The Parent Circle and Peace

A week ago we had the opportunity to have two members of the Parent Circle come speak to us about their personal stories and the organization. The organization is for family members of victims killed in the Israel-Palestine conflict that have come together for accomplishing peace. The male who spoke to us about his son’s murder was a Jewish Israeli, while the female who spoke about her husband’s murder was a Muslim Israeli. The story that they promoted was that both groups, Israelis and Palestinians were victims in the conflict. Moreover, we must recognize the troubles from both groups in order to have peace. The clear victims in the conflict are the Palestinians because of occupation but the male member of the parent circle also painted a picture that Israel is terrorizing its own people. In fact, he called the IDF a terrorist organization and recalled the time that he begged his son not to join it once he was 18 years old. Although some contend that this was a radical statement; I do not think that it is radical. Some people may believe forcing all of its population to fight a controversial cause creates terror within the society and individual soldiers for those not believing in the cause itself.

I believe that we need to move forward towards peace but not forgot the history of the conflict. As Amos Oz contends in “Between Right and Right,” neither Israel nor the Palestinians are the good guys. In fact, he argues that the British and past historical factors should be blamed for the conflict; as both groups are now victims because of them. I agree that we need to move forward, and learn for the past. I think it is counterproductive to dwell in the past including the past injustices suffered by both parties. We should learn from history so we do not repeat it, but paying compensation for settlement displacements from 60 years ago or offering apologies for “X” event that happened 30 years ago is not going to give us peace. Peace will only come if each group recognizes each other and the importance of the issues, along with having a prosperous relationship between Israel and Palestine, once a Palestinian state is established. The current peace talks offer a glimmer of hope for the future, and hopefully the next time I come back to Israel, Israelis will no longer have to live in fear (assuming Hamas is forced out of Gaza and Gaza joins the Palestinian state under the Palestinian Authority).