We should all help stop the death and destruction in Gaza As I watch the images of death and destruction in Gaza my mind goes back to my Eisenhower Fellowship in the summer of 2011. The objective of EF is to provide what is termed as a transformational experience leading to a lifetime engagement in a global network, where dialogue and collaboration make the world more prosperous, just and peaceful. I am calling for that dialogue and collaboration within the EF family. My specific call is for the nineteen of us that includes Nisreen Shahin and Avi Brain. Nisreen and Avi were among those of us who had the privilege of being Eisenhower Fellows that year. During the interactions we had during those seven weeks we shared our varied experiences and learnt that no matter where we came from we had similar dreams; dreams for our countries. How we could make our peoples better off and be at peace with the rest of the world. The Israeli shelling and the Hamas attacks that started only weeks back have already killed over a thousand people; by far the vast majority Palestinians including large numbers of women and children. The Israelis have their version and the Hamas theirs. But every bomb kills and maims dozens of human beings if not more. I saw on BBC cars on rooftops of apartment buildings, such force the shells pulverize neighborhoods. There is really no point going in to the reasons for the conflict as it is not possible for any one of us to try and figure out how to find a solution to this age old war. There is no point either labeling Hams as a terrorist organization or criticize the offensive by Israel to protect their people from attacks. The Israelis and the Palestinians along with everyone else who will benefit from a peace in the area should work towards a way out of the clashes and finding a way towards peaceful coexistence. But the news of clashes in Jerusalem and West Bank is not encouraging. Various news outlets reported of Hamas calls for the third Intifada in the last couple of days with the Israelis just not letting up on their deadly attacks on entire neighborhoods. What we can do is to speak out against the violence. Violence is not only by the Israelis it’s by the Hamas and also various organized Palestinian groups as well. Only that the Israeli attacks are deadlier. Nothing can be achieved by killing. Sustainable peace can only be built by discussion. What can we give? What can we get? How can we compromise? And for that to happen people, leaders of today and of the future must speak to each other. They must look beyond individual gain, or short term gain for their constituency. I am not trying to whitewash Hamas. Neither am I condoning the barbaric Israeli shelling of entire neighborhoods. All I am saying is that Israel and Palestine must arrive at a workable compromise. And we, the rest of the world must help them get there. Nisreen Shahin came from Ramallah, Palastine and at the time was the Executive Director of the Rawabi Foundation. Lt Colonel Avi Brian, from Tel Aviv, was founding director of the Technological Research and Development Branch of Israel Defense Forces. I remember the first time we all met. It was awkward for a young man of the IDF and a modern young woman from the West Bank to work in one group. The rest of us felt the friction at the start and we all worked towards making that relationship a smoother. By the time we completed the Fellowship all of us had become good friends. Individual friendships cemented by mutual friendships; count Anati from South Africa to Zulfiani from Indonesia. An unforgettable memory is our two days together at the Grand Canyon were we had the opportunity to open ourselves and talk about life and our dreams for the future. And that included a peaceful Middle East where people, be it Israeli or Palestinian would be able to live in peace. Rawabi foundation which Nisreen headed was deeply involved in quality of life projects in the Rawabi City development in the West bank, the largest construction project in modern Palestinian history bring together development, education and culture to the Palestinian middle class. This recent piece in the Times of Israel timesofisrael/in-rawabi-the-brand-new-palestinian-city-both-sides-win/ goes to show how Rawabi City is creating bonds between the Israelis and Palestinians even under difficult circumstances. Avi on the other hand is serving the Israeli Defense Forces and perhaps involved in technology to deal with the underground warfare in terms of the Hamas tunnel threat that IDF is attempting to thwart with crushing bombardments; I don’t know I am only speculating. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that valuable human life is not taken away indiscriminately by both sides of the conflict. Each person is a mother, father, a son or a daughter. Imagine losing your son to a shell or a rocket? The massive destruction is only second to death. Imagine you home totally destroyed and your livelihood completely crushed. What would you do? Where would you go? Nisreen came from Palastine and Avi from Israel. The remaining seventeen of us came from Australia, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Finland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain and Sri Lanka. I think we built a friendship that is strong enough to do whatever we can to help stop the death and destruction that has already taken place and even more importantly to stop the spread of violence any further. Let us ‘better the world around us’! Harsha de Silva, PhD Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka Eisenhower Fellow, 2011 [Photos: The 19 Eisenhower Fellows and EF staff; Avi to my right; Nisreen]
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 14:04:13 +0000
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