between right and right

In his article “between right and right” Amos Oz writes that, “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a Wild West movie. It is not a struggle between good and evil, rather it is a tragedy in the ancient and most precise sense of the word: a clash between right and right, a clash between one very powerful, deep and convincing claim, and another very different but no less convincing, no less powerful, no less humane claim.”

I appreciated the wisdom of this article and it helped me connect more deeply with the Parent’s Circle meeting.  The article by Amos Oz gave me an eloquent framework to understand and place the conversation that took this past Monday night.  With Oz I could read about the deep pain that is held by people on both sides of this conflict and with the parent’s circle I could see that pain that he spoke of and how it touches people from all walks of life here.

I think the Parent’s Circle’s activities help work towards what Oz claims is missing from the dialogue in this land.  He says that any compromise will be painful because Israelis and Palestinians have “equally deep, though different historical and emotional roots in the country...Many Israeli Jews don’t recognize how deep is the Palestinian emotional connection to the land. And many Palestinians fail to recognize just how deep is the Jewish connection to the same land. And the recognition comes in a painful way and as a painful process for both nations.  It is a route paved with shattered dreams and broken illusions and injured hopes and blown-up slogans from the past on both sides.”  The Parent’s Circle is a way for people on both sides, or from outside of the conflict, to see how hurt both the Israelis and Palestinians are.  It is way to recognize the dual tragedy that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  A conflict between two victims is a very sad thing and both Amos Oz and the Parent’s Circle helped me see that and empathize with the two sides of the conflict.