Listening is the Beginning

As a musician, listening to others is essential for me. If I don't listen to the people around me when playing in an orchestra, I can't be sensitive to what others are playing and I'll end up drowning them out when they're the ones who are playing all the interesting bits. Without listening, it would be impossible to create music together as a group.  But does that only apply to music?

Though we sometimes may not realize it, listening to other people is essential to having good relationships with them. Dialogue cannot be defined as dialogue if one merely talks the whole way through. It is a combination of talking and listening that dialogue is born. 

There is a youth orchestra based in Spain called the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. It's "interesting" at the least - in the fact that the orchestra consists of musicians from a variety of Middle Eastern backgrounds, such as Egyptian, Lebanese, Iranian, Syrian - and of course, Israeli and Palestinian. It was founded by Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian-American theorist Edward Said in 1999 as a workshop. Its aim was for young musicians from Israel and other Middle Eastern countries to focus on musical development as well as development with the sharing of knowledge and comprehension between people from cultures traditionally have been rivals.

An excerpt of the West-Eastern Divan playing the Adagio from Gustav Mahler's 10th Symphony:

Between the exhaustive rehearsals, the members hold forums on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, focusing on dialogue and reflection, but never with negative intent. In short, this ensemble of less than a hundred is the perfect model of what human society is capable of.

The West-Eastern Divan has performed in countries around the world, including Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Imagine, Israelis playing Beethoven alongside Palestinians for Palestinians in the West Bank!

The conductor himself is an fascinating figure. Conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim is an Argentinian-born Israeli who lived in the United States for a number of years, now based in Berlin, with honourary citizenships from Spain and - get this - the Palestinian Authority. Nevermind Argentina and Spain - Barenboim is the first person ever to hold both Israeli and Palestinian passports. He is also one of the few musicians in the world who has a minor planet named after him, but that's beside the point.

Barenboim has been a controversial figure in Mid East politics - conducting the music of Richard Wagner in Jerusalem for example. Wagner's music had been unofficially tabooed in Israel since the Holocaust, as Wagner was an anti-Semite and his music was used predominantly in Nazi Germany for propaganda (he was also a personal role model for Adolf Hitler, who mentions Wagner in his so-called autobiography Mein Kampf). However, Barenboim argues that the music itself is what matters to him.

Here's an interview with Barenboim on Al Jazeera:



A number of media outlets have called the West-Eastern Divan an "orchestra for peace", to which Barenboim has responded: "You can't make peace with an orchestra." In an interview with the Guardian, he states: "The Divan is not a love story, and it is not a peace story. It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn't. It's not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. A project against the fact that it is absolutely essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it. I'm not trying to convert the Arab members of the Divan to the Israeli point of view, and [I'm] not trying to convince the Israelis to the Arab point of view. But I want to - and unfortunately I am alone in this now that Edward died a few years ago - ...create a platform where the two sides can disagree and not resort to knives."
As a member of the orchestra puts it, the orchestra "is a human laboratory that can express to the whole world how to cope with the other."

This is my answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No, I don't mean putting every Israeli and Palestinian in a gigantic orchestra - that sounds too similar to Parliament Hill. Listening is my answer. Listening to all sides, with mutual respect and dignity, with the goal of being open-minded and understanding the other points of view. Listening constructs dialogue; dialogue generates interest; interest yields knowledge; knowledge invokes understanding; understanding leads to peace. If there is no dialogue, if there is no listening - there is no hope of peace.

We have the solutions - we've had them for years! The two-state solution is a completely viable solution to this conflict. Israel can go back to its pre-1967 borders and the Palestinians can take the rest of the land. Jerusalem can be established under international jurisdiction, as a shared capital of the two states, or as an open city. Israel can put a halt to the building of settlements on disputed territory. Israel can start talks with Hamas about removing its blockade of the Gaza Strip in exchange for a peace treaty. The right of return can be discussed through town hall meetings involving both Israelis and Palestinians. But all of these prospects involve dialogue - and to achieve that, all sides MUST listen to each other. We must destroy this culture of ignorance we have lived in for all these years, and move forward with open ears and open minds.

Growing up isn't easy, but sometimes it's necessary.

Light bulbs and headaches

Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, once said "If I find 10000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." A hopeful quote at the least, but we as human beings never fail to be skeptical. We've tried many ways to end homelessness. Has it worked? No. What about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? They've tried for years and years. Has it worked? No. But before we despair, as we are so wont to do, let's consider the possibilities. What plausible solution do we have, and what exactly is in the way of peace in the Middle East?

source: wikipedia.org

Currently, the most commonly debated solution to the conflict is the "two-state solution". It is as its name implies: to establish two independent states in the land formerly known as Palestine. One Israeli state, and one Palestinian state. It's by no means a novel proposal; in fact, it has been around for years. In 1947, a UN committee proposed it in what became Resolution 181, recommending the creation of Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem administrated by the UN. The Israelis accepted it, while the Arabs opposed it, saying they had a right to the whole of Palestine. They had a point; the number of Arabs in the land vastly outnumbered the number of Jews at the time, and they claimed that the partition plan violated the rights of the majority.

Since then, the Palestinian Liberation Organization has come to accept the possibility of the two-state solution. But certain roadblocks remain constant.

Source: freerepublic.com

1. Pre-1967 borders

       One of the Palestinian Authority's (PA) conditions for the two-state solution is that Israel goes back to its territorial lines before 1967, when Israel took control of land belonging to its Arab enemies in the Six Day War. The rest of old-day Palestine, which according to PA President Mahmoud Abbas is merely 22% of historical Palestine, would become a new Palestinian state. The Americans under the Obama administration supports this proposal, which has been met with firm opposition from the Israelis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continually said that Israel shall not return to its "indefensible" 1967 borders and has called for a different proposal.

Source: imemc.org

2. Building of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory
       Israel's occupation of Palestinian land in 1967 is to this day not recognized by the international community as justified. However, this has not stopped the Israelis in building settlements on the disputed land, especially in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Currently, almost 500000 Israelis live in these settlements alongside Palestinians. The number of settlements in the West Bank surpass 120, covering over 40% of the territory. The Palestinian Authority has called for the Israelis to stop the building of settlements if they wish to restart peace talks, which has been repeatedly ignored by the Israelis. The Americans have shown reluctance to call the settlements illegal, which, according to the PA themselves, led to the recent Palestinian request for a full-member seat at the United Nations. Israel responded to this act by announcing additional settlements.

Source: jerusalemshots.com

3. Status of Jerusalem
       Jerusalem is the one thing that neither side wants to give up to the other. Israel wants it as its capital city, while the Palestinians considers East Jerusalem as occupied territory and wants to make it a part of the future State of Palestine (Temple Mount would be under their jurisdiction). Most Western nations support the idea of establishing an international regime for the city, possibly under the UN. There is talk of making it an "open city", allowing anyone to visit without fear of harm. There are also those who, like the European Union and UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, support the establishment of Jerusalem as the shared capital of Israel and the State of Palestine. As such, the issue remains contentious.

Source: ummulhasanaat.co.za

4. Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip
       During the factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, replacing all Fatah government officials with its own. Because the Western-backed Fatah party fled, Israel and Egypt sealed their borders along Gaza, citing reasons of security. Gaza was inaccessible by land, air, and sea, with goods also restricted, leaving the people of Gaza effectively trapped. The blockade started to ease after an incident in 2010 in which an aid flotilla heading to Gaza was raided by Israeli forces, leaving nine Turkish activists dead. It garnered international outrage and led to rifts in Israeli-Turkish relations, pressuring Israel to ease the blockade. However, a strict goods blockade still remains in place, stopping humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza. British Prime Minister David Cameron referred to Gaza as a "prison camp", to which Israel responded by saying "the situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas' rule and priorities." This blockade has been the subject of many an argument, with Israelis who say it's for their protection, while the Palestinians and several human rights groups say it's inhumane.

Source:  uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com

5. Right of return for Palestinian refugees
       There are over 3.5 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East alone, as a result of the displacement that followed the many Arab-Israeli conflicts over the years. Palestinians say they have a moral right to return to their former homes, a claim that is supported by various UN resolutions. UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948 states: "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practical date." However, Israelfears that the return of Palestinian refugees would wipe out the Jewish majority in the region, which is the only safeguard Israel has in its efforts to remain a sole Jewish state.They have called for the refugees to be assimilated into their present homes, a notion that has been rejected violently. A poll done by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion states 89.5% of Palestinians refuse to waive the right of return in exchange for financial compensation. In the words of one BBC article: “to accept the historic claims of the other side is implicitly to undermine your own historic claim."


These are the tremendous obstacles that diplomats have for years. Yet, everything is even more convoluted when one puts Hamas into the context. Everything from acceptance of the mere possibility of a two-state solution to handing over Jerusalem to anyone else would be blasphemy in their eyes. Their control over the Gaza Strip remains firm, and its support among Palestinians grows. Its recent deal with Israel that set free over 1000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli prisoner saw its popularity grow by 37% (according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research). However, how much support Hamas has is unclear, especially in light of its rival faction Fatah's recent success in getting accepted into UNESCO. In light what we do have, however, we can be certain that Hamas still has substantial support among Palestinians. 

Source: dulops.net

Too much information? Indeed. This is but a mere glimmer of what diplomats must deal with. That is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - inducing headaches to diplomats worldwide since 1948.

Slaying the Dragon

It was the great English writer G. K. Chesterton who said: “Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” As you can probably tell, he is not merely a great writer but also a very quotable one. 

source: modernisminc.com

Dragons are traditionally very fearsome and ill-tempered creatures, who wreck the lives of all that happen to be in their path. With scales harder than tempered steel, they are difficult to slay, unless you are, say, Prince Charming (and no, I'm not referring to that grotesque idiot from "Shrek"). But how can that great dragon of Mid East politics be slayed? Where is the real Prince Charming when the world needs him?


To be fair, people have previously tried to slay the great dragon on their own. In 1967, Israel launched a preemptive strike on Egypt in what was to be called the Six Day War. From it, Israel gained the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, an action which Arab countries responded to with a vow saying they shall have "no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, [and] no negotiations with it." The UN Security Council responded with Resolution 242, calling for Israel's withdrawal from those lands and lasting peace in the region. Evidently, Israel did not listen.


Conflict soon broke out once more, with the UN constantly trying to broker ceasefires with no end in sight. That is, until the signing of the Camp David Accords on March 26 1979. U.S. President Jimmy Carter had helped negotiate a framework for peace between Israel and Egypt, which resulted in the Sinai being returned to Egypt and the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries. However, not much was accomplished in regards to the issue of Palestine.


After years of continued conflict, the next sign of hope rose in 1993, when Israeli and PLO representatives met in Norway for secret negotiations. These talks led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles, otherwise known as the Oslo Accords. In it, the PLO officially recognized Israel's right to exist in peace and security, while Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. The PLO renounced the use of terrorism, and committed itself to resolve conflicts peacefully. The accord gave Palestinians autonomy in Jericho (a city in the West Bank) and the Gaza Strip, under the newly-created Palestinian Authority (PA). 


But the violence soon stirred again, resulting in massacres of Muslim worshipers in Israel, terrorist attacks on Israelis, and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a right-wing Israeli who disproved of the PM's peace initiative.


In the summer of 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton invited Israeli PM Ehud Barak and PA President Yasser Arafat to attend a summit meeting at Camp David. It ended up in failure, with all parties blaming the others for the dismal results.


Since then, restarting the peace process has been the objective of Mid East mediators. But it's not so easy when the majority of Israelis and Palestinians don't believe in the prospect of permanent peace. According to a poll done by the Gallup Organization in 2010, only 25% of Israeli Jews believed in a peaceful future, while 66% did not. For Palestinians, 18% said they believed in a peaceful future, while 75% did not. How can they slay a dragon when they say it cannot be slain?


Fairy tales can be great moral lessons to all of us, regardless of age. However, one thing that fairy tales don't tell us is that Prince Charming was never real. There is no magical prince who can save the day everyday. However, is that a good enough reason to lose hope of a better future? Dragons can be killed - as long as we retain faith in ourselves.

Kids will be Kids

Most of you have probably heard that saying sometime in your lives, probably from adults shaking their heads at children. I've always objected to such generalizations, even regarding children. Kids have names, personalities, and stories - not as many as adults, but stories nonetheless. Even kids deserve to be listened to and understood.

That being said, what about those kids in the political playgrounds? Should we just write them off as typical politicians, or should we seek to understand them? Since I see no harm in the latter, let's do that.

Israel

source: cwrflags.com

Led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel is directly involved in the conflict. Netanyahu is the leader of the right-wing Likud party, currently a part of a coalition with other right-wing parties in the Knesset (parliament). Netanyahu is seen as one of the most right-wing politicians in Israel, known for his opposition to handing back land in return for peace. But he has stated he would accept the creation of a Palestinian state, on the condition of complete demilitarization. The Palestinians objected, citing injustice on Israel’s part.

Palestine

source: flags.net

Palestinian politics isn't easy to describe, because it's divided into halves: Fatah and Hamas.

Fatah

source: crwflags.com

Fatah was founded in 1959 by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to promote complete liberation of Palestine from Israeli control. It recognized Israel's right to exist and tried to reach a two-state solution with the Israelis in the Oslo Accords, meaning the disputed land would be divided into a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Fatah is currently led by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, who supports having peace with the Israelis and criticizes "armed resistance" attacks on them. He wishes to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Hamas

source: wikipedia.org

Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islam fundamentalist group. Its goal: to establish an Islamic state in what it terms Palestine (much of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza). Its charter acknowledges its desire to destroy Israel to achieve its means. It gained prominence when it won the 2006 parliamentary elections, due to allegations of corruption on part of Fatah. Led by Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas focuses on social welfare and “armed resistance”, gaining the approval of many Palestinians. However, its history of violence against Israelis has labeled it as a terrorist organization to many in the West. 

The 2006 election brought months of factional fighting, killing hundreds of Palestinians. The fighting continued until Fatah struck a deal with Hamas to join a unity government as a junior partner. But the tensions never faded, and conflict soon broke out again. On June 14 2007, Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led unity government, an action which Haniyeh claims to be illegal, since it has not gotten approval in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council. 

So there you have it. But what are these stakeholders doing right now? Israel continues to build Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, deemed illegal even by pro-Israeli Western powers. Hamas refuses to cooperate with Israel, and instead launches rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Fatah tries to achieve their goals by appealing to the international community while ignoring the Israelis (as seen by its recent attempts to attain a seat at the UN). 

A bit complicated? Consider this: there's a kid eating another's candy even after being told not to, then there’s a kid trying to get the candy back with fists, and then you have another kid trying to tattletale on the candy-stealer. But no one addresses the root cause: that the kid is stealing the candy because he thinks it's his. Is there anything to be done about that? Perhaps, but more on that later.

The Holy City

"People need to grow up and listen to each other" was how I ended my last post. What I forgot to mention was that it's not that easy.

The root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the lack of communication between the parties involved. That's concrete. Therefore, all they need to do is to stop acting like children, right? Well, if everyone could do that, we'd all be living in a utopia by now. But in this case, it's not just about people acting like children. It involves religion.

Source: bibleplaces.com

Take Jerusalem for example. Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel, which the Israelis insist is their rightful city since it was once the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel around 3000 years ago. However, the Palestinian Authority (the group representing Palestinians) claim it to be theirs, making it the most fiercely contested piece of land in modern history. Why? Jerusalem just happens to be the holiest city in the world to three of the world's biggest religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

Source: bibleplaces.com

This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be where Christ was crucified and buried. But since Christians make up only 2% of the Israeli population, they don't matter much in the trenches of Israeli-Palestinian politics.

source: wikipedia.org

This is what matters: Temple Mount (Hebrew), or Haram al-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic). 

source: sacred-destinations.com

This is the Dome of the Rock, Islam's third holiest site. It's built right on the Haram, specifically the Foundation Stone, which is the rock from which the Prophet Muhammed is said to have ascended into heaven. This is where the Prophet is said to have been taught to pray.

source: sacred-destinations.com

The Al-Aqsa Mosque, situated next to the Dome, is one of the holiest mosques in Islam. All Muslims used to pray towards it before Mecca was established as a Muslim focal point.



In Judaism, Temple Mount is the place where the Holy Temple, the most holy place for Jews, once stood. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., and its destruction came to symbolize the start of the Jewish Diaspora (their exile).

source: levitt.com

The Western Wall (or the "Wailing Wall") is the only remaining part of the Temple that was destroyed in the Roman conquest. Jews go to the wall to pray and leave prayers on pieces of paper between the stones.

source: wikipedia.org

The Foundation Stone, the stone at the heart of the Dome of the Rock, is where the Ark of the Covenant (a chest containing the Ten Commandments given to the Jews by God) used to be placed upon. It is the holiest site in all of Judaism.

Now this is where it gets convoluted: the Jews believe that their Temple will be rebuilt on Temple Mount with the coming of the Messiah, who will then bring judgement down on the heathen and reward the faithful. But one tiny problem: that's where the Dome of the Rock currently stands. So if the Jews ever want to proceed with their plans of Judgement Day, they must tear down the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. So you can see why Jews and Muslims might be so fierce about these thirty five acres of land. Indeed, it's been the cause of many bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians.

Jerusalem is the crux of the conflict. Can it be sorted out? Perhaps, but more on that in a bit.

Kids on a Playground

Source: elmer.ca

Imagine a group of kids playing on a playground. They're playing on the swings and throwing themselves down on to a slide. They're enjoying themselves - occasionally getting in some childish fights of course, but enjoying themselves nonetheless.

Then come the big kids.

These huge, troll-like 5th graders approach the playground, snapping their fingers like the Sharks from West Side Story. The frightened little ones cower at the sight of them, and when the big kids start throwing rocks at them, they scatter and run away as fast as their little legs can take them. The big kids just laugh and settle in the playground.

The little kids who ran away, tired and scattered, go to other playgrounds to play. But the kids who were already there don't seem to like them very much. Some of them even try to label them with weird yellow stickers and ignore them. The little kids, now calling themselves the "Z"s,  begin to miss their old playground. It was the perfect playground for them, a playground that didn't have people who disliked them, a playground where they could be with all their friends and only their friends. Many of their old buddies were now hanging out in the other playgrounds, but they didn't seem to fit in either. So after the longest time, the old group come together again, and begin to walk towards their beloved old playground.

By this time the big kids had long since left, having been forced away by an army of little kids with moon and star designs on their shirts. When the Zs reach the playground, they stop at the edges, the air tense and nervous. Then the oldest of them, David, marches into the playground and yell "WE'RE BACK!!!" The others cheer, and run to their old swings and monkey bars. They're finally back together - a happy family.

But in their joy and excitement they forget one thing: there were other kids there. Some of the kids who had originally forced the big kids away had stayed there afterwards. They were few, but they were still there with their star and moon t-shirts, and they had been playing on that playground for what seemed to them like forever. So naturally, they didn't like all these new faces occupying their playground. They start arguing with the intruders, but the Zs didn't seem to listen. The Zs said that the playground had been theirs for ages, and swore never to lose it again. The other kids, calling themselves the "Stars",  said that the playground had been theirs for ages, and swore never to give it up. So what happens next? Naturally, they call each other liars and call each other names. When someone finally lets out the S-word ("Shut up!"), they start throwing their cute little fists at each other. The Stars even call their friends nearby for help, but the Zs stand strong. Both groups pound each other with fists, throw rocks, and even spit on each other.

At this point you'd expect the grown-ups to show up, break up the fight, and force them to talk to each other in a civilized manner. But in this world of playgrounds, there are no grown-ups - only children.

This is basically what forms the gist of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The "Z"s are the Israelis, who were exiled from their homeland (the playground) after the Romans (the Big Kids) conquered it. The Jews were scattered far and wide across the Middle East and Europe (the other playgrounds). Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire, the replacements for the Romans, was forced out of Jerusalem by the Islamic Caliphate army (the "Stars"). As time passed, Jews longed for their homeland, especially with the rise of anti-semitism. Eventually, the Zionist movement was formed, comprised of Jews who wanted to return to their homeland and establish a national Jewish home. By this time Arabs were living in the Holy Land, now called Palestine. When Britain was given a mandate of Palestine after WWI, they started allowing Jewish immigration into the land, while trying not to make the Arab residents angry. All seemed to be in vain, however, when in 1948 the Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion ("David" from the scenario above) formally declared the independence of the state of Israel. The surrounding Arab countries immediately invaded the land but the Israelis held out with their lives. In the real world, there are no adult figures to put a definite stop to a fight. Sixty three years later, this fight is very much still ongoing.

International politics can always be explained by comparing it to kids on a playground. Is my analogy perfect? No. Is it offensive towards two of the biggest religions in the world? Probably. But considering it's dealing with one of the most complicated issues in the world, it's good as an analogy gets. One thing speaks perfectly loud and clear though: people need to grow up and listen to each other.