly changed my perspective a lot on all fronts of the conflict. I still have no clear understanding of it or any idea of how it may one day resolve (if ever). I do not pretend to understand the complexity, but at least I can now honestly say that I know it to be complex. And that is something I could not have said before I came here. As a Jewish shop owner said to me one day: “This is the MUDDLE-East and if you can leave here feeling more confused than when you arrived, you’re on the right track”.
This idea was also voiced by many others that we met along our way and once I heard it stated very well: if a person comes here for a week they could go home and write an entire book about the conflict. If they came here for a month, they could go home and write only a short article. But if they were to come here for a year, they would go home and be unable to write anything at all.
And, while I have only been here for a month, I really do identify with this because it is honestly what I feel like a lot of the time. There is so much to be said, and at the same time… nothing at all.
Sounds confusing? You don’t know the half of it. And thus my only response to you is this: you simply must visit Israel and experience it all for yourself.
