What is the Access to Peace in the Middle East?: MEPCF Newsletter #3

16 May 2024

What is the Access to Peace in the Middle East?

Two decades ago, I met Rabbi Menachem Froman, a kind and deeply spiritual man with a long white beard and a spirit of white light. He shared with me his conviction that the Jewish soul is inextricably connected with the land of Israel; Eretz Yisrael. Even as a founder of Israel’s settler movement and chief Rabbi of the West Bank city of Tekoa, Froman maintained relationships with senior Palestinian leaders including Yassir Arafat and Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. 

Rabbi Froman maintained that the Oslo accords were negotiated largely by secular figures, and functionally omitted religious voices from the conversations for peace. He supported the establishment of a Palestinian state, even while maintaining that he would prefer to live there than to live in an Israeli state that didn’t include Tekoa. 

That an ultra-Orthodox founder of the settlement movement could serve as one of the leading voices of peace illustrates the complex narratives so prevalent in today’s Middle East. 

Today, as the fires of war burn on and the toll of dead and traumatized grows in the wake of October 7th, we should be as vigilant as ever to listen with wisdom and discernment. When we listen deeply, we often discover that there are authentic convictions and beliefs underlying the troublesome behaviors that we observe.

Through a willingness to listen to one another, we can discover and understand each other’s experiences, grievances, and aspirations. If we are not so hasty to dismiss one another, but rather open our minds to simply listen, we have much to gain. We do not have to agree. We do not have to fix. Let us begin simply by listening as fellow humans. 

Sometimes we feel very small in the face of the challenge, two peoples with vastly different narratives, each strong and capable in their own way, unwilling to yield. 

The decades of historical and present-day conflict now dominate the conversation regarding the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. Each side has exerted tremendous energy in an effort to dominate the narrative, to prove themselves right and the other wrong.

From within each of our prevailing narratives, is it so surprising to discover that we are fully justified? To validate our stories about ourselves and each other, we marshal any number of facts to make our case. We then argue with each other about the accuracy of one another’s facts. For many of us, we are certain that “the other” is not only wrong, but also deceitful in their intentions. 

At some point, we get to decide if continuing on this way does anyone a service. Are we safe and protected? Are the spirits of the ancestors who worked the land, and died for it, happy to see more death and suffering? 

One could be forgiven for looking at the present day reality and concluding that peace efforts are futile. By definition, the peacemakers are those who stick their nose into conflict. It is the job of the peacemaker to interrupt a dysfunctional situation, an act that requires courage.  

Effective peacemaking requires a balance between addressing the unworkability head-on, and grounding the parties in their common humanity and a shared vision. 

Sometimes the peacemaker will choose to focus on finding common ground and articulating a vision of the utopia that can be. The peacemaker gets to hold the vision, and invite partners to participate in it. 

At other times, it is necessary to take a look at the unworkability of situations, attitudes, and beliefs. It is first necessary to understand the nature of the unworkable situation, including a deep understanding of the mindset that perpetuates it. Only upon establishing some insight into the current reality can appropriate remedies and new procedures be effectively identified. 

At the Middle East Peace Civic Forum, we take our responsibilities as peacemakers seriously. We get to use discernment for when to engage deeply into issues of unworkability, and when to plant the seeds of shared vision and partnership. 

Given the extreme sensitivities around this conflict, it takes a special sort of individual to ground themselves in the conviction that dialogue and communication are necessary and vital, even in the face of opposition and hostility. This hostility is as likely to come from one’s own communities as it is to come from the so-called, “other.” 

Next Thursday, May 23rd, we are fortunate to be joined again by Walid Siam and Yehuda HaKohen, who will return for the second discussion of the current MEPCF “Critical Conversations” series. 

First and foremost, Yehuda and Walid are each kind souls who honor their people’s history and who genuinely believe that a real and dignified peace is possible. Each in their own way, Walid, Yehuda, and those who came before them have wandered, or at times been driven, across the face of the region and the world. 

Facts and history are one thing. But all the facts and arguments, no matter how sound, can take away from one fundamental fact, that we are all here now. If human beings are created in the image of divinity, then surely coexistence and peace must be on a higher plane than killing and oppression. 

Have we forgotten the prophets, who foresaw a time of peace and brotherhood across the land? If we claim to represent an authentic tradition, are we not compelled to know each other as nations and tribes, and to turn swords into plowshares? 

We look forward to seeing you along with Walid, Yehuda, facilitator Bill Phillips, and me on Thursday, May 23rd at 9:00 am PDT, 12:00 pm EDT, 5 pm GB, 7pm Cairo/Jerusalem time. 

Matt Lakenbach,
MEPCF Founder and Executive Director 

Critical Conversations Series

We invite you to join us for the next “Critical Conversation” on Thursday, May 23rd.

9:00 - 10:30 am PDT
12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT
5:00 - 6:30 pm UK
7:00 - 8:30 pm Cairo/Jerusalem

At zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88975895897

If you are unable to attend, we encourage you to watch the recording on our YouTube channel. Please also share with others who may be interested.

Please visit the link to our first “Critical Conversation,” which took place on March 29th, 2024: https://youtu.be/vz3QI1ksqPE?si=elzCyhyC0oKim4Vv

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MEPCF’s Theory of Change: The Art and Science of Peacebuilding: Newsletter #4

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Moving Through the Impasse: MEPCF Newsletter #2