Hiroshima and Peace

אני כותבת את זה באנגלית כי אני רוצה שאנשים שהשתתפו איתי בקורס יוכלו לקרוא. סליחה למי שלא מבין או אין לו כוח לקרוא אנגלית.

日本人の参加者へ：日本語じゃなくて、英語で書いたのはごめんなさい。私の日本語はまだ足りない。。。英語で読んで、がんばって下さい。少しだけ読んでも、うれしいです＾－＾。

"Hiroshima and Peace" is a very special course that I took part of. It’s a two-week program that ended with the Anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 6. The participants were students from 17 countries. We had lectures, discussions, and various activities related to peace and to the atomic bomb. For me, it was a very interesting experience, and an opportunity to meet wonderful people, some of them truly want to make a difference. It was also a different experience for me as an Israeli student in Hiroshima whose subject of research is the survivors of the atomic bomb. It was nice to express myself freely in English for a change (instead of struggling with Japanese) and to be one of many foreigners (and not to stand out as one). It was also refreshing for me to see Hiroshima, and especially the Peace Park and museum, through the eyes of people who see it for the first time. The main subject of this course was Peace, which is obviously a very tricky concept. It was a big challenge to discuss peace seriously and meaningfully, and try to avoid clichés and over-simplicity. In the end, I think we were only partly successful. Some of the lectures were extremely informative for me and others less so. The discussions were a good way to share ideas, thoughts, and opinions, but sometimes weren't as meaningful as it could, because of lack of information of lack of English. But that's o.k. It was just a taste, a touch of some subjects.
Now I want to try and put into words some of the things I took from this experience. Some would say the course was all about words and now it's time for action, and not for more words. But I think words are important, because they can tell you where to go and what to do, set you on a specific course of action, get you focused. Writing has always been my way to see things more clearly, and if I also can share it with other people and (I hope) promote a stream of thoughts and ideas that might even lead to action, it's even better. We, the people who were part of "Hiroshima and Peace" are now still in what I call the "euphoric" or "utopian" stage. Many of us may feel we had a great experience and met wonderful people. But unless we take it to the next level, it's all going to fade away. This is my attempt to take it to the next level. To keep that energy flowing.
In one of the first days of the program, we had a meeting with a peace activist, Mr. Mussie Hailu. He didn't speak too much about himself (which was a pity, because I think we could learn a lot from him, as one of the few speakers in the course who were activists and not professors), but we learned he is a member of an organization called "United Religions Initiative" or URI. It's something like the U.N of religions, and they do peace-building activities based on interfaith cooperation. Mr. Hailu talked about the "golden rule" common to all religions, which is basic guidelines for a peaceful existence. (Sorry, I couldn't find a short version like the one he read to us). I remember the rules were very simple and kind of obvious, something like "respect, understanding, non-violence"... As an Israeli I have my own share of cynicism (it’s hidden much of the time, but it’s there!), which made me think at first "no, not that bullshit again..." (An even more cynical Israeli will call it a "smolani yefe nefesh" bullshit. Sorry, I can't translate that). But throughout the course, I found myself coming back to these principles and realizing that if more people took it seriously and especially if these people were also leaders, many of the conflicts wouldn’t have happened or would be solved. One element of the "golden rule" that kept coming back to me was the principle of listening. It’s almost ridiculously simple. Just “listening”. You don't have to agree with what the other person is saying, just listen. During the negotiation simulation, in which I was part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict group, representing the Israel side, I realized how big a challenge it is just to listen to the other side. How many times, after the other side said its argument, I said (or thought) "yes, but...", and continue with my own argument and promoting the interests of my own side, without really listening to the other side. And that was only a simulation!
Another incident showed me how much listening and communication can be hard. I would like to first say that maybe I'm wrong about this. I hope I'm wrong about this. And I thought about not mentioning it in my blog like this at all, but I believe in “putting things on the table” and talk about things directly, and also, think we can all learn something from this. One of the participants in the program was a diplomat from Libya, the only representative of an Arab middle-eastern country in the program, and as such, it seems, supports the Palestinian / Arab side of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I thought it was a positive thing to have him in the program. "Great! It just got more interesting!" I said to myself, and looked for opportunities to talk with the person and discuss these kind of things. Then, in a particularly interesting and controversial discussion about similarities between Kamikaze pilots and Palestinian suicide bombers, he said something like "Israel also had suicide bombers in 1948", obviously with no factual base to support it. Instead of keeping silent and let others refute the argument, I attacked him with questions, and that killed the discussion. Later, I came and apologized, and said I would like to talk more in the future. He accepted my apology but didn't say much more, and although I tried, I haven't had a chance for more conversation since. I didn't think it was particularly exceptional, since there were many participants in the program, and you can't talk with everybody. But in the farewell party, the person simply ignored me two times when I tried to say “cheers” to him, and later to say goodbye. I later heard from another participant that he asked her "Why do you speak with the Israelis?".
I'm writing about this with hope that this person, or somebody else, will write to me and say that I am completely wrong or out of proportion here, and it was just a misunderstanding or lack of communication. I want to be told that it was my own stereotypes and fears talking, and my interpretation has nothing to do with reality. But what if that’s not the case? It's not the first time I hear about Israeli people being ignored by people from Arab countries while in an international setting. Sometimes it is because their governments forbids them to talk with people from Israel, and sometimes it's an individual action. It's not the first time I hear about it, but it's the first time it appears to be happening to me. And to tell you the truth, if it really is the case, I feel very bad about it. What's the point of talking about peace and understanding and participating in a course about peace, if we can't even talk to each other on an individual level? I don't have many chances of interaction with Arab people or people from the middle east, and when I do have the chance, I want to use it for communication and to learn more about the people from "the other side" (if there are sides at all). Sometimes it works. I had some very interesting conversations with my neighbors, a couple from Iran. But sometimes it doesn't.
This incident reflected to me the very root of the current situation of the conflict affecting the personal life of every person in Israel and the Palestinian Authority today. If we are not committed to changing ourselves, to overcome stereotypes, to trust just a little bit more, if we are not committed to listen, really listen, peace will never come. Peace begins in us. This is not a cliché. It's real. It is very easy to tell other people or other nations what to do or how to change their behavior in order to achieve peace. But the hardest thing, the biggest challenge, is to face our own shortcomings, our own demons, our own weaknesses, as individuals as well as a nation, and to try to do something about it. Change is hard. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes effort and commitment. But awareness is the first step.

I had so much more to write. I wanted to write about how fear and shortsightedness makes leaders choose the easy choice, like in the case of the atomic bombs, or of the use of D.U weapons in Iraq. I wanted to write about related aspects from the field of social psychology. And I wanted to write about my experience of August 6. But this blog post is already becoming too long. So I guess it will have to wait for the next one.

I'm waiting for any kind of comments about this! Consider this another discussion of H&P! :-)