My first reaction to the personal stories of tragedy told by The Parent’s Circle” was that they were so brave in opening up to a roomful of strangers, and apparently this is something they do often. I could not imagine re-telling the stories of the death of one of my family members, especially when the stories may not be so well received depending on the school they are out and the audience that they are talking to. It was extremely heartbreaking to hear the story of how the woman’s husband was shot down, and how a suicide bomber killed the man’s fourteen-year-old daughter. Despite the grief they endure every day, they are striving to reach out to Israelis and Palestinians from all over to promote peace and mutual respect between the two peoples, and I cannot express how much I admire them for their efforts. I do believe, however, that at times during their presentation they both let their emotions and anger get the best of them. As a result, some issues were blown out of proportion and some of their comments contradicted their intent of discrediting stereotypes and prejudices. For example, when the man over generalized and stated that the IDF is a terrorist organization, it stereotyped the majority of Israeli people as terrorists since it is a requirement for them to join the military after high school. Also, the woman made it seem as if the Israeli government is constantly shutting off the water supply to the West Bank. Regardless of these few rants that the two of them went on, I think their overall message prevailed and I hope that it prevails for at least some of the local students that they visit. They may have overgeneralized a bit, but they are right in the sense that we all as human beings need to evaluate our actions because each and every one of us is capable of great harm and evil. I do believe that their message would be much more effective if they focused on specific events of wrong done by individuals rather than overgeneralizing and scapegoating an entire people.
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